J
John Kotches
Guest
I received a screener copy of this disc about two weeks ago, and in that time have had the pleasure to play it back on both a Kenwood DV-5700 and the Meridian 598/568.2 combination.
The stereo tracks are direct from the 30ips stereo masters. The surround tracks are from original multi-track masters. Both the original stereo tracks, and the multi-channel mixes were performed by George Massenburg (apologies if I've botched the spelling of his name).
Stereo and multi-track mastering were done by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering and DVD, using dCS 24/192K A/D convertors.
This disc is a collection of American Popular music, from composers such as George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin and other great tunesmiths of the 1st half of the 20th century.(Aside -- this sounds like I'm a music historian... I'd better watch out).
The arrangements are from an ackowledged master, who literally wrote the book (<strong>Arranged by Nelson Riddle</strong>) on the topic. The arrangements are lush and rich, with some lovely dissonances heard throughout. Nelson Riddle is most widely known for his orchestrations and arrangements for some of Frank Sinatra's most famous recordings.
The backing group is first rate, with notables such as Plas Johnson on Tenor Sax, Don Grolnick on Piano, and even the (late) great Ray Brown on Bass for some of the tracks.
The stereo track is nice, but once you listen to the surround mix, it's very difficult to go back to the stereo mix. The stereo mix seems flat and two dimensional by comparison.
The surround mix places you at the center opening of a U shaped surround field. You aren't "fully immersed" here, as no common information exists between the surrounds to close off the back of the surround field.
On the Kenwood, there were spots where I thought LRs vocals were clipping slightly, but the Meridian combo shows that this was a limitation in the analog stage of the Kenwood player.
It is a very clear, hiss-free recording from the early to mid 1980's, and WB/Rhino have a done an excellent job on preserving the stereo mix, and an outstanding job with a tasteful, engaging surround mix.
I'm not going to spend a lot of time discussing the tunes, because you will either love or hate the music. Given that I'm a "retired" jazz saxophonist, I've played them time and again.
If you enjoy the repertoire (What's New, Someone to Watch over Me, Goodbye et al) you will in all likelihood enjoy this disc.
If you don't, it might not be your cup of tea.
Keep in mind, I am not a professional music reviewer nor do I play one on TV or the internet.
Regards,
The stereo tracks are direct from the 30ips stereo masters. The surround tracks are from original multi-track masters. Both the original stereo tracks, and the multi-channel mixes were performed by George Massenburg (apologies if I've botched the spelling of his name).
Stereo and multi-track mastering were done by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering and DVD, using dCS 24/192K A/D convertors.
This disc is a collection of American Popular music, from composers such as George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin and other great tunesmiths of the 1st half of the 20th century.(Aside -- this sounds like I'm a music historian... I'd better watch out).
The arrangements are from an ackowledged master, who literally wrote the book (<strong>Arranged by Nelson Riddle</strong>) on the topic. The arrangements are lush and rich, with some lovely dissonances heard throughout. Nelson Riddle is most widely known for his orchestrations and arrangements for some of Frank Sinatra's most famous recordings.
The backing group is first rate, with notables such as Plas Johnson on Tenor Sax, Don Grolnick on Piano, and even the (late) great Ray Brown on Bass for some of the tracks.
The stereo track is nice, but once you listen to the surround mix, it's very difficult to go back to the stereo mix. The stereo mix seems flat and two dimensional by comparison.
The surround mix places you at the center opening of a U shaped surround field. You aren't "fully immersed" here, as no common information exists between the surrounds to close off the back of the surround field.
On the Kenwood, there were spots where I thought LRs vocals were clipping slightly, but the Meridian combo shows that this was a limitation in the analog stage of the Kenwood player.
It is a very clear, hiss-free recording from the early to mid 1980's, and WB/Rhino have a done an excellent job on preserving the stereo mix, and an outstanding job with a tasteful, engaging surround mix.
I'm not going to spend a lot of time discussing the tunes, because you will either love or hate the music. Given that I'm a "retired" jazz saxophonist, I've played them time and again.
If you enjoy the repertoire (What's New, Someone to Watch over Me, Goodbye et al) you will in all likelihood enjoy this disc.
If you don't, it might not be your cup of tea.
Keep in mind, I am not a professional music reviewer nor do I play one on TV or the internet.
Regards,
