More June Christy
More Pop and Jazz Vocals
- This STUNNING copy of June’s superb 1959 release boasts Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades throughout
- The sound is present, lively and tonally correct, with Christy’s vocals reproduced with the Tubey Magical richness and breathiness that only the best vintage vinyl pressings offer
- We guarantee there is dramatically more space, richness, vocal presence, and performance energy on this copy than others you’ve heard, and that’s especially true if you made the mistake of buying whatever Heavy Vinyl pressing is currently on the market
- 4 stars: “… this ten-song solo collection is comprised of updated Christy-Kenton favorites… a must for serious June Christy fans.”
This vintage Capitol Stereo pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records rarely begin to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing any sign of coming back.
Having done this for so long, we understand and appreciate that rich, full, solid, Tubey Magical sound is key to the presentation of this primarily vocal music. We rate these qualities higher than others we might be listening for (e.g., bass definition, soundstage, depth, etc.).
Hot Stamper sound is rarely about the details of a given recording. In the case of this album, more than anything else a Hot Stamper must succeed at recreating a solid, palpable, real June Christy singing live in your listening room. The better copies have an uncanny way of doing just that.
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 less than one out of 100 new records do, if our experience with the hundreds we’ve played over the years can serve as a guide.
What the best sides of June Christy Recalls Those Kenton Days 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 1959
- Tight, note-like, rich, full-bodied bass, with the correct amount of weight down low
- Natural tonality in the midrange — with all the instruments having the correct timbre
- Transparency and resolution, critical to hearing into the three-dimensional space of the studio
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 discuss above, and playing the best pressings against a pile of other copies under rigorously controlled conditions is the only way to find a pressing that sounds as good as this one does.
What We’re Listening For on June Christy Recalls Those Kenton Days
- Energy for starters. What could be more important than the life of the music?
- The Big Sound comes next — wall to wall, lots of depth, huge space, three-dimensionality, all that sort of thing.
- Then transient information — fast, clear, sharp attacks for the piano, horns and drums, not the smear and thickness common to most LPs.
- Tight, note-like bass with clear fingering — which ties in with good transient information, as well as the issue of frequency extension further down.
- Next: transparency — the quality that allows you to hear deep into the soundfield, showing you the space and air around all the players.
- Then: presence and immediacy. The vocals aren’t “back there” somewhere, way behind the speakers. They’re front and center where any recording engineer worth his salt would have put them.
- Extend the top and bottom and voila, you have The Real Thing — an honest to goodness Hot Stamper.
TRACK LISTING
Side One
Just A-Sittin´ And A-Rockin´
A Hundred Years From To-Day
The Lonesome Road
She´s Funny That Way
It´s A Pity To Say Goodnight
Side Two
Willow Weep For Me
Easy Street
Across The Alley From The Alamo
Come Rain Or Come Shine
How High The Moon
AMG 4 Star Review
During a near-decade-long run, June Christy’s soaring and bright vocals proved to be ideal for the Stan Kenton band’s modern and idiosyncratic jazz charts. Thanks to Pete Rugolo and Bob Cooper’s increasingly tailor-made arrangements, Christy soon became the star attraction of the group and eventually cashed in on her own with a string of fine solo LPs.
Released after her classic Something Cool and The Misty Miss Christy albums, this ten-song solo collection is comprised of updated Christy-Kenton favorites like “Just A-Sittin’ and A-Rockin,” “Across the Alley from the Alamo,” and “The Lonesome Road.” Nearly matching his stellar work on many earlier Christy albums, Rugolo handles the charts and conducts a large group of Kenton veterans like Cooper, drummer Shelly Manne, and trombonists Milt Bernhardt and Frank Rosolino. Other jazz luminaries such as guitarist Jim Hall, bassist Red Callender, trumpeter Russ Freeman, and saxophonist Paul Horn round out the band.
June Christy Recalls Those Kenton Days might not rate with Something Cool or The Misty Miss Christy as a first-disc choice, but it is still a must for serious June Christy fans.