SR-71Panorama
Headphoneus Supremus
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This next piece is now in my top 10 of all time. It is The Dave Brubeck Quartet’s 1963 performance At Carnegie Hall. It is a Sony double CD selection that has been remastered.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...EL._SS500_.jpg
To start, I should note that I am relatively new to the jazz genre. My musical library is largely comprised of various iterations of Rock, Pop and Metal, as this was my background as a teenager, and before joining the Headfi community, where I have since developed an appetite for more forms of music. One of the first jazz albums I acquired was the inexpensive, yet lavish sounding Time Out. It was that Brubeck classic that really got my toe tapping, and made me wonder how it would sound performed live. As the widely excepted opinion goes, live jazz is the best jazz. I am happy to report this album gives serious weight to that line of thinking. Before reading any further, take a minute to open up Amazon in your browser, and purchase this item. Trust me.
With that out of the way, let’s get started.
Drums. At Carnegie Hall has possibly the best sounding drums of any CD in my collection of about 7, 800 songs. I attribute this to two factors. First being the nature of live performances, in their innate ability to give musicians new found fervor in their playing. Second would be how the concert was recorded. While this is pure speculation, my guess would be that there was a minimal amount of microphones used and minimal amount of EQ-ing performed. Regardless, they are for all intents and purposes flawless. They give the songs more gusto than their studio treatment, both in dynamics as well as tactile sensation. Listening to For All We Know, I noticed Joe Morello’s overall tone is tight, and controlled, while avoiding compression of any type. Yet peppered throughout the song are occasional rolls and double hits – particularly on the tom toms – that contain a loose feel. It is quite apparent, as you can hear a multitude of transients and other characteristics in these well-placed notes. It is hard to describe grammatically, suffice it to say it is as if you are given the notes on a Petri dish to examine under a powerful microscope. Not many albums I have heard illustrate so clearly the subtle methodologies and tonal signatures of percussionists, let alone most musicians of any breed. Hell, most of the time drums are given the ‘dunce cap’ and told to sit alone in the corner and stay out of everyone’s’ way. Not here. They get to play along up front.
But the drums are not the only item to benefit from dynamics or vivid tactile sensations; the entire CD has amazing dynamics. These are long versions of short songs. There is plenty of call and response soloing, and singular soloing too. What makes this album unique to me is the way the songs are allowed to develop slowly, gradually over time. ‘Its what they don’t play’ as the saying goes. Dave and the boys often play an intro, complete with melody line to identify the song, then take it back down a notch, and distill the song down to its very core elements. At times even as little as individual half notes and sustained pauses in between, but ultimately build back up to original tempo, only to surpass it climatically. Silent passages, quiet interludes, loud rim shots; they’re all here.
Intertwined with the dynamics are the sense of timing, and its wonderful inclusion of the audience. No, there aren’t clap-alongs, but many of the songs are broken up by unexpected stops and over emphasis of passages by various band mates, particularly Joe Morello. Audience laughter verifies the effect.
But the timing is often where I feel Desmond and Brubeck earn their keep; it is more inherent of drummers to bang out odd time signatures, but it is less common for other instruments, as far as I can tell. Brubeck often plays on the beat, and then gradually shifts to playing behind it, and over the duration of a few bars winds up in front of it, all the while answering call and response improve with Paul Desmond and Co. Again, For All We Know is a prime example of this. I feel that the interplay between musicians, when added to the audience inclusions really help to keep the long songs from becoming boring. It prevents the music from becoming removed and isolated. But don’t worry, the effect is not overdone. I know I enjoyed hearing Brubeck do this, as his role on Time Out was more of band leader, and extensive chordal work. He gets a chance to display his chops in this performance.
There are only two negative items I can think to mention. The first would be that this album is so broad and has such long songs that it really demands your undivided attention. I prefer to listen to this album with eyes closed, rather than surfing the net. I feel it’s the only way to really appreciate it to the fullest. Admittedly, I have had it on while surfing, but its magical qualities were lessened because of it. Now I know better. Lastly, despite wonderful tonality and sound quality throughout, the audience cheers in-between songs do tend to grate on me after a while. There is a harsh treble spike on many of them, most notably on Pennies From Heaven and Bossa Nova USA.
To summarize, At Carnegie Hall is in my top 10 albums from my collection, and I don’t anticipate its departure any time soon, if ever. This is an album that is best when played in its entirety, with your full attention. As far as drum tone goes, it just doesn’t get any better than this. Fans of the Who’s Live At Leeds should hear it for this attribute alone; they will likely find another favorite live drum album.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...EL._SS500_.jpg
To start, I should note that I am relatively new to the jazz genre. My musical library is largely comprised of various iterations of Rock, Pop and Metal, as this was my background as a teenager, and before joining the Headfi community, where I have since developed an appetite for more forms of music. One of the first jazz albums I acquired was the inexpensive, yet lavish sounding Time Out. It was that Brubeck classic that really got my toe tapping, and made me wonder how it would sound performed live. As the widely excepted opinion goes, live jazz is the best jazz. I am happy to report this album gives serious weight to that line of thinking. Before reading any further, take a minute to open up Amazon in your browser, and purchase this item. Trust me.
With that out of the way, let’s get started.
Drums. At Carnegie Hall has possibly the best sounding drums of any CD in my collection of about 7, 800 songs. I attribute this to two factors. First being the nature of live performances, in their innate ability to give musicians new found fervor in their playing. Second would be how the concert was recorded. While this is pure speculation, my guess would be that there was a minimal amount of microphones used and minimal amount of EQ-ing performed. Regardless, they are for all intents and purposes flawless. They give the songs more gusto than their studio treatment, both in dynamics as well as tactile sensation. Listening to For All We Know, I noticed Joe Morello’s overall tone is tight, and controlled, while avoiding compression of any type. Yet peppered throughout the song are occasional rolls and double hits – particularly on the tom toms – that contain a loose feel. It is quite apparent, as you can hear a multitude of transients and other characteristics in these well-placed notes. It is hard to describe grammatically, suffice it to say it is as if you are given the notes on a Petri dish to examine under a powerful microscope. Not many albums I have heard illustrate so clearly the subtle methodologies and tonal signatures of percussionists, let alone most musicians of any breed. Hell, most of the time drums are given the ‘dunce cap’ and told to sit alone in the corner and stay out of everyone’s’ way. Not here. They get to play along up front.
But the drums are not the only item to benefit from dynamics or vivid tactile sensations; the entire CD has amazing dynamics. These are long versions of short songs. There is plenty of call and response soloing, and singular soloing too. What makes this album unique to me is the way the songs are allowed to develop slowly, gradually over time. ‘Its what they don’t play’ as the saying goes. Dave and the boys often play an intro, complete with melody line to identify the song, then take it back down a notch, and distill the song down to its very core elements. At times even as little as individual half notes and sustained pauses in between, but ultimately build back up to original tempo, only to surpass it climatically. Silent passages, quiet interludes, loud rim shots; they’re all here.
Intertwined with the dynamics are the sense of timing, and its wonderful inclusion of the audience. No, there aren’t clap-alongs, but many of the songs are broken up by unexpected stops and over emphasis of passages by various band mates, particularly Joe Morello. Audience laughter verifies the effect.
But the timing is often where I feel Desmond and Brubeck earn their keep; it is more inherent of drummers to bang out odd time signatures, but it is less common for other instruments, as far as I can tell. Brubeck often plays on the beat, and then gradually shifts to playing behind it, and over the duration of a few bars winds up in front of it, all the while answering call and response improve with Paul Desmond and Co. Again, For All We Know is a prime example of this. I feel that the interplay between musicians, when added to the audience inclusions really help to keep the long songs from becoming boring. It prevents the music from becoming removed and isolated. But don’t worry, the effect is not overdone. I know I enjoyed hearing Brubeck do this, as his role on Time Out was more of band leader, and extensive chordal work. He gets a chance to display his chops in this performance.
There are only two negative items I can think to mention. The first would be that this album is so broad and has such long songs that it really demands your undivided attention. I prefer to listen to this album with eyes closed, rather than surfing the net. I feel it’s the only way to really appreciate it to the fullest. Admittedly, I have had it on while surfing, but its magical qualities were lessened because of it. Now I know better. Lastly, despite wonderful tonality and sound quality throughout, the audience cheers in-between songs do tend to grate on me after a while. There is a harsh treble spike on many of them, most notably on Pennies From Heaven and Bossa Nova USA.
To summarize, At Carnegie Hall is in my top 10 albums from my collection, and I don’t anticipate its departure any time soon, if ever. This is an album that is best when played in its entirety, with your full attention. As far as drum tone goes, it just doesn’t get any better than this. Fans of the Who’s Live At Leeds should hear it for this attribute alone; they will likely find another favorite live drum album.
