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"The Sound of Jazz" restoration sample on YouTube

jay2b2

By jay2b2
in Miscellaneous Music

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BERIGAN Newbie

BERIGAN

Posted
Posted

Jay2b2, 1st, thanks for posting this! I was really amazed at both the picture and sound, though I could only play it for 2:05 of the 9 minutes. Anyone else have that problem???

secondly, 4 posts in 2 + years??? Still a newbie???? :huh: Time to get cracking here! ^_^

Dave Garrett Explorer

Dave Garrett

Posted
Posted (edited)

This is the same company that worked on the kinescopes of Elvis' appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show which were released on DVD not too long ago. I believe one of the principals is or was a "Gort" at the Steve Hoffman forums.

They have a blog (or they're at least somehow affiliated with one - not sure of the exact relationship) as well - there's a piece talking about the Elvis DVDs here.

Edit: a little more digging turned this up: LiveFeed Video Imaging

Edited by Dave Garrett
medjuck Proficient

medjuck

Posted
Posted

I hope this means that there will be a DVD releaseof it. I tried to get a legitimate release of it through CBS who own it but they claimed that the Musicians Union wanted way too much money. (The musicians were hired for a tv show only.) I wanted to add Milt Hinton's photos from that day and to interview Nat Hentoff. I'd still like to hear what Hentoff has to say: I know he's very proud of it but I'd like to know more about the tv show and the Lp that came out: eg: why aren't Monk and Gerry Mulligan on the record?

I think I read somewhere that Mulligan wanted double scale. I presume they just thought Monk was too far out.

Kevin Segura Newbie

Kevin Segura

Posted
Posted

Ahh-- so **this** is why my ears were burning... :)

Hi, everyone-- greetings from the land of rain, submerged freeways and LiveFeed!

I thought I'd better step in to say that for now (unfortunately), Billie's classic clip is only a teaser... I haven't been hired to do an official restoration of it, at this point. To be perfectly frank, I only learned of the existence of the show about 3 months ago, but I was so taken with the performance (particularly Lester Young's astounding solo), that I wanted to experiment with the clip.

And actually, the video transfer I worked with is not optimal-- it's a pretty good print, but the film-to-tape transfer was done on a "blendy" old telecine, which noticeably hampers my restoration efforts. Still, a nice improvement, though.

I **do** have some exciting news about another famous jazz program... but I'm afraid I'll have to keep it under my hat for now. Let's just say it'll bear WATCHing, if everything works out right... :D

In any event, thanks for welcoming a jazz newbie here!

All the best,

-Kevin Segura

LiveFeed Video Imaging

medjuck Proficient

medjuck

Posted
Posted

I think the best print of it as at the UCLA tv archive. Given to them by Jack Smight the director. Maybe you could borrow it for a restoration. (Fat chance-- but I do know the head of the archive who's a music fan and I'll ask him the next time I see him. No-one should hold their breath.

Dave James Newbie

Dave James

Posted
Posted

I'd just about kill for a rework of The Sound of Jazz. If this clip is any indication, I'm willing to wait for the rest of the story.

Every time I see that clip of Lester Young, it fascinates me. I mean I love Ben's break and Hawk's, but Prez's solo is head and shoulders above the others. The absolute epitome of style, taste and economy.

Up over and out.

Kevin Segura Newbie

Kevin Segura

Posted
Posted (edited)

I think the best print of it as at the UCLA tv archive. Given to them by Jack Smight the director. Maybe you could borrow it for a restoration. (Fat chance-- but I do know the head of the archive who's a music fan and I'll ask him the next time I see him. No-one should hold their breath.

I think there is very little assistance coming from that quarter-- earlier this year, I offered to donate my services to the UCLA Television Archive, with an offer to restore any program they had in their collection (just to give them something they could use as a showcase for an upcoming exhibition, or simply to demonstrate what the original live broadcast of one of their shows looked like)-- and was turned down by the head of the archive, for the explicit reason that they were afraid that the material would at some point be illegally distributed.

Now, although I hate to sound like a stuffed shirt, as someone who was simply offering a gift to the Archive, and as someone who has previously been entrusted with the restoration of some of the most musically and culturally significant broadcasts that have ever aired on American television, I found that response to be not only rude, but professionally insulting as well.

So I don't particularly expect to hear from them anytime soon... :)

As I'm sure everyone here knows, there are several broadcasts from the 1957-1959 era that could (and should) be properly restored, even if they can't immediately be cleared for broadcast or home video. I'm willing to do that work-- but it's going to take some cooperation from the archives to accomplish that goal.

-Kevin

Edited by Kevin Segura
AllenLowe Proficient

AllenLowe

Posted
Posted (edited)

just curious - what is entailed in the restoration of these things? is it software, real-time processing, etc?

by the way, the UCLA archive attitude is not uncommon, in my experience - there's a weird thing that seems to happen to some of these institutions, they forget that the idea is access and education, not restriction and exclusivity -

Edited by AllenLowe
Kevin Segura Newbie

Kevin Segura

Posted
Posted

Allen:

It's computer-based restoration... with a lot of human tweaking. And boy, do I **wish** it was real-time... !!

As an FYI to everyone-- the "Fine and Mellow" clip in question will be replaced shortly with another (better) restoration of the performance-- fortunately, through a fair amount of digging, I found some **marvelous** (and usable) source material, so Billie's & Company's legendary performance will be given the full LiveFeed treatment!

And I must say, I'm very glad to be able to bring this piece back to life... :D

-Kevin

mikeweil Veteran

mikeweil

Posted
Posted

Prez's solo on that is one of the most perfect moments in recorded jazz - especially on the turn around into the end of the chorus

... all the more considering the general condition he was in at the time! I love that solo! (And the looks Lady Day gave him.)

brownie Rookie

brownie

Posted
Posted

Even with the bad quality video, the magic operated!

The two minutes that can be watched now makes me hope that the full version will be available soon.

This is a superb and much needed restoration :tup

catesta Newbie

catesta

Posted
Posted

Even with the bad quality video, the magic operated!

The two minutes that can be watched now makes me hope that the full version will be available soon.

This is a superb and much needed restoration :tup

Agreed, it is a true thing of beauty.

RDK Newbie

RDK

Posted
Posted

just curious - what is entailed in the restoration of these things? is it software, real-time processing, etc?

by the way, the UCLA archive attitude is not uncommon, in my experience - there's a weird thing that seems to happen to some of these institutions, they forget that the idea is access and education, not restriction and exclusivity -

Don't I know it. I was doing some film research at UCLA a while ago, helping out a friend on a book, and they treat you like you're stealing state secrets. I felt most uncomfortable.

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