Quad LP/Tape Poll Purim, Flora: Stories To Tell [CD-4/Q8]

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Rate the CD-4/Q8 of Flora Purim - Stories To Tell

  • 9 -

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  • 7 -

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  • 6 -

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  • 5 -

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  • 4 -

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  • 3 -

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  • 2 -

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  • 1 - Poor Surround, Poor Fidelity, Poor Content

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  • Total voters
    5

sjcorne

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Stories To Tell was Brazilian jazz singer Flora Purim's fourth studio album and sole quad release, issued on CD-4 LP and quad 8-track in 1974. Stories To Tell was one of just a handful of quad titles issued under the Fantasy/Prestige/Milestone umbrella.

Flora Q8 Front.jpeg
Flora CD4 Front.jpeg


Milestone FPM 4005 [CD-4 LP] 7163 4005 H [Q8]
Discogs links: Q8 / LP
Wiki for the album: Stories To Tell

Side 1
  1. Stories To Tell
  2. Search For Peace
  3. Casa Forte
  4. Insensatez
  5. Mountain Train
Side 2
  1. Mountain Train
  2. To Say Goodbye
  3. Silver Sword
  4. Vera Cruz
  5. O Cantador/I Just Want To Be Here
 
@Q-Eight posted an excellent review of this title way back in December 2018, this seems like the right place for it:
Surprisingly Discrete! Nice spread of drums either front or rear and sometimes BOTH with items like kicker, toms, snare in the rears with overheads/cymbals in front. Bass either front center or back center usually appearing opposite wherever drums are loudest. Each song has a different mix so suffice to say that the four corners are used liberally be they percussive instrument, electric keyboard, guitar, horns, what have you.

Piano sounds like it was recorded across two tracks and will appear in stereo either front, rear or a couple songs feature it in the phantom sides (so, all four, but stereo front and rear). Vocals are generally in all four.

The "Around the world, around the room" panning effect is put to excessive use. Virtually every song has either a percussive instrument, a synth, a horn or even Flora's vocal at full trot around the room. However, when this happens, whatever is spinning disappears for a split second at the front-center position. Verified by my 'scope as well. Creates a bit of a pulsating feel to whatever is spinning. I speculate that something was hooked up out-of-phase during the mixing session as other instruments blend across the fronts nicely.

And it always spins clockwise.

All in all, not bad. Whoever mixed this obviously did NOT mix the Creedence Gold Q8. This Q8 is nice and discrete and uses the four corners of the room to good effect.
 
solid 10 Good choice for a poll. I doubt most people have heard this on any format.

Early '76, I bought a new car and installed BOTH a Q8 and an auto-reverse cassette. They alternated on a slide mount bracket. Stylin!

I had been buying mostly CD-4 for the last couple years, but the car-fi caused me to buy some new Q8's. Q8 is my most listened to copy. I do have a CD-4 conversion, which I have yet to play. Rebought it on CD.

Album kicks off with the killer title track. Some great Brazilian classics: Prazier Adeus (To Say Goodbye), Insensatez and Casa Forte. IMHO, her best album and Quad to boot! Nice, discrete Quad mix.

Flora won Down Beat female annual jazz poll in the early '70's. She can also be heard on many of Husband Airto Moreira's recordings, incl. SQ/Q8/SACD Fingers. Although I never got to meet Flora, I did get some percussion tutorial from Airto himself, thanks to Silngerland Drums. A cherished memory.
 
Cribbing from an old "Listening" post (where what I listened to was a very clean conversion from CD-4): Amazing lineup: George Duke on Keyboards, Earl Klugh (and, guesting on one track, Carlos Santana) on guitar, Miroslav Vitous and Ron Carter trading bass duties, and Airto (natch) on drums & percussion. Produced by the legendary Orrin Keepnews. I'd like to be able to attribute both quad and stereo mixes to Jim Stern, who also worked on Woody Herman's Children of Lima, but that seems to be a known unknown.

Good-to-great 70s world-funk-fusion and samba-jazz, very good sonics, and a perfectly serviceable mix. (I concur with Dave's description, above, only I confess the around-the-room pans didn't really even register with me, let alone bother me.)
 
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last summer I picked up a CD4 copy in somewhat dubious conditions but in spite of a few it scratches it played rather well, More recently I picked a copy in better shape in an eBay auction. I've listened to it recently a number of time and it's growing on me. Surround wise it is definitely a ten! I'm not a huge Jazz fan but this album "rocks", my main complaint is that Floras high pitched voice tends to annoy me at times.

Other than CCR are there any other Fantasy CD-4 releases? If DV would release this It would likely rate it a nine, I'm giving it an 8 based on the CD-4.
 
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