Search - Bob Brookmeyer :: Complete 1953-54 Quintet

Poor audio quality. Bad audio transfers.

Keep It Real | Albuquerque, NM | 10/29/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I looked forward to getting this CD since I have a old ten inch LP of some of these Brookmeyer-Getz performances. Very lovely music making indeed. I hoped to hear these songs in a remastered and clean digital version. WRONG!

The bad news is that this is a very inferior product. The sound quality on some of the tracks on this CD is absolutely horrible. My 50 year old LP of this music sounds better than the first four tracks of this CD. The producers of this CD seem to have transferred some of these recordings from old, badly scratched LP records that were in very poor condition. Apparently the producers did not make use of any of the widespread digital audio methods to clean up noisy old recordings such as these. Buried within the interior of the CD jacket is a small disclaimer about the bad sound quality of some of the tracks. Would it not be better to warn potential buyers of the CD of the sonic shortcomings on the outside of the CD label - BEFORE they buy the CD? The bad sound quality is a shame because the music contains beautiful performances - when you can hear them through the scratchy, noisy hissing sounds.

Avoid this one!"

Low -Fidelity 2CDs

John M. | 04/21/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The other reviewer was happy with 10" sound quality. Well I had some of this on 12" and wasn't too thrilled with the sound. However the sound quality of the CDs is no worse than my recollection of the old 12 inch LPs - MORE WEST COAST JAZZ - and the misdated- STAN GETZ '57. Come to think of it this may have been recorded the way Norman Granz wanted it back in early 50's Los Angeles. The piano comes in well enough. The first 4 previously unreleased are the worst then it gets a bit better. STAN GETZ AT THE SHRINE with Brookmeyer actually has the better sound quality. To fill up the CD to almost 80 min. they include 2 of these studio tracks. Hear for yourself."