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I doubt I can match Robert Lang's eloquence in reviewing these discs and in fact I am not going to even try. But you can add me to the list of listeners who feel that these are some of the better jazz SACDs to be released in a long time.I recently bought New York Time, West of Fifth, and Mysterious Shorter. I plan on ordering the rest of the set this week The music is first rate and Chesky is perhaps the best of all the labels in giving the listener an "I am there" feeling in his MCH discs. I am convinced that Chesky does MCH better than any other label.Part of the reason for this and part of the reason that I am enjoying these discs as much as I am is that they are new music - not remixes of 50 year old albums. Chesky can control all of the variables of the MCH recording session. In addition, I've already purchased most of the old classics available on SACD and while I enjoy listening to them, it has been a bit frustrating that more new jazz is not being offered on SACD. Release of the these albums is a great step in reversing that trend.
Follow Ups:
I spent New Years day (4 hours) at a jazz set. We were far closer to the music than the set back perspective presented by the two "New York Sessions" SACDs, "West of 5th" and "New York Times", that I have. But except for that there is no question that these recordings, on whole, are about as close to a live setting that we can reasonably expect, especially in multi-channel.
Robert C. Lang
I mostly surely would like to hear from those with regard to comparisons versus these New York Sessions recordings. I favor the AP recordings by a large margin. Perhaps it is my system.
Joel already did an excellent job and I agree with him on all points. I have all of the Analogue Productions Jazz SACDs and although I enjoy them greatly, none give the "I am there" felling like the Chesky's do. Interestingly, I thought that this was largely because of Chesky's ability in recording in MCH as I always listen in MCH whenever that option is available. But I note that Joel has a 2CH only system and that his conculsions are the same as mine.On another note, I already have a lot of jazz compositions on SACD and vinyl that are over 30 years old. But for new releases were are pretty much limited to CD. That's part of the reason I am excited about the Chesky releases.
...as you may know I own all the APO Evans' discs as well. I can understand people's reaction when they hear the opening notes of My Foolish Heart (on WfD); they are expansive, clear, full of timbre and body, it sounds exquisite. From an audiophile perspective (not in the derogatory sense) it is more spectacular than the NY Sessions discs.And as Jimmy says these discs showcase completely different recording techniques and context. And I would say that they are prime examples of their heritage.
The NYS are fantastic examples of a live recording created with a particular vision on how that might sound in your home. No spotlightng specific instruments. No extreme right/left seperation (like on the APO). A band playing in a space, almost like you were, listening to it from some distance. Live music does not have a soundstage, it just 'is'.
The APO's are one of the best (if not the best) examples on how you can take 45 year old material and make it sound very alive in your listening room. You are almost on top of the players, listening intently to every single note on every single instrument. There is audience noise, clearly in a club type space. It's fascinating.
You need them both !
Hope this helps:-)
Jw
I have tried it a couple of times and it just doesn't do it for me. For a quick test, listen to the drum kit on the first two tracks. Not very good at all IMHO. Again, it could be my system.There are so many remastered jazz reissues on CD out there, quite a few recordings in a live setting. They are amongst my favorite recordings because of that setting. These NY Sessions by all means are a welcomed edition to my SACD collection, I'll say that. I cannot say however they are better than what I own on lots of jazz CDs I have for a live setting, especially Manhattan. I can say however the APO SACD recordings do impress me that much more and are amongst my best.
The APO sacd's of the approx. 13 classic jazz titles are quite good in my opinion but also in my opinion you cannot compare these to the Chesky NY sessions sacd's. Not apples to apples anyway. The APO's are DSD sampled from supposedly the master analog tapes that are 40 to 50 years old. The Chesky's are minimalist recordings using modern equipment and techniques. There is a lot of tape hiss, rumble, wow&flutter and so forth on the APO's that is just not there at all on the Chesky's. They are both great sets of discs and well worth the money but I find the K2 or XRCD versions of the same 13 classic jazz titles on APO to be superior in that they just sound more like music to me. Definetly could be system dependent and personal taste dependent. Cheers!
I have plenty of those and enjoy most of them. I cannot say my focus for SACDs has been with jazz lately. It started out that way but obviously there are many more classical recordings and my interest has increased with that type of music.I have so many good jazz recordings in a live setting and the NY Sessions I really didn't hestitate in buying the ones I did. From strictly a sound quality basis, I would give the nod in buying these but I can understand how some may feel otherwise.
They are a breath of fresh air to this listener. I particularly like the CBW/Traffic and the New York Time discs. I have them all except the John Abercrombie. The new Fred Hersch disc is very good as well but it is not recorded in the church like the other ones even though it is part of the NY Sessions series. It has a very nice clean sound to it. It it is a best of compilation of previously released material.
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