JVC XRCD Extended Resolution CDs
After a hiatus, during which the label
changed ownership, JVC XRCD has resumed production with the strongest batch of CDs it has
released to date. Check out the lineup -- not a clinker in the bunch!
JOHN COLTRANE: Soultrane
(John Coltrane, tenor saxophone; Red Garland, piano; Paul Chambers. Bass; Art Taylor,
drums. VICJ-60159 CD. Bob Weinstock, prod.; Rudy Van Gelder, eng. AAD. TT: 40:01.)
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MILES DAVIS QUINTET: Workin’
(Miles Davis, trumpet; John Coltrane, tenor saxophone; Red Garland, piano; Paul Chambers,
bass; "Philly" Joe Jones, drums. VICJ-60126 CD. Bob Weinstock, prod.; Rudy Van
Gelder, eng. AAD. TT: 42:26.)
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MILES DAVIS QUINTET: Relaxin’
(Miles Davis, trumpet; John Coltrane, tenor saxophone; Red Garland, piano; Paul Chambers,
bass; "Philly" Joe Jones, drums. VICJ-60125 CD. Bob Weinstock, prod.; Rudy Van
Gelder, eng. AAD. TT: 37:08.)
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MILES DAVIS QUINTET: Cookin’
(Miles Davis, trumpet; John Coltrane, tenor saxophone; Red Garland, piano; Paul Chambers,
bass; "Philly" Joe Jones, drums. VICJ-60127 CD. Bob Weinstock, prod.; Rudy Van
Gelder, eng. AAD. TT: 34:09.)
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MILES DAVIS QUINTET: Steamin’
(Miles Davis, trumpet; John Coltrane, tenor saxophone; Red Garland, piano; Paul Chambers,
bass; "Philly" Joe Jones, drums. VICJ-60128 CD. Bob Weinstock, prod.; Rudy Van
Gelder, eng. AAD. TT: 40:11.)
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MILES DAVIS QUINTET: Miles
(Miles Davis, trumpet; John Coltrane, tenor saxophone; Red Garland, piano; Paul Chambers,
bass; "Philly" Joe Jones, drums. VICJ-60126 CD. Bob Weinstock, prod.; Rudy Van
Gelder, eng. AAD. TT: 42:26.)
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BILL EVANS: How My
Heart Sings!
(Bill Evans, piano: Chuck Israels, bass; Paul Motian, drums. VICJ-60373 CD. Orrin
Keepnews, prod.; Bill Schwartau, eng. AAD. TT: 48:55.)
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SONNY ROLLINS: The Contemporary Leaders
(Sonny Rollins, tenor saxophone; Barney Kessell, guitar; Hampton Hawes, piano; Leroy
Vinegar, bass; Shelley Manne, drums; Victor Feldman, vibes. VICJ-60244 CD. Lester Koenig,
prod.; Roy DuNann. AAD. TT: 50:28.
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SONNY ROLLINS: Way
Out West
(Sonny Rollins, tenor saxophone; Ray Brown, bass; Shelly Manne, drums. VICJ- 60088 CD.
Lester Koenig, prod.; Roy DuNann, eng. AAD. TT: 71:23.)
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SONNY ROLLINS FOUR: Saxophone Colossus
(Sonny Rollins, tenor saxophone; Tommy Flannagan, piano; Doug Watkins, bass; Max Roach,
drums. VICJ-60158 CD. Bob Weinstock, prod.; Rudy Van Gelder, eng. AAD. TT: 45:08.)
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Of course, the flip side is
that these are not exactly rarities, either. All of them have remained pretty much
continuously in print since their initial release, and some have taken advantage of at
least one, if not several, technology shifts as high-quality reissues. Which means that
the big question for some audiophiles is not whether or not the music is any good,
but whether or not to buy yet another version.
Let’s start with the simple answer: If
you don’t own any of these discs and you have even the mildest curiosity about any of
them, just buy the sucker. The XRCD sound is consistently superb and you’ll be happy,
happy, happy.
 If you already
own some iteration of these, the question gets trickier, however. Take Relaxin’,
Cookin’, Steamin’, and Workin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet, for
instance. Long before the CD era began, you had your choice of any number of LP reissues
of this material, including astonishingly cheap twofers. More recently, we’ve
seen OJC LP and CD reissues, DCC gold CDs, and Analogue Production LPs. Which is best?
The short answer is the XRCD on CD and the
Analogue Production on LP. If pressed (no pun intended), I’d probably even admit that
the Analogue Production LPs are still the edition to beat, although I have come to rely
upon CD for so much of my listening that I don’t even bother to fight that particular
battle any more.
What makes the XRCDs sound better than the DCC
reissues? Ironically, it’s the same areas that make the DCCs better than the OJCs --
there’s an even greater sense of solidity to the instrumental sound, more of a sense
of coherence, better bass, and an extended presentation of air surrounding
"Philly" Joe’s cymbals and ‘Trane’s saxophone.
How much better is it? Well, it’s not all
that subtle, but it’s not night and day. I’m tempted to fall back on the old
audiophile cliché and insist that a veil has been lifted -- actually, that’s a
pretty good analogy. It’s not as if anything substantial separated me from the music
in the first place; all the XRCD edition did was remove something almost insubstantial
that separated me from the event. Having heard the difference, I want the better one, of
course. But I feel weird suggesting that anyone owning the DCCs buy the XRCDs -- after
all, how many times can we be expected to buy the same pieces of music?
Coltrane’s Soultrane is reckoned
as one of the less crucial bits of the canon. It was released in 1958 during his period of
exploration into "sheets of sound," where he would try to play every possible
chord permutation before embarking on the next chord, yet Prestige staunchly refused to
record anything but standards and blues.
As a result, his records were far less
adventurous than his live performances, or even the records he was soon to release at
Impulse. Personally, I’ve always liked Soultrane for its sense of incredible
power under restraint. ‘Trane’s sax tone has a hard, powerful edge, as though
he’s barely capable of holding back -- and when that sense of restraint snaps in
"Russian Lullaby," it’s as though the man takes flight. It’s
exhilarating. Soultrane also includes JC’s first of many explorations of
"I Want To Talk About You" -- presented here without his signature cadenza.
Maybe Soultrane isn’t one of the
classic Coltrane records, but it’s still awfully good, and it sounds good.
Paul Chambers’ bass is solid and tuneful, while Art Taylor is about as melodic a
drummer as you’ll ever hear. Red Garland’s piano fleshes out the harmonic
envelope, warming up JC’s acerbic, assertive tone.
How My Heart Sings! was one of a pair
of concept albums that marked Evans’ return to recording after the death of Scott
Lafaro.  HMHS
was envisioned as an "uptempo" record, contrasting with the all-ballad Moon
Beams. Chuck Israel did a fine job filling the shoes of the incomparable LaFaro and
was more than up to the task of creating a coherent rhythm section with Motian. However,
there’s a sense of things being ever so slightly out of synch here -- rumor has it
that Evans did not actually tell his rhythm section what the tunes were until the day of
the sessions.
The sound here is intimate. Motian’s
incredibly sensitive drumming seems to embrace the listener, while Israel’s bass
boots him ever forward. Over this dark underpinning, Evans’ acerbic piano skitters
about, first taking the lead, then laying back and conversing with the other two
musicians. Introspective improv doesn’t get much better than this.
 The three Rollins discs are all solid winners. Saxophone
Colossus still towers imposingly over all comers -- an undisputed masterpiece from
start to finish. The album opens with "St. Thomas," a rollicking calypso and a
Rollins signature piece that mesmerizes audiences every time he plays it. Following is
that most introspective of ballads, "You Don't Know What Love Is," a bleak, but
never dull journey through the dark night of the soul. Also noteworthy is a particularly
sly reading of "Moritat," aka "Mack the Knife." The album ends with
"Blue Seven," one of the most remarkably constructed pieces of the
improvisational art ever recorded.
Factor in the phenomenal backup afforded
Rollins by Max Roach and Tommy Flannagan on this disc and you get a must-own jazz classic.
The critic's crib sheet on Rollins is that, save for his early work, his talent has never
been truly captured in his recorded work -- and I'll grant that every Rollins concert has
at least one amazing did I really hear that? moment, if not more, while his
records don't always sparkle with the same sense of creative risk-taking. But there's no
uncertainty about Saxophone Colossus: If you're only going to own one Sonny
Rollins recording, this is the one to own -- and it has never sounded better.
Way Out West is another much reissued
disc -- most famous among audiophiles for its Mobile Fidelity remastering. The XRCD is
light years better. Far more natural in tone and balance, it’s a sonic winner this
time out.
I’ve always had a bit of a problem with Way
Out West simply because I have always assumed that somebody had to have forced Rollins
to play "I’m an Old Cowhand" at gunpoint, but I’m probably wrong on
this. For one thing, he attacks the song with an almost gleeful intensity; for another
thing, looking at the cover, he’s the one with the gun. Good sound -- and
great interplay between Rollins, Manne, and Brown.
The Contemporary Leaders refers less to
a time than to a label -- all of the musicians assembled led their own recording ensembles
on the Contemporary label. Get it?
The music, however, is less forced than the
title. Rollins solos inventively on "In the Chapel In the Moonlight" and
"Rockabye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody" and he just about burns down the barn
on "I’ve Found a New Baby" and "The Song Is You." Good stuff --
but Saxophone Colossus is the single Rollins disc to own out of this bunch.
Don’t let it slip by you.
...Wes Phillips
wes@onhifi.com
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