JSngry Posted February 11, 2004 Report Share Posted February 11, 2004 Just out on WB. Sounds like they got rid of the godawful compression that made listening to the old LP a bit of a "challenge" for me. So that's one piece of good news. But the REAL news is w/the three bonus cuts, two of which are significantly "better", I think, than some of the things that made it to the original - "Love Me" & "How About You?". Great stuff, truly great. Warm, deep, and ferociously swinging. Between this one and Chuck's forthcoming reissue of ALL MUSIC, anybody looking to get into (or deeper) Warne is gonna be well-served. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
couw Posted February 11, 2004 Report Share Posted February 11, 2004 I've been giving this one a couple of spins and have been enjoying it a lot. I have yet to sit down with it though and listen more attentively to the two horns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluerein Posted February 11, 2004 Report Share Posted February 11, 2004 Apart from Lou Levy who has lost it a bit imo this is a great session. I didn't know it before this new Warner issue and it sounds fine (a bit 70's) but OK. A good mid price Warner issue and they are continuing this series so that's good news too. Cheers, Reinier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
relyles Posted February 11, 2004 Report Share Posted February 11, 2004 I have the LP and always found it to be somewhat less enjoyable than the controversial Marsh/Lew Tabackin pairing, which I love. Maybe the improved sound and the bonus material may make this reissue worth hearing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted February 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2004 I have the LP and always found it to be somewhat less enjoyable than the controversial Marsh/Lew Tabackin pairing, which I love. Maybe the improved sound and the bonus material may make this reissue worth hearing. Controversial? How so, Ron? Haven't heard that, not yet anyway. And yeah, the sound has been REALLY improved. This one was a bit of a "sensation" in my circle of friends back in ye olde college days, because for most of them, it was their first exposure to Warne. Major label, etc. But DAMN did the sound bug me - it didn't sound like Warne at all, but more like a chariacture of him (that and the occasional Becker/Fagin (I assume) induced massive overdubbing on one cut that's just WAAAY over the top (even if it does take the Clare Fischer chart on "Lennie's Pennies" as inspiration, or so it seems to me)). WARNE OUT came out not too long after, and I played it for some of my same buds, and their reaction was "Oh, so that's what he REALLY sounds like". And trust me dude, those two bonus cuts I mentioned are BAAAAADDDD!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim R Posted February 11, 2004 Report Share Posted February 11, 2004 Apart from Lou Levy who has lost it a bit imo this is a great session. Anybody else got an opinion about Lou on this? I'm just curious- I'm a pretty big fan of Lou (maybe even especially from this era), but that's really developed since the time I had the LP (20...? years ago), so I don't really recollect his performance on this (yes, I let go of the LP... sorry! B) Happened across a nice big jpg, so for those who ain't familiar with this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted February 11, 2004 Report Share Posted February 11, 2004 I just got this and love it. Saw Christlieb once in concert and was knocked out. Only other thing I knew him for was a a version of "Prelude to a Kiss" on the Glengarry -Glenross soundtrack. I wish the liner notes said a bit more about the 3 bonus cuts. And what's with the sound of Levy's piano? Especialy in the higher keys it sounds metallic and harpsichord-like. Is that because of the piano he's using or is it just the way it's miked? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
relyles Posted February 11, 2004 Report Share Posted February 11, 2004 (edited) Controversial? How so, Ron? Haven't heard that, not yet anyway. Maybe "controversial" is too strong a word. I can not remember the details, but I recall reading somewhere that there was some tension between Marsh and Tabackin that may have arose either during or after the recording of Tenor Gladness related to some comments Marsh made. I probably read it in the Marsh bio. Edited February 11, 2004 by relyles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted February 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2004 I think it was recorded with a Steely Dan-eque "cleanliness" in mind, but that's just a guess. What bugged me was all the compression (again, just a guess, I'm no engineer) they put on the horns. Just plain ol' butt-ugly. But it seems to be gone now. Jim, Levy sounds fine here, I think, and also contributes some short but nice reminiscences to the liner note addendum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted February 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2004 Maybe "controversial" is too strong a word. I can not remember the details, but I recall reading somewhere that there was some tension between Marsh and Tabackin that may have arose either during or after the recording of Tenor Gladness related to some comments Marsh made. I probably read it in the Marsh bio. Oh, I hear you. You mean how Warne vibed Tabackin about playing "the black way", meaning imitative. Funny, but he seemed to have gotten along great w/the every-bit-as-much "black"-rooted Christlieb. Go figure. You never know what kind of stuff goes on between personalities, or what kind of attitude they bring to the gig with them on any given day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
relyles Posted February 11, 2004 Report Share Posted February 11, 2004 Yep Jim, thats it. So have you heard Tenor Gladness? If so, how would you compare it to Apogee? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted February 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2004 Same thing, only different, if you know what I mean. Definitely not as "friendly" of an interaction as APOGEE, but plenty of good music gets played nevertheless. I wasn't surprised to hear of the tension. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
relyles Posted February 11, 2004 Report Share Posted February 11, 2004 Same thing, only different, if you know what I mean. Definitely not as "friendly" of an interaction as APOGEE, but plenty of good music gets played nevertheless. I wasn't surprised to hear of the tension. Yeah, I know what you mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted February 12, 2004 Report Share Posted February 12, 2004 I was after that LP after reading the ***** review in down beat, but was disappointed by the sound - Roger Nichols, the guy who did most Steely Dan records. Maybe that was their idea of how a jazz record should sound. Took me years to find it and now I read the CD sound is better .... I never heard two tenors so intertwined. Christlieb is one bad motorcycle. Great music. I need more Warne Marsh - hell I need more money for buying CDs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted February 12, 2004 Report Share Posted February 12, 2004 I need more Warne Marsh - hell I need more money for buying CDs! You're not the only one! Yeah, I like this a lot. Something about the sound still sounds a bit funny to me, but I'll take people's word that it's a whole lot better than the original LP. (Actually, a lot of albums from the seventies have something wrong with the sound, to me anyway.) When I bought the CD a few days ago I didn't even know the thing was produced by Becker and Fagan until I got it home and looked at the liners. What a dream come true, getting to produce a session by a couple of your jazz heroes. So far I like the music, but I've got to listen to it a lot more closely. Some new liners putting the album into historical perspective and talking about the bonus cuts would have been nice. Oh, well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted February 16, 2004 Report Share Posted February 16, 2004 (edited) "Blow" screwed up a bunch of ears - musicians, producers and engineers at that time. Their highs went away. Microphone choices, piano tunings and equalizations while recording and mastering came into play. Easy to tell the "pop" influence here. Edit to add producers to the first sentence. Edited February 16, 2004 by Chuck Nessa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJ Posted March 28, 2004 Report Share Posted March 28, 2004 (edited) Chuck, I'm not sure if by "highs went away" you mean that somehow blow impacted on their ability to hear in the higher end of the range, but if so, that would definitely explain the sound on APOGEE as I hear it. Never heard the LP, but even on CD, which I'm sure has been improved, it's almost painfully bright and brittle sounding. Musically, for people who are contemplating taking the plunge, this is a good one, easily worth it for die hard fans of jazz tenor and/or Marsh, although to me the parts are way greater than the sum. For example, it's fascinating to hear the contrast between Christlieb and Marsh's playing styles, but the music doesn't really sound like a compelling group effort beyond the almost unbelievably tight interwoven playing by the tenors on the heads. Marsh sounds much more in sync with what's going on with the rhythm section here than Christlieb, who often sounds as though he's wandered into the wrong session. Other than his playing on pop records like with Steely Dan, I'm not that familiar with Christlieb, but on the evidence here his playing, while technically amazing, sounds like more bluster and emoting than deep substance. It's almost comical sometimes when set alongside Marsh's way more lived-in and mature playing. Listen to the opening track and the contrast (both in temperment and musical quality) between the two tenor solos and you'll see what I mean...I literally burst out laughing in delight, listening in the car on the way home, as the music moves to a whole other level when Marsh comes in and starts working his idiosyncratic magic after Christlieb has spent several minutes gratuitously napalming the studio. Edited March 28, 2004 by DrJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted March 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2004 I've had the same "Warne vs Christlieb" thing myself for years. Yet Warne truly dug Christlieb as a player and as a person. Go figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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