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"New" version of Giant Steps

post #1 of 13
9/29/01 at 2:44am
Thread Starter 
I already owned the standard Atlantic CD (12 tracks). Today I found the 1998 Rhino version, which I had never seen before. It's a remaster (significantly better sound to my ears) with three additional "bonus" tracks (so it has the orignal 7 tracks plus 8 bonus tracks) and a nice fat booklet. It was used (but in great condition) so I picked it up for $9.95 If you like Giant Steps, you may want to hunt this one down.

P.S. I also found the original Impulse CD of "A Love Supreme" for $7.95!
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post #2 of 13
9/29/01 at 3:04pm
The original!? Well.....A Love Supreme is worth a LOT more than 7.95......in ANY form....in my opinion, of course.

How does this older CD version sound? I have the remaster - and it sounds just dandy to my young ears.

Also - Giant Steps is something, huh? It's basically unplayable...unless your name is John Coltrane....
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post #3 of 13
9/29/01 at 3:16pm
Thread Starter 
I've always loved Giant Steps -- had that one for years. I've never owned A Love Supreme (although I've heard it before and really enjoyed it).

The sound on the original issue is pretty good. I haven't seen the remaster. Coolvij, what label and catalogue number is it?
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post #4 of 13
9/29/01 at 10:36pm

Impulse 50 best imports

Alot of Tranes' Impulse discs were recently released as 96/24 imports. The bad news: they're $30. I heard they sound great though. I'll probably get the 'Live at Birdland' as this one of the few Impulse discs I don't already have or want.

PS - the 1998 Rhino 'Giant Steps' is nice sounding, and great for musicians and scholars since it contains more alternates than the original album?!

Coolvij - If you like A Love Supreme & Ascension, you should try 'Meditations' (in the same vein). You will probably start attending the Church of Trane after that though.
Truthfully, there was a Church of Coltrane here in SF that people used to attend on Sun. not kidding!
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post #5 of 13
10/3/01 at 3:48pm
Live at Birdland is definately worth getting, it's really excellent. I picked up the LP yesterday and it sounds great. I also have the original and remastered CDs. The remastered version is a little better sounding than the original CD and has one extra piece on it but they are both good.
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post #6 of 13
10/3/01 at 4:34pm
BenG: I think it's impossible to love ALL of Ascension - different parts are COMPLETELY different...tho I happen to be able to enjoy all of it especially the Freddie Hubbard and Trane solos

MacDEF: It is GRD 155 of the Impulse! catalog...a reissue produced by Mike Cuscuna...

KurtW: In what way is the remaster better (talking about Birdland, now)?
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post #7 of 13
10/4/01 at 6:04pm
coolvij, I took another listen to the two Birdland CDs. I put on one of the CDs and had to remind myself after awhile to stop grooving to the music and start listening for differences between the CDs.

The biggest difference, other than the packaging (the reissue is a three-fold cardboard instead of the standard jewelbox), is the reissue is louder. Around 10:00 for the reissue is about as loud as almost 12:00 on the volume control for the original CD. Of course your volume control may work differently but that gives you some idea. The other difference is the reissue has a little crisper high end that's notable in the cymbals. The recording in general is pretty good for a live recording but for example McCoy's left hand comes through a little louder than his right hand which is a bit distant sounding.

After I bought the LP I also compared it to the CD reissue. The reissue does sound good but the LP sounded better in the usual ways LPs sound better...more depth, more organic. I easily get lost in the music with any of the versions.
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post #8 of 13
10/4/01 at 6:39pm
KurtW: I kno this may sound silly - but I LOVE those little 3-fold cases. A lot. Everything about them feels so....right...

Of course, it IS about the music. But those cases are just so kewl.

Anyway - that's one more point for the re-issue in my book.

(it's a tight race)

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post #9 of 13
10/16/01 at 1:50pm
A Love Supreme is the stuff, especially the second track, which is maddness.

coolvij - When you said that Giant Steps is basically unplayable, unless your J.C. , you mean that it's difficult to play?

As far as the three fold CD cases go (impulse/blue note) the coolest one is the Medeski Martin & Wood "Combustication" CD.

Also, Pat Metheny does a cool cover of Giant Steps on his Trio 99/00 CD. Which also happens to be a great album.
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post #10 of 13
10/16/01 at 5:15pm
Yea - I meant that it is difficult to play. VERY difficult.

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post #11 of 13
10/17/01 at 12:29am
Hey MacDEF

We're talking about the version in the buff coloured cardboard sleeve right? I got that a few months back and can't say I was hugely impressed. Don't get me wrong, I loved the tunes, but the production wasn't what I had hoped. Both on 'phones and from speakers it's very much "left channel vs right channel" with nowt in between. I've never listened to any other versions of Giant Steps, but compared to my older version of Blue Train for me it's just not quite there.

Cheres
Hamsta
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post #12 of 13
10/17/01 at 2:12am
Thread Starter 
Hamsta:

No, the version I found is a Rhino release from 1998. It contains the original album plus 8 bonus tracks.
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post #13 of 13
10/17/01 at 6:50am
Back in 1959, we were in the midst of "ping-pong" stereo. The fidelity was good, but stereo was still kinduv foreign to producers. The 1998 Rhino is like that, however, some of the alternate takes were mixed in stereo.

As far as Blue Train goes, the Blue Note CD releases were "remixed" and don't sound like the original LP mix or even the Mofi release. Original Bluenote albums had a wide stereo spread but the middle of the stage was filled out by piano & bass. I frankly like the orignal mix better than the 1997 "Ultimate Blue Train" - it's a little too mono-ized.

Some "remastered' CDs are remixed to the point where they are almost mono. Take a listen to the Bluenote RVG series CDs.
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