Gary Burton Quartet – In Concert

  • This sensational jazz album boasts outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from first note to last
  • Captured live at Carnegie Hall, this recording eloquently communicates the space of the concert hall with stereo precision
  • Big, rich, and Tubey Magical, this pressing lets us hear Burton’s quartet with the energy and clarity these classic jazz performances deserve
  • 4 stars: ” The material (by Mike Gibbs, Burton, Coryell and Bob Dylan) is quite strong, and there are some hints of the avant-garde. “

*NOTE: A mark on the edge of side two plays 21 times then 2 loud pops at the beginning of track 1

This Stereo pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records cannot even BEGIN to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing signs of coming back. If you love hearing INTO a recording, actually being able to “see” the performers, and feeling as if you are sitting in the concert hall, this is the record for you. It’s what Vintage Records are known for — this sound.

If you exclusively play modern repressings of vintage recordings, I can say without fear of contradiction that you have never heard this kind of sound on vinyl. Old records have it — not often, and certainly not always — but maybe one out of a hundred new records do, and those are some pretty long odds.

What is lost in these newly remastered recordings? Lots of things, but the most obvious and bothersome is TRANSPARENCY. And the loss of transparency in a live recording is practically the kiss of death.

Two Exceptionally Good Sounding Sides

What both sides of this pressing have to offer is not hard to hear:

  • The biggest, most immediate staging in the largest acoustic space
  • The most Tubey Magic, without which you have almost nothing. CDs give you clean and clear. Only the best vintage vinyl pressings offer the kind of Tubey Magic that was on the tapes in 1968
  • Tight, note-like, rich, full-bodied bass, with the correct amount of weight down low
  • Natural tonality in the midrange — with all the instruments of this stellar quartet having the correct timbre
  • Transparency and resolution, critical to hearing into the three-dimensional space of the club

No doubt there’s more but we hope that should do for now. Playing the record is the only way to hear all of the qualities we describe above, and for that you will need to take this copy of the record home and throw it on your table.

TRACK LISTING

Side One

Blue Comedy
Sunset Bell
Lines
Walter L.

Side Two

Wrong is Right
Dreams
I Want You
One, Two, 1-2-3-4

AMG  Review

The final recording by Gary Burton’s classic quartet (how about a reunion someday?) features the vibraphonist/leader, guitarist Larry Coryell, bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Bob Moses mixing together aspects of rock, country and folk music in their advanced improvisations.

The material (by Mike Gibbs, Burton, Coryell and Bob Dylan) is quite strong, and there are some hints of the avant-garde (including “One, Two, 1-2-3-4” and Burton’s freely improvised solo piece “Dreams”).

Leave a Reply