Customer Reviews

In Person Friday Night at the Blackhawk, Complete, Vol. 1

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Nothing to add about the organic music-making presented here. But I would like to comment on the newly remastered sound, which might invite some controversy.

I own both the original CD releases and this remastered 4-CD box set of the same performances. The sound in original CDs is brighter and more natural. I sense when they were issuing them for the first time as CDs, they added slight amount of ambience to the original source, which is dry and closely mic'ed just like any other live recording.
The new remastered sound has no ambience whatsoever, which makes the dry sonic even more prominent. But it carries more punch, edge, and clarity. Not that original releases severely lack these qualities but the new mastering just contains a lot more raw power. But it comes at the cost of revealing the flaws of the sources (microphone distortion - especially piano; breathing noise; etc). But hey, many might think they are all part of the gig.
If you have a receiver that gives you presets with difference ambience settings (e.g., Hall, Club, Stadium, etc), use it to cure the dryness. My Yamaha receiver has a preset called Jazz Club, which puts me right in Blackhawk club!

Get the Saturday Night disc too, for the complete experience. This is the album that introduced me to Miles Davis, and it remains my favorite live album ever.