ShowsOn

I can't find a full track listing for the Evans set anywhere, so I can't figure out if it has alternate takes or if it is just the plain albums as originally issued. The OJC CDs do have some alternates and sometimes bonus tracks recorded at the same session(s) that couldn't fit on an LP.

Hi all Does anyone know if the Bill Evans Complete Riverside & Milestone box here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Riverside-Milestone-Albums-1956-63/dp/B004I289FE/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1415107732&sr=1-1&keywords=bill+evans+riverside Includes all the same alternate takes that are on the Concord Riverside box here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Riverside-Recordings-BOX-SET/dp/B000000ZG4/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1415107732&sr=1-3&keywords=bill+evans+riverside

Is the piano louder on this new release? I was listening to the album tracks from The Classic Quartet box and was disappointed to hear how low the piano is on the left channel (along with the bass). Have they corrected that in the re-mix by making the piano louder? The drums on the right channel are just so much louder on the Quartet box version.

The sticker is very easy to remove.

The Hoffman board tends to be pretty anti-reverb I think in part because their host is anti-reverb. Sometimes reverb can be OK, but there is a HEAP of reverb on the Japanese CD, I think in an attempt to create a pseudo stereo effect. The Bootleg 2 CD is dry as a bone in comparison. I'm adding more comparison clips to the above post as I go.

I've got that CD. The Bootleg 2 version has a much drier sound with better separation between the instruments. The Japanese CD has a lot of reverb added, and everything seems shifted to the left a bit as if the tape wasn't aligned properly. There is also a lot more high frequency on the Japanese version which I think is annoying because of the cymbal crashes. I prefer the bootleg version, it is more detailed, better base, and doesn't have the irritating high frequencies. It is also dead centre rather than everything seeming to be slightly left of centre. I'll post some samples alter. It is on mono isn't it? To me the Japanese version sounds like it is a mono tape that has been transferred on a stereo playback head that wasn't perfectly aligned. This means the left channel is slightly louder than the right channel, even though it is the same actual signal on each channel. Listen carefully to the instruments, they are all in a line, but that line sits slightly to the left because the left channel is louder. Listen to the crowd at the start, it clearly comes from the left channel more than the right even though this is a mono recording simply because of the way the tape was transferred. The new box version is perfect mono - dead centre - suggesting it was transferred using a mono playback head and has a completely dry sound - no added reverb. I think there is also some processing on the Bootleg box version to reduce some of the worst distortion. Now the Japanese version has a lot of reverb added, and the reverb is kind of stereo, there seems to be more on the left channel than the right channel because it is louder. This creates a pseudo stereo effect, kind of like "Duophonic" even though it is a mono recording. Here is sample with the Japanese CD first and the Bootleg Series 2 CD second.: Directions: http://min.us/lwsV1JKwAiuNA Miles Runs to Voodoo Down: http://min.us/lJ6SdVBDKc58L (The added reverb on the Japanese CD is really obvious on this clip, the trumpet has like a constant echo behind it which just makes the distortion even louder). Milestones: http://min.us/lbcBo5syvVAdZh Footprints: http://min.us/ldEN7SjkV6qZl 'Round Midnight: http://min.us/ljZtcfMGtYmtM Clearly very different sounding CDs, as to which one is 'better' I'll let you all decide.

I received my copy in Australia from Amazon Germany yesterday. It shipped on the 25th, so it took just 9 days to arrive. Yes it does have an ugly German video classification sticker on the bottom left corner, but it is a removable sticker. You can remove it quite easily without damaging the cover. The DVD is in NTSC and region free. My guess is they did it in NTSC to avoid the need for any pitch correction because PAL video runs 4% faster. The picture quality is really nice! I've got that CD. The Bootleg 2 version has a much drier sound with better separation between the instruments. The Japanese CD has a lot of reverb added, and everything seems shifted to the left a bit as if the tape wasn't aligned properly. There is also a lot more high frequency on the Japanese version which I think is annoying because of the cymbal crashes. I prefer the bootleg version, it is more detailed, better base, and doesn't have the irritating high frequencies. It is also dead centre rather than everything seeming to be slightly left of centre. I'll post some samples alter.

Unfortunately the mastering on those is truly awful. They are basically brickwalled like the latest rock / pop album.

If you like this album get the Analogue Productions SACD. I have owned 4 other copies of this album, but none of them are as good as the A.P. SACD. The A.P. doesn't have any weird treble boosted E.Q. that the two RVG mastered versions I have heard have. I even owned the RVG mastered single layer SACD, but that disc suffers from boosted high frequencies that make the cymbals sound annoying. The A.P. version has a very natural tone and full dynamic range so you get to hear the very dynamic way that Elvin Jones plays. The compression on the RVG version just evens out the drums so it is as if Jones is playing with the same intensity for all of each movement, which just isn't the case. The only thing that may annoy some people about the A.P. version is that the channels aren't narrowed at all, so it has a very wide stereo image from Coltrane on the far left to the drums on the far right with the piano and bass in the centre. I understand this annoys some people, but if you compare it to the RVG CD, the drums are panned in a lot, whereas the sax isn't panned in as much, so it has this strange unsymmetrical stereo image which I think sounds strange. I can't recommend the A.P. SACD highly enough, it will be worth a fortune when it goes out of print because it is the most natural sounding version of this album that just sounds great at any volume. I had a bunch of comparison MP3s on my computer that compared the same short sections of 5 versions. I will upload them and add the links to this thread if I can find them.

For anyone who doesn't have it, the Cool Revolutions box is going to be an Amazon Black Friday deal in 3.5 hours from now: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003YVNZ2M?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Woah! Even on Sunflower? The difference on that one is enormous. The Legacy disc is almost mono, whereas the Masterworks disc is wide stereo.

I'm pretty sure they are the same. Who is credited for the mastering? I have SEEN many EPIC / Legacy CTI releases in both jewel cases and digipaks. I strongly doubt they used different mastering as well as different packaging.

Hi and welcome! I have uploaded a heap of CTI comparisons here that you may be interested in: http://stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=6860483&postcount=1 Most of my comparisons are the old CBS and Epic / Legacy versions compared to the new Masterworks versions. I find that I prefer the sound of the Masterworks versions, but sometimes the differences are very small. Some examples, e.g. Milt Jackson's Sunflower the differences are huge. The Legacy version is very, very narrow stereo, whereas the Masterworks version is very wide stereo, which gives the album a completely different feel, so it is nice owning both versions.

I would go for such a Mosaic set for sure! The AllMusic review of Jackpot says that the piano was out of tune, so maybe there's something to your theory that Brubeck himself has held up some reissues. On the other hand, it seems that a lot of the mid to later 1960s albums are the ones that haven't been released, so maybe Legacy just doesn't think they will sell?

Sony should reissue The Last Time We Saw Paris: http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-last-time-we-saw-paris-r135992