AAA 100% Analogue This LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head
Speakers Corner / Atlantic - SD 1537 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl -AAA 100% Analogue
Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio
Limited Edition - Audiophile Mastering - Pressed at Pallas
This Speakers Corner LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only, from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head 30 Years pure Analogue
The audio re-mastering by Speakers Corner is excellent. The overall mix has good stereo separation. The various expanded tones of the sax and trumpet are captured with vibrancy. Harris piano is clean and blends with the band seamlessly. The analog mix showcases the live intimacy of the group. The crowd noise is still prominent and mirrors the excitement on stage. The album cover and back contain the original black & white photographs .This is a great album and should be part of any jazz aficionado’s vinyl collection! Sound 5/5 Audiophile Audition
One of my “go-to” torture tests for tracking is the Speaker Corners reissue of the Swiss Movement I was blown away then, and I still am today. In the first two cuts, “Compared to What” and “Cold Duck Time,” McCann and Harris put on a saxophone and piano clinic, but it is the last-minute walk-on performance by trumpeter Benny Bailey that steals the show in my estimation. His solos push the performance to another level. Not only are they hard to track but there is a “rawness” to the sound that, if captured correctly, is amazing to hear. On the other hand, if the cartridge can’t handle the tracking, it can sound like fingernails on a chalkboard Audiobeatnik
Les McCann had already been playing his way through the clubs and record studios on the U.S. West Coast for 10 years when his appearance on June 21, 1969 at the relatively new and jazz-soaked festival in Montreux on Lake Geneva changed all that. There, he celebrated his greatest musical success, his No. 1 hit. Half ironically, but proudly in later concerts, when the piano stool could hardly bear him due to his size and weight, he stressed that Swiss Movement had supported him, his wife, children and grandchildren.
"Compared To What" is a catchy melody that is heard on the radio, again and again, all around the world, today, tomorrow and the day after ... It is unmistakable, still groovy, full of soul, humorous, stirring. And "Cold Duck Time" is no way inferior: Eddie (Eddie - who?) Harris blows for all he is worth. Everyone can hear that Benny Bailey was challenged by the unknown themes, but this maestro still managed to capture the audience's ear and attention.
Swiss Movement is, and will remain forever, a highlight among all the jazz LPs that have been recorded live and it shouldn't be missing from any collector's shelf. Along with Benny Goodman's Carnegie Hall Concert from 1938, Charlie Parker & Co.'s Massey Hall concert from 1953, and Ella Fitzgerald's Berlin concert from 1960 — and very few others.
This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.
Recording: June 1969 live at Montreux Jazz Festival
Production: Joel Dorn & Nesuhi Ertegun
Musicians:
Les McCann, piano, vocals
Eddie Harris, tenor sax
Benny Bailey, trumpet
Leroy Vinnegar, bass
Donald Dean, drums
Selections:
Live at Montreux Jazz Festival, June 1969
1. Compared To What
2. Cold Duck Time
3. Kathleen's Theme
4. You Got It In Your Soulness
5. The Generation Gap
25 Years pure Analogue
This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head 25 Years pure Analogue
Are your records completely analogue?
Yes! This we guarantee!
As a matter of principle, only analogue masters are used, and the necessary cutting delay is also analogue. All our cutting engineers use only Neumann cutting consoles, and these too are analogue. The only exception is where a recording has been made – either partly or entirely – using digital technology, but we do not have such items in our catalogue at the present time
Are your records cut from the original masters?
In our re-releases it is our aim to faithfully reproduce the original intentions of the musicians and recording engineers which, however, could not be realised at the time due to technical limitations. Faithfulness to the original is our top priority, not the interpretation of the original: there is no such thing as a “Speakers Corner Sound”. Naturally, the best results are obtained when the original master is used. Therefore we always try to locate these and use them for cutting. Should this not be possible, – because the original tape is defective or has disappeared, for example – we do accept a first-generation copy. But this remains an absolute exception for us.
Who cuts the records?
In order to obtain the most faithful reproduction of the original, we have the lacquers cut on the spot, by engineers who, on the whole, have been dealing with such tapes for many years. Some are even cut by the very same engineer who cut the original lacquers of the first release. Over the years the following engineers have been and still are working for us: Tony Hawkins, Willem Makkee, Kevin Gray, Maarten de Boer, Scott Hull, and Ray Staff, to name but a few.
At the beginning of the ‘90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the reissue policy was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC Compact Classics, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and others, including of course Speakers Corner, all maintained a mutual, unwritten code of ethics: we would manufacture records sourced only from analogue tapes.
Vinyl’s newfound popularity has led many other companies to jump on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source from which to master: CDs, LPs, digital files and even MP3s.
Even some who do use an analogue tape source employ a digital delay line, a misguided ’80s and ‘90s digital technology that replaces the analogue preview head originally used to “tell” the cutter head in advance what was about to happen musically, so it could adjust the groove “pitch” (the distance between the grooves) to make room for wide dynamic swings and large low frequency excursions. Over time analogue preview heads became more rare and thus expensive.
So while the low bit rate (less resolution than a 16 bit CD) digital delay line is less expensive and easier to use than an analogue “preview head”, its use, ironically, results in lacquers cut from the low bit rate digital signal instead of from the analogue source!
Speakers Corner wishes to make clear that it produces lacquers using only original master tapes and an entirely analogue cutting system. New metal stampers used to press records are produced from that lacquer. The only exceptions are when existing metal parts are superior to new ones that might be cut, which includes our release of “Elvis is Back”, which was cut by Stan Ricker or several titles from our Philips Classics series, where were cut in the 1990s using original master tapes by Willem Makkee at the Emil Berliner Studios. In those cases we used only the original “mother” to produce new stampers.
In addition, we admit to having one digital recording in our catalogue: Alan Parsons’ “Eye in the Sky”, which was recorded digitally but mixed to analogue tape that we used to cut lacquers.
In closing, we want to insure our loyal customers that, with but a few exceptions as noted, our releases are “AAA”— analogue tape, an all analogue cutting system, and newly cut lacquers.
60 Years Pallas
Audiophile Vinyl - Made in Germany For over 60 years the family business in the third generation of the special personal service and quality "Made by Pallas" is known worldwide. Our custom PVC formulation produces consistently high pressing quality with the lowest surface noise in the industry. Our PVC complies with 2015 European environmental standards and does not contain toxic materials such as Lead, Cadmium or Toluene. Our vinyl is both audiophile and eco-grade!
