Customer Reviews

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5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I read the first review of this album while listening to poor quality previews on good headphones. It sounded fine, contrary to the opinion of the piano tech. I decided to ignore the review and buy the cd. I was not disappointed. First from a purely "sound quality" point of view this cd compares very favourably to a steinway played by Benny Green and recorded by Rudy von Gelder. The Yamaha is a tad brighter, but not objectionably so. Then there's the performance. It is almost too good. Chick casts an incredible spell that you just don't want to end. Please don't be discouraged by the tech babble review: this is a sterling performance by any standard.

First of all, I'm not an audiophile who has first rate equipment, so I cannot comment on the quality of recording...

I like the music.

Personally, I would prefer a bit more swinging affair, but this album is not of the swinging sort (after all, Corea was regarded as one of the best and most influential fusion keyboardists...).

This is an extremely interesting and contemplative, personal revision of jazz history, containing Corea's originals, jazz classics (f. i. Monk's "Pannonica") and pop-jazz evergreens (including "Stella by Starlight" and Chaplin's "Smile")...

This is not an solo piano album for those who seek for variety, however - the range of Corea's influences and inspirations is huge, but this is Chick Corea's personal album with, perhaps, only Corea's "Blues for Art" and "Smile" giving the touch of the retro-schtick some of us jazz fans like so much...

All in all, a well-rounded and interesting modern jazz album.

Why is Chick Corea considered a harmonic master? I hear a total overconcentration on a simple form of Quartal harmony - I guess if you're being charitable you can call that "Harmonic Recomposition" (I Want To Be Happy). And he's got this strong left hand, which he basically uses to create a Smooth Jazz/Latin ostinato for each tune (Smile, for example). Somehow I've made it through a 40 - year engagement with Jazz and Jazz - related music without understanding Corea's appeal. But every once in a while somebody writes something (in this case it was an article where several pianists claimed that Bud Powell's limited harmonic sense had been superceded by pianists like Corea - as if!) that makes me feel like I've really missed something. I also read Lee Konitz saying that the best performances of Monk tunes were by Corea - Lee, you're amazing, but Monk's Mood played in the style of Vince Guaraldi seems to, shall we say, miss certain salient points. And Corea phrases the melody of Pannonica as though he were Bill Murray's lounge singer on an old episode of Saturday Night Live. I don't get it folks, I don't - times like these, I just think I don't really like the piano - gotta go clear the palate w/Webern Opus 27, or something like that. And, as for Bud Powell, the cover of Oblivion - what is it? A bunch of pianistic tricks: a little Stride, some "Bachian Counterpoint", a bunch of Whole -Tone substitutions, a Double - Time section. Very flashy, in a respectfully unflashy way.

It's all too much. And not enough. In some sense, I'm surely wrong - 50 Million Frenchmen, and all that. But there it is: another hour out of my life, listening to pleasant Jazz Piano, looking for something to love, and not finding it. Eh oui.

As a long-time recording engineer and jazz producer, I must also rebut the first review of this recording. At one time fairly early in my career, I realized that I no longer enjoyed some of my previously favorite music because of poor recording quality. That was the wake-up call to end all wake-up calls. To lose my ability to enjoy music because I loved it so much that I chose it as my work seemed particularly cruel. Fortunately, I was able to overcome that problem just by having the realization, because I had no intention of giving up either my career or any of my favorite music. I sincerely hope the author of the original tech review is able to overcome his apparent "enjoyment disability" as well.

Whatever piano sound one may prefer, this is the piano the artist chose. Listen to the samples and hear for yourself. The recording is clear, and open and luminous. Yes, the piano is a bit bright, but again, not objectionably so. It's Chick at his best, it sounds great, 'nuff said.

One of the best ever listened Chic performances. No matter if you are blue or fine this is anyway a perfect CD. Chic has the ability to make his piano talk to our soul.

As a registered piano technician with a background in sound recording, I wish I could write about the content of this CD, but I could not finish listening to it because of how badly the piano sounds.

There is a common myth that runs, "Yamaha pianos are bright but shallow; Steinway pianos have a deep and powerful 'American' sound". If there is any truth to this saying, it could just as well have originated from the CD in question. In any case, this is the kind of recording that will keep Steinway & Sons sales going strong.

According to the liner notes, a Yamaha S-CF III Concert Grand was used by the artist, but in my experience as a concert tuner this particular instrument hardly represents Yamaha pianos adequately. The upper range sounds metallic and harsh, with noticeable string buzzes emanating from the cast iron plate and brass agraffes; the bass is totally lacking in depth and power, and the overall dynamics are very narrow. There is fortissimo, forte, pianissimo-but never piano. If I were to hazard a guess, it sounds like a typical used or abused music college piano that had been beaten upon for many years.

The recording engineer's method of miking the piano is also objectionable. The microphones have been placed extremely close to the soundboard of the piano, and in such a directional way as to cause all bass notes to come from the left channel and all treble notes from the right channel. Although this is to some extent how it sounds to the piano player, a piano is never experienced as such by a listener any distance away. What this peculiar placement serves up is exactly the opposite of how a piano sounds in a club, a concert hall, or any kind of room at all. As a result, sonic images fly unnervingly from side to side during runs-as if the piano itself were moving in front of the listener.

Overall, one gets the feeling that this CD was hastily recorded by amateurs, and that the final mix was never approved by the artist in the form it has been issued. The result would have been entirely different had the $100,000 plus concert grand been prepared as it should have been, and a competent engineer, who was no stranger to recording pianos, been hired. Considering the worldwide efforts of the Yamaha Corporation to raise their esteem in serious musical circles, they seem to have shot themselves in the foot with this one. It has to go down as one of those unfortunate releases that languish on the shelves and make the occasional listener wonder who was asleep at the wheel.