Herbie Mann and Joao Gilberto – Herbie Mann and Joao Gilberto With Carlos Jobim

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  • This wonderful compilation makes its Hot Stamper debut here with outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound from start to finish
  • It’s big, lively, clear and present, with the kind of Tubey Magical richness we flip out for here at Better Records
  • A difficult record to find with audiophile playing surfaces – we go years without seeing a clean copy in stereo
  • “The two make an effective team, with Gilberto’s sometimes sentimental, sometimes impressionistic works effectively supported by Mann’s lithe flute solos.”

This record has the potential to sound its best on the right early pressing. Here are hundreds of others:

Records that Sound Best on the Right Early Pressing

This record sounds best in stereo, not mono. Here are hundreds of others we prefer in stereo:

Mono or Stereo? Stereo!

This vintage Atlantic pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records can barely 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 studio with the band, this is the record for you. It’s what vintage all analog recordings 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 the Best Sides of Herbie Mann & Joao Gilberto With Antonio Carlos Jobim 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 1965
  • 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 studio space

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 Herbie Mann & Joao Gilberto With Antonio Carlos Jobim

  • 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, not the smear and thickness so common to these LPs.
  • Tight punchy bass — which ties in with good transient information, also 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 instruments.
  • Extend the top and bottom and voila, you have The Real Thing — an honest to goodness Hot Stamper.

TRACK LISTING

Side One

Herbie Mann– Amor Em Paz
João Gilberto– Desafinado
João Gilberto– Bolinha De Papel
Herbie Mann– Insensatez
João Gilberto– Maria Ninguém
João Gilberto– O Barquinho

Side Two

João Gilberto– Samba De Minha Terra
João Gilberto– Rosa Morena
Herbie Mann– Consolação
Herbie Mann– One Note Samba (Vocals – Antonio Carlos Jobim)
João Gilberto– Bim Bom
Herbie Mann– Deve Ser Amor (Guitar – Baden Powell)

AMG  Review

Nice, more light than emphatic Afro-Latin and jazz mixture by flutist Herbie Mann and composer/vocalist Joao Gilberto from 1977. The two make an effective team, with Gilberto’s sometimes sentimental, sometimes impressionistic works effectively supported by Mann’s lithe flute solos.

THE COMPLETE LIST

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