Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsA great vinyl package
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 7, 2022
Let me start by saying $65 is a ridiculous price for any double album. I am still ticked at myself for paying it. I am still ticked at Bob James for allowing it. Ok, having said that...
It's a friggin' live Bob James Trio record!! I had to have it! I bought only the vinyl double album, so I cannot say anything about the dvd or hi-res download or any of that. If that's what you want, I can only guess that they will be great based on the product I have.
The album came in a high quality polyethylene envelope such as many audiophiles buy for their prized albums. Very nice touch, that. The gatefold jacket is high-quality, and the vinyl discs are sleeved in poly-lined paper Euro sleeves. The records are 180-gram and are very nicely pressed. The whole package is high quality and high class. Someone obviously cared a lot about this one. The vinyl itself is very quiet.
The Bob James Trio sounds great! This live-in-studio recording is lively and clear. The mix is dynamic and even. I have very few live albums as good, and this is likely the best-sounding Bob James album I have (which is saying quite a lot). I don't generally do song-specific reviews, but I must say that adapting some of the older songs with dense original arrangements to this trio has worked very well - far better than I would have expected.
So, to recap : a great performance of great music, super mixing & mastering, high-class audiophile packaging - what's not to love? Well, $65 is steep, but I think I'll get over it.
