Search - Nat Shilkret :: More Than Satisfied

Good music, not so good restoration

martin emiliano arias | Spain | 07/07/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Music on this CD is very interesting, but two considerations must be made.





Sound restoration on some tracks is very badly done. This label's particular technique is VERY intrusive and to avoid certain noises inherent to the original source they manipulate different sections of each song separately, which maybe eliminates the unwanted noise, but creates a variable sound quality all throughout that clearly is more disturbing than the original problem. Sometimes, source even seems to be a badly shaped tape rather than a 78 (or, perhaps, what they tried to avoid was a regular noise or skip in the original 78, but to eliminate it we loose regularly fidelity and the sound of the instruments changes from second to second.

Filter techniques are so intrusive that vocals sometimes seem to be taken from outer space.



Same must be said about the Adrian Rollini issue on these same label.



On the Bubber Miley issue, it is a pity they included so many well known Ellington recordings present on lots of compilations and ommited Miley's only recordings made under his own name, during two 1931 RCA sessions.



A pity. I hope this label goes on, but uses less intrusive restoration techniques. We all known the historical interest of these records, so nobody will be to much distressed by an original unavoidable noise in a source."

Great Musicians, Great Music!

Niel Shell | Jackson Heights, NY United States | 02/05/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The title All Star Orchestra was not just an advertising ploy. It really consisted of the very finest musicians of the day. Stockdale's "Tommy Dorsey on the Slide" lists musicians for Tracks 11 and 12 which includes Tommy Dorsey, Glen Miller and Benny Goodman (and, just as well known to affectionados of the period, Joe Venuti). To the best of my knowledge, this is the only time these three luminaries were ever members of the same orchestra. Those familiar with musicians of the period will certainly recognize names such as Andy Sannella, Joe Green, Del Staigers, Harry Reser, Mike Mosiello, Nat's Shilkret's frequently-present brother, Jack, and a host of others in the personnel. The director for all tracks is Nat Shilkret, one of the most popular and influential musicians of the first half of the twentieth century. The liner notes detail many of Shilkret's accomplishments.



Although the CD would have profited from more conservative noise reduction, the audio engineering allows the average listener to satisfactorily listen to and enjoy music recorded an average of eighty years ago.



Here is a correction to the liner notes of this CD (and also the Naxos CD "Genesis Suite (1945)"): The statement "except for partial copies kept by Stravinsky and Schoenberg, the entire score [of "Genesis Suite"] was lost in a fire, at Shilkret's house" is not true! Full scores of the pieces, some in the hand of the composers, and parts are still in the Shilkret archives. The fire (actually in his son's store) is real; the cited loss is not.



Listeners who enjoy this CD may also enjoy the Shilkret CDs "The Hot Dance Sides" and "Dancing With Tears in My Eyes.""