Customer Reviews

On This Day

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

 

 

While the music on this live CD can't be faulted (Lovano is incapable of playing a boring note), the sound is just terrible. It's extremely muddy, so much so I wondered if there was something wrong with my stereo when I put it on for the first time. I don't know why Blue Note would release such a terribly recorded CD, especially since, God knows, there have been enough stellar live recordings from the Village Vanguard, including if not especially Lovano's superlative 1994 "Quartets: Live at the Village Vanguard."

I know that I am in the minority but I think this is a beautiful sounding album. There is definitely a place for the "I can hear each and every breath" pristine ECM style recording process but that is not what you actually hear when you see a group live. It sounds to me like the engineer(s) were trying to capture this moment as it actually was, unfiltered and unfooled around with. It is just my opinion but I feel they succeeded masterfully and I wish more records were recorded in this manner.

Joe Lovano's latest cd, recorded live at the Village Vanguard has been receiving a lot of press, some of which has to do with the recording quality. Well, let me say that the music on this disc is 5 stars all the way. Great songs, arrangements, and solos. Joe's nonet is a superb band, and if you like Joe Lovano, or "little big bands", get this cd.

The sonic quality is not great, yet it is not horrible either. I'd say its different. It sounds a bit like some bootlegs that are recorded in the audience, but only a bit. The sound quality is not as good as most recordings from the Vanguard, includings Joe's previous recordings there. But if you are a fan of Joe Lovano and small big band recordings, I'm pretty sure you will like this cd, and will consider it money well spent.

As much as the quality of the music presented on this album cannot be faulted in any way, as little does it provide the aural pleasure one would expect from a twenty-first century recording (which is meant to say that it is now entirely possible to approach the gorgeous sound quality of fourty years ago). It needs to be contrasted with, for example, Chick Corea's "Rendez-vous in New York", even the CD layer, which does everything right soundwise (and musicwise).

I am listening to this on a very high resolution system and find that the uninvolving sound does not come from a lack of details or from distortions. Much rather, everything sounds like a permanent mute was used by all the horns (even applause sounds like the members of the audience were wearing gloves). Dynamics are largely absent, the entire band is huddled center stage with the piano wrapped around the drums. Very strange indeed. There is no air in the higher octaves etc. etc.

I can only suspect that something went seriously wrong either during the recording, or as I am more inclined to believe, during postprocessing or mastering at some very incapable hands.

What a joy this album could have been had it been recorded with a few mics and the sounds been left largely unedited. I fail to see why a live jazz album needs to be compressed this much - it won't be played on top fourty radio anyway.

Nonetheless, I am still listening because of the album's undisputed musical qualities. But my enjoyment is limited.

The sound quality of this recording sounds very similar to that of "20 Years at the Village Vanguard" by the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, recorded in 1986. Joe Lovano was in that band. The engineer on that recording,according to its liner notes, wanted to capture on record what the band would have sounded like from the best seat in the house. I think that was what the engineer was trying to do with the Lovano recording.

In my opinion, he has succeeded. I have never been to the Village Vanguard, but have listened to many CDs and LPs recorded there. This CD sounds very "live."

The overall quality of the music is superb. You can tell that the musicians have played together a great deal over the years. This is no pickup band! Just listen to how well they blend and handle the dynamics on "After the Rain" and you'll know what I'm talking about!

Well, I found that, although the sound isn't perfect it is still very good. This album is excellent, that should be obvious. I mean Joe Lovano Nonet, Village Vanguard. Joe Lovano practically lives at the Village Vanguard. It should go without saying that this is a great album.

While many have commented on the "sub-par" sound quality, I tend to side with the record company as well as the artist. Though you may consider it subpar, the recording takes away the flashyness of a traditional big band and gives it a much more personal and intimate feeling. It is as if you are in the club listening, not listening to a soundboard record. This ambient quality of the recording does not detract from the overall rating of the album; it in fact adds to the charm and beauty of this record. Artists today will sometimes do multiple takes of a tune if they are recording live in order to capture something missing or, frankly, to correct errors. We know that Blue Note has put out many exceptional live recordings, and there is nothing that should stop us from thinking this otherwise. I tend to trust that this CD was produced this way to add to the warmth and overall charm of the album.

Five stars.

This would have to be one of the worst sounding CD's I have heard. Don't get me wrong, the music is excellent. But the recording quality? It sounds as if they forgot to take the covers off the microphones. There is no excuse for this. Considering that the recording company gets the bulk of the money, what else are we paying them for other than excellent sound quality. If I was Joe Lovano, I would be hopping mad. And if Blue Note were serious about presenting their artists in the best possible light, they would admit they stuffed up big time and take Joe back to the Vanguard and do it all over again.