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 1395 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl
Mastered from the Original Mastertapes
AAA 100% Analogue - Limited Edition - Audiophile Mastering - Pressed at Pallas
Speakers Corner 25 Years Pure Analogue This LP is an Entirely Analogue Production
All in all, this is a winning effort for Stitt, and a chance to appreciate his talents, even in a restrained setting. The remastered sound is an extra bonus…Sound 4/5 Audiophile Audition
General opinion has it that Sonny Stitt always stood in Charlie Parker's shadow. That, however, is unjustifiable. The legendary jazz critic Nat Hentoff wrote, for example: "Sonny has been one of the wholly involved players, well known and admired for his soul and the earthiness of his message only by musicians who feel and play like he does and by that part of the jazz audience that is most moved by naked, open emotion. He has made his mark with them as an honest yea-sayer who can't help but play what he knows and feels."
The present recording is proof of this — a session which shouldn't really have worked out so well. Sonny Stitt's alto saxophone presides over a seven-man-strong brass group, and although the prospect of a Sonny Stitt big band does not sound too promising initially, this rendezvous is really enjoyable, thanks in part to Stitt's superb solos. At this time he was on the top of his form and he plays freely over the basis provided by the brass section consisting of Blue Mitchell, Jimmy Cleveland and Willie Ruff. The arrangements by Tadd Dameron and Jimmy Mundy are closely-knit yet offer enough room for swing and a generous pinch of soul. Special highlights are contributed by the unknown, female organist Perri Lee — little groovy additions that are really successful and infuse the arrangements with a slender sound and sparkle. Although Sonny Stitt & The Top Brass may not stand in the limelight like Boss Tenors or Salt And Pepper, it is certainly on a par with these from an artistic point of view.
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: July 1962 in New York City
Production: Ahmet Ertegun
Alto Saxophone – Sonny Stitt
Arranged By – Jimmy Mundy Tadd Dameron
Bass – Joe Benjamin
Drums – Philly Joe Jones , Frank Brown
French Horn – Willie Ruff
Organ – Perri Lee
Piano – Duke Jordan
Trombone – Jimmy Cleveland, Matthew Gee
Trumpet – Blue Mitchell, Dick Vance, Reunald Jones
1. Souls Valley
2. Coquette
3. On A Misty Night
4. Stittsie
5. Poinciana
6. Boom-Boom
7. Sea Sea Rider
8. The Four Ninety
9. Hey Pam
AAA 100% 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
MADE FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES
AAA 100% ANALOGUE - PURE ANALOGUE AUDIOPHILE MASTERING
We use the Original Tapes and work with only the Best Mastering Studios Worldwide
180 GRAM VIRGIN VINYL PLATED & PRESSED AT PALLAS GERMANY
Faithful Reproduction of the Original Artwork and Labels
LIMITED EDITION Released in Limited Quantities
All Licences and Mechanical Rights Paid
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!
