A UHQR Go Round For The Classic Bill Evans Village Vanguard Albums Gets Some Blowback
"one large ear, equipped only with a psyche"
Based on some of the comments on this site under the original announcement of these UHQR Bill Evans releases you might think the subtitle quote was someone's reference to Analogue Productions Chad Kassem, but it's actually from annotator Ira Gitler's original liner notes for Sunday at the Village Vanguard. His point was that being a jazz critic doesn't mean he can't melt into the music and drop the analytical side of his reviewer brain.
These two records have been doing that to "civilians" for sixty plus years nor have critics changed their opinions of these records either. They've been released countless times, sometimes finding the old fans buying new upgraded editions and sometimes, and more importantly, reaching a new, younger audience. These are a vinyl revival dream demo pair to show off what records can do to hearts and minds.
The carping "again?" folks have a point since these two records were recently released as part of Craft Recordings OJC series and very well done, also cut by Kevin Gray. I went back and compared Waltz For Debby on the Doug Sax cut referenced by Fred Kaplan in his OJC review and his analysis of the Sax cut versus Kevin Gray's on the OJC is spot on with what I heard. Sax's cut is "hi-fi exciting", Gray's OJC sounds more like a live set at the Village Vanguard—and that includes the clapping, which is scary real sounding! Kaplan gave the OJC an "11" for sound. So what does this UHQR get?
But first, consider that copies of Mobile Fidelity's outstanding out of print AAA 45rpm "One Step" of Sunday at the Village Vanguard goes for $400 and up on Discogs and elsewhere, so there's demand for this record at 45rpm and Chad Kassem claims the sell through on both of these boxes following the announcement has been brisk—and I believe him. $150 versus $400+.
The Mo-Fi ....Village Vanguard release rightly gives subtle and deftly accomplished emphasis to Scott LaFaro's bass (as F.K. points out in his review, The Village Vanguard set was chosen to highlight La Faro) without pushing it into your lap. It's easy to hear why people like that one.
So what rating does this UHQR get for sound? I've heard some people claim the Clarity vinyl is not as "quiet" as other formulations but that's not been my experience and the copies I get are not "hand picked". As well-pressed as the OJC versions are, there are definitely quieter backgrounds here. Even the most cynical among you would notice if your system was up to the quiet.
Out of that comes an even more "tape like" rendering of the tape. Wisely it doesn't sound as if Kevin Gray changed anything from however he set things up for the OJC series so the basic sound is not at all different from the OJC but what is different is an even more subtle attack precision, and the quiet and 45rpm speed produces lingering sustain and noticeably more generous decay. The differences aren't revelatory—there's only so much that can be pulled from these tapes—but they are there especially if you're listening as "one large ear, equipped only with a psyche" and not as someone trying to analyze individual elements. Plus the sound is more uniform because the stylus stays away from the inner most grooves. These are more "tape like". If we gave out 12s, these would have to get 12s but we only go up to 11.
For what you pay you're entitled to packaging perfection and both gatefold jackets feature carefully chosen paper stock, "Tip On" gatefold construction plus a wonderful selection of individual and trio photos, different ones in each box.
The OJCs are a bargain and we are lucky to have them so you can enjoy these classic albums mastered and pressed so well or you can drop the extra and get them sounding that much better and presented best. But please don't post angry responses. There's nothing to be angry about here, though yes, we hope future UHQRs will be of deserving releases that haven't yet gotten received the royal treatment.
