SACD

John Lee Hooker – Boogie Chillen’: Original 1948-1954 Blues Masterpieces (2003) [Audio Fidelity] [SACD / Audio Fidelity – AFZ 005]

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John Lee Hooker - Boogie Chillen’: Original 1948-1954 Blues Masterpieces (2003) [Audio Fidelity]

Title: John Lee Hooker – Boogie Chillen’: Original 1948-1954 Blues Masterpieces (2003) [Audio Fidelity]
Genre: Blues
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

For Boogie Chillen’, Audio Fidelity went back to the original 1948-1954 recording session tapes of these “Detroit Blues Masterpieces” for the SACD edition. The only exception will be the title track since recording tape was not in use in 1948 at the United Sound recording studio in Detroit when it was recorded. In that case, “Boogie Chillen’” was transferred from the surviving 78 RPM acetate record. The SACD compilation and remastering work for the album was done by Steve Hoffman at Kevin Gray’s AcousTech Mastering Studio with Lon Neumann serving as the DSD Technician on the remastering session.

As the story is told, back in 1948, a young, little known blues singer by the name of John Lee Hooker arrived at the Detroit, Michigan offices of Bernard Besman, owner of Pan American Record Distributors with a 78-RPM acetate disc. Besman wasn’t too enthused with what he heard but he knew that, with some tutelage, John Lee Hooker had potential. Fortunately, Besman didn’t have to wait long. Within a span of four years, Besman produced over 200 sides of what most consider “the best of John Lee Hooker”. Although John Lee Hooker’s music has been duplicated over the years, one could never duplicate the originator’s masterful craft of telling a story and singing with such enigmatic tone. On this album, Boogie Chillen, it’s impossible to listen without bobbing your head a little or stomping your foot at the same tempo with Hooker. This album is a quintessential must for blues lovers, old and young. With the conversion to SACD, Boogie Chillen becomes more compelling and more gratifying. The clarity is especially impressive with the guitar providing the illusion that the blues master himself just might be in the room with you. Audio Fidelity did a fine job converting this classic into SACD purity. John Lee has to be looking down on us and smiling knowing that’s exactly how he wanted to his blues to be heard and appreciated. Most amazing however is John Lee Hooker’s Boogie Chillen’, the album. Every song is a foot stompin’ barnburner making it extremely difficult to determine which song may be superior. Without a doubt however, “Boogie Chillen” (the song) may be the ultimate winner as ‘best of show’. “Boogie Chillen’” was transferred from the same surviving 78 RPM acetate record that John Lee Hooker once presented to Bernard Besman upon their first introductions making it historically the first recorded song that Hooker made. “Baby Baby” has vintage guitar plucking brought to brilliant life by DSD. Even the blues musicians today can never replicate the same sound. You just cannot get that vintage tone on a modern recording studio. “Down Child” is another stellar piece where you can hear raw guitar playing that will make your jaw drop. “Hey, S The House Rent Boogie” is another foot tapper that I’m sure, at a live venue, must of brought the house down. When this album was recorded, they placed a microphone at John Lee Hooker’s feet so you can actually hear his foot tapping in rhythm to the song. “I’m In The Mood” has been covered by virtually everyone with an acoustic guitar and a notion for blues. Despite this adulation, however, Hooker’s original version is still the best. “Do My Baby Think Of Me?” contain stellar guitar licks, played while asking God about what I’m sure every guy has been through. This album is a timeless blues masterpiece that all blues enthusiasts will need in their private collection. Audio Fidelity has done a phenomenal job with Boogie Chillen. It stands to reason that you need this SACD release. I look forward with anticipation to other Audio Fidelity releases that will feature blues greats.

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SACD

John Hicks Trio – Moanin’: Portrait Of Art Blakey (1997) [Japan 2018] [SACD / Venus Records – VHGD-288]

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John Hicks Trio - Moanin’: Portrait Of Art Blakey (1997) [Japan 2018]

Title: John Hicks Trio – Moanin’: Portrait Of Art Blakey (1997) [Japan 2018]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Like many other prominent jazz musicians, master pianist John Hicks started his early career with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers (1964-1965). This special album for Venus Records was recorded in 1992 as a tribute to his former boss who had passed away two years earlier. Aided by his well-known collaborators Marcus Maclaurene on bass and Victor Lewis on drums, Hicks here perform some of the familiar Jazz Messengers’ repertories with a lot of emotion and extra earthiness.

John Hicks was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He was leader for more than 30 recordings and played as a sideman on more than 300. After early experiences backing blues musicians, Hicks moved to New York in 1963. After periods with Kenny Dorham and Joe Henderson, Hicks joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1964. His recording debut was with Blakey in November that year, for the album ‘S Make It. Early in 1965, Hicks toured with Blakey to Japan, France, Switzerland, and England. Blakey encouraged his band members, including Hicks, to compose for the band, although they also played compositions by previous members of the band. He stayed with Blakey for two years, during which time his playing was compared with that of McCoy Tyner, for the level of energy displayed and for some of the intervals that they used. Hicks’ many influences–including Bud Powell, Art Tatum, Fatz Waller, Oscar Peterson, Thelonious Monk and McCoy Tyner–shaped his modern yet earthy style. It is not easy to perform these tunes–forever etched to jazz fan’s memories with the powerful two-horn quintet sound of the Messengers–with a piano trio, but Hicks is successful here, more than making up the lack of horn players with his powerful piano playing.

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SACD

John Hicks Trio – Cry Me A River (1998) [Japan 2016] [SACD / Venus Records – VHGD-185]

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John Hicks Trio - Cry Me A River (1998) [Japan 2016]

Title: John Hicks Trio – Cry Me A River (1998) [Japan 2016]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Cry Me a River is an album led by pianist John Hicks. John Hicks is joined by fellow musicians Dwayne Burno on bass and Victor Lewis on drums for a compilation of jazz standards titled Cry Me A River. Tunes include “Witchcraft”, “Alone Together”, “Moon And Sand”, “Cry Me A River” and more.
John Hicks was very much in demand during the last two decades of his life, often releasing several CDs annually for a variety of labels. This 1997 studio session for Venus finds the pianist playing in his favorite setting, with a trio consisting of bassist Dwayne Burno and the phenomenal drummer Victor Lewis. Starting with the standard “Witchcraft,” Hicks offers a swinging yet elegant performance. Most of the session focuses on ballads, highlighted by his spacious, insightful scoring of “Beautiful Love” and a strolling, bluesy take of the usually bittersweet “You Don’t Know What Love Is.” It’s challenging to find fresh ground to explore in a warhorse like “Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise,” though Hicks’ light yet breezy arrangement gives one an opportunity to hear Burno’s tasty bass work. The sole jazz composition of the date is the final track, a cooking rendition of Duke Ellington’s “C Jam Blues” that leaves the listener wanting more from the trio.

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SACD

John Hicks, Buster Williams, Louis Hayes – On The Wings Of An Eagle (2006) [SACD / Chesky Records – SACD318]

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John Hicks, Buster Williams, Louis Hayes - On The Wings Of An Eagle (2006)

Title: John Hicks, Buster Williams, Louis Hayes – On The Wings Of An Eagle (2006)
Genre: Jazz
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

On the Wings of an Eagle is an album by pianist John Hicks, recorded in 2006. The album was recorded by the working trio led by Hicks, with bassist Buster Williams, and drummer Louis Hayes. The Penguin Guide to Jazz commented that “Hicks died eight weeks after the recording, which lends it a certain poignancy, but even without that association it would be a cracking set”.

John Hicks is heard with his working trio on what is likely his final recording, made two months to the day prior to his unexpected death. With bassist Buster Williams and drummer Louis Hayes, also seasoned veterans and bandleaders themselves, the set list for this well-recorded studio session is a hard bop lover’s feast, drawing from both familiar and less frequently heard repertoire. Hicks throws quite a few curves into Gigi Gryce’s “Minority” by tossing in a few vamps then getting right to business with improvising rather than bothering to offer a chorus of its theme, with Williams’ fleet bassline and Hayes’ brushwork powering him in full flight. The leader’s sole original is a salute to Cedar Walton, an upbeat piece called “As Birds Fly (Walton’s Mountain)” in which the musicians easily scale its heights. The bassist contributed two originals, including the lush, somewhat moody “Strivers Jewels” and the delicate tribute to his then-young niece “Christina.” Hayes is an asset throughout the recording, particularly standing out in the powerful interpretation of Dexter Gordon’s “Cheesecake.” John Hicks was clearly at the top of his game at the end of his life, and this final recording adds an important chapter to his recorded legacy.

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SACD

John Hiatt – Master Of Disaster (2005) [SACD / New West Records – NW6076]

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John Hiatt - Master Of Disaster (2005)

Title: John Hiatt – Master Of Disaster (2005)
Genre: Rock
Format: MCH SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

John Hiatt is an American rock guitarist, pianist, singer, and songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including New Wave, blues and country. Hiatt has been nominated for several Grammy Awards and has been awarded a variety of other distinctions in the music industry. He remains one of the most respected and influential American singer-songwriters.

John Hiatt has often wavered back and forth between his instincts as a rocker and a more measured singer/songwriter bent, and after the rowdy guitar-fueled blues-rock of 2003’s Beneath This Gruff Exterior, it should come as no great surprise that Hiatt toned things down a bit for his next album, 2005’s Master of Disaster. Produced by Jim Dickinson, with his sons Luther Dickinson and Cody Dickinson (from the North Mississippi Allstars) on guitar and drums, Master of Disaster is rooted in loosely tight Memphis groove, but while Hiatt sounds soulful as all get out (as per usual) on this set, the lingering mood is often downbeat and introspective. The title cut is a stinging meditation on the role of addiction in a musician’s life, “Love’s Not Where We Left It” and “Ain’t Never Goin’ Back” are as lean and unsentimental as songs about love can get, and even his ode to the wonders of the Ford Thunderbird finds room for some pithy recollections about one man’s bitter relationship with his father. Still, Hiatt does find some room for comic relief in his meditation on cold weather, “Wintertime Blues,” he has fun with his crotchety old man tale “Old School,” and the raspy grain that has worked its way into his voice suits both the singer and his songs just fine, giving the performances a welcome warmth and humanity. Master of Disaster packs too much good and greasy East Memphis vibe to qualify as “mellow,” even when Hiatt is searching the depths of his soul, and his material strikes a comfortable balance between his more confessional work and his impulsive rock & roll, allowing him to have it both ways for a change.

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SACD

John Hiatt – Bring The Family (1987) [Reissue 2003] [SACD / A&M Records – B0000248-36]

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John Hiatt - Bring The Family (1987) [Reissue 2003]

Title: John Hiatt – Bring The Family (1987) [Reissue 2003]
Genre: Rock, Blues Rock
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

John Hiatt is an American rock guitarist, pianist, singer, and songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including New Wave, blues and country. Hiatt has been nominated for several Grammy Awards and has been awarded a variety of other distinctions in the music industry. He remains one of the most respected and influential American singer-songwriters.

In 1987, John Hiatt, clean and sober and looking for an American record deal, was asked by an A&R man at a British label to name his dream band. After a little thought, Hiatt replied that if he had his druthers, he’d cut a record with Ry Cooder on guitar, Nick Lowe on bass, and Jim Keltner on drums. To Hiatt’s surprise, he discovered all three were willing to work on his next album; Hiatt and his dream band went into an L.A. studio and knocked off Bring the Family in a mere four days, and the result was the best album of Hiatt’s career. The musicians certainly make a difference here, generating a lean, smoky groove that’s soulful and satisfying (Ry Cooder’s guitar work is especially impressive, leaving no doubt of his singular gifts without ever overstepping its boundaries), but the real triumph here is Hiatt’s songwriting. Bring the Family was recorded after a period of great personal turmoil for him, and for the most part the archly witty phrasemaker of his earlier albums was replaced by an wiser and more cautious writer who had a great deal to say about where life and love can take you. Hiatt had never written anything as nakedly confessional as “Tip of My Tongue” or “Learning How to Love You” before, and even straight-ahead R&B-style rockers like “Memphis in the Meantime” and “Thing Called Love” possessed a weight and resonance he never managed before. But Bring the Family isn’t an album about tragedy, it’s about responsibility and belatedly growing up, and it’s appropriate that it was a band of seasoned veterans with their own stories to tell about life who helped Hiatt bring it across; it’s a rich and satisfying slice of grown-up rock & roll.

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SACD

John Hammond – Rough & Tough (2009) [SACD / Chesky Records – SACD346]

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John Hammond - Rough & Tough (2009)

Title: John Hammond – Rough & Tough (2009)
Genre: Blues
Format: MCH SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

John Hammond’s blues career has spanned the better part of the last five decades. From coffeehouses to concert halls, to festivals and beyond, Hammond emerged the ever-consummate blues man out of the great blues renaissance of the 60’s. And while the 60’s renaissance was largely an electric affair, Hammond has managed to keep vital the embodiment of the quintessential acoustic blues troubadour with brilliant acoustic guitar and rack harmonica playing and an impassioned voice. A Grammy Award winner and four time nominee, Hammond is also a multiple W.C. Handy award winner and has shared the stage and/or recorded with many of the masters, including Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker and Howlin’ Wolf.
John Hammond, Jr. has produced many hallmark albums during a 50-year career and 35 recordings, but Rough & Tough might top them all. Playing solo on a variety of guitars, a harmonica, and singing up a storm, Hammond acoustically interprets songs of the legendary bluesmen that established the urban Chicago train of thought. His choices should be very familiar to most blues fans, but the way he plays them are a throwback to pre-electric, back-porch days, when simplicity was the norm rather than amped-up volume. The energy is within Hammond’s soul, and he lets it loose for every track of this extraordinary album. Interpreting songs by Muddy Waters and Little Walter comes naturally, but he also tackles tunes like Howlin’ Wolf’s “My Mind Is Ramblin’,” and especially the low-down and dirty “No Place to Go,” “Statesboro Blues,” “It Hurts Me Too,” and the delightful swing jazz classic “Chattanooga Choo Choo” are included, as well as Jerry McCain’s more contemporary “She’s Tough.” Two originals by Hammond, “Slick Crown Vic” in boogie mode and the easygoing “Come to Find Out” are unearthed from previous recordings, emphasizing that he also stands proud as a presence among these giants. This is a flawless example of John Hammond’s capabilities in presenting authentic blues with a feeling and passion that few artists can match, and comes with a high recommendation, and a well-deserved 2009 Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Blues Album.

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SACD

John Di Martino’s Romantic Jazz Trio – The Sweetest Sound (2004) [Japan 2018] [SACD / Venus Records – VHGD-268]

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John Di Martino's Romantic Jazz Trio - The Sweetest Sound (2004) [Japan 2018]

Title: John Di Martino’s Romantic Jazz Trio – The Sweetest Sound (2004) [Japan 2018]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Multiple Grammy nominee John Di Martino–composer, arranger, pianist–has recorded many albums for Venus Records with his Romantic Jazz Trio. Noted for his versatility, John has performed and recorded with such notables as Kenny Burrell, James Moody, Joe Lovano, David “Fat Head” Newman, Pat Martino, Paquito D’Rivera and Houston Person.

In his time on the New York scene pianist John di Martino has established a widely respected reputation as an adaptable straight-ahead player, a sensitive and sought-after accompanist of singers, and, having worked in the bands of Ray Barretto and Bobby Sanabria, among others, a brilliant Latin jazz keyboard artist. How wonderful it is that the versatile di Martino, at last, has gotten the chance to highlight his many gifts in a classic trio setting with two exemplary associates. Ugonna Okegwo is one of the most active freelance bassists working today, and with good reason. For over four decades Grady Tate has served as ‘the musician’s drummer,’ having backed an astounding array of instrumental and vocal talent. Di Martino presents Tate with a rhythmic tour de force on the opening track, infusing Ernesto Lecuona’s ‘La Comparsa’ with a New Orleans street beat. Two other Cuban standards, the rumba ‘Drume Negrita’ and the bolero ‘Historia de un Amor,’ receive more traditional treatments, revealing di Martino’s experience in and regard for the genre. Jazz musicians know that ‘My Melancholy Baby’ is one of those tunes—OK, you all may roll your eyes now—but the pianist, supported by Okegwo’s clean two-beat feel and Tate’s clipped, tightly closed hi-hat time, paraphrases the shopworn melody without a hint of irony or condescension. The trio’s handling of ‘And I Love Her,’ leisurely and languid, until suddenly energized in the coda, demonstrates that there still are many riches left to mine in the Beatles’ songbook. Di Martino seems to take inspiration from the title of Luis Bonfa’s bossa nova, ‘The Gentle Rain,’ employing a light touch that makes each notes fall like drops of rain. This lovely track also offers up still more joys of Grady Tate, whose subtle brush work is, at times, more felt than heard. He truly is the ‘anti-Buddy Rich,’ making his presence known, not as an overpowering or dominating force in the ensemble, or even as a soloist (although he is a wonderful one), but by what he can contribute to enhance the collective performance. You may not always notice Grady Tate when he is there, but you miss him when he is not. The same can be said of Ugonna Okegwo, who, on a straight-ahead, unpretentious treatment of Richard Rodgers’ ‘The Sweetest Sound,’ does exactly what a bassist should do in a trio setting, working in close tandem with di Martino, strengthening and supporting the pianist’s elegantly swinging lines. The romanticism of ‘John di Martino’s Romantic Jazz Trio’ is unbound in ‘The Things I Love,’ based on a theme by the ultimate romantic, Tchaikovsky, but discreet touches of the blues help keep it real. At over nine minutes, the CD’s longest track, ‘You Must Believe in Spring,’ affords di Martino an opportunity for extended, inspired exploration. Especially instructive is his use of block chords, richly voiced, effectively placed, always an enhancement, never a cliché or a crutch. John di Martino’s Romantic Jazz Trio is, in fact, a recording session-generated group, but after hearing this CD you just may think it was a permanent working unit—and you’ll wish it was.

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SACD

John Di Martino’s Romantic Jazz Trio – The Michael In Jazz (2013) [Japan 2018] [SACD / Venus Records – VHGD-311]

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John Di Martino's Romantic Jazz Trio - The Michael In Jazz (2013) [Japan 2018]

Title: John Di Martino’s Romantic Jazz Trio – The Michael In Jazz (2013) [Japan 2018]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Philadelphia-native composer, arranger and pianist John di Martino is a versatile musician who is equally comfortable in the straight ahead jazz, Latin jazz and world music scenes. Di Martino has released a lot well-received leader albums for the Japanese Venus Records, with different rhythm sections, under the moniker “Romantic Jazz Trio”. For this tribute to the King of Pop, John and his Romantic Jazz Trio perform some of Michael Jackson’s best-loved songs.

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