Customer Reviews

Back to Back + Side by Side - Complete Recordings

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This album may not end up at the very top of some best jazz albums of all time list where albums like Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" or Dave Bruebek "Time Out" sit but for me this one will always be on the top of my short list of albums I would take with me on a desert island. Where this album excels is this small group is so laid back and relaxed that it is very easy on my ears. On a personal note a couple of years ago I was having some major health issues and this was the album that I brought with to hospital waiting rooms to help me calm down and relax. It would help every time. I could easily escape as I waited for tests to be done to find out what was wrong with me. Since then, anytime I have a stressful day, I can put the headphones on, sit back, and relax.

Most of the tracks featured here are classic blues... some of which are W.C. Handy standards that date back to the very early 20th century. This album is one of the many Duke Ellington small group albums Duke participated in in the late 50s thru the early 60s. The fact that it is a small group makes it more easy to listen to since there aren't a bunch of soloists fighting for attention. One thing that really makes this album special is Johnny Hodges alto sax; I have always enjoyed his style of playing and he is of course very prominent on every track. Duke on the piano is a plus as well. I never thought I would say this on a Duke Ellington album but the guitar playing by Les Spann is really enjoyable to listen to as well. Reminds me a little of listening to classic Les Paul tracks.

Now about THIS new remastered version of the album. The first version of this album I got was in 1997 and they did a wonderful job on it but this version with the "24 bit digital mastering" did an even better job. I always love it when I am listening a newly remastered album that I have loved over the years and be able to hear so much more detail. I can hear breathing, movement by the players, and even some distant voices that I never heard before... not even on the vinyl version have I heard this much detail. So if you are a fan of this album it is definitely worth checking out. Other changes with this issue is the track order has changed a bit from the classic versions. According to the liner notes the order was changed to the chronological order. Another addition was three tracks from the companion album "Side By Side". The tracks taken from "Side By Side" were the only tracks recorded during the same session and the only tracks from that album to feature Duke. If LPs back in the day could hold more songs, it is highly likely these songs would have been on the original "Back to Back" album. In regards to the liner notes there is nothing new. The brief new notes are the same notes featured in the description of the album here on Amazon and the other liner notes were just a reprint of the original.

If you are looking for a great laid back album that is great for relaxing or used as background music, this is the CD and the version of this album to get.