You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - 7 Greatest Sounding Albums

Episode Date: October 17, 2019

In this episode, Peter and Adam list seven of the most well-produced jazz albums.7 Greatest Sounding Albums:João Gilberto - AmorosoMiles Davis - Kind of BlueAhmad Jamal - At the Pershing: But Not For MeWynton Marsalis - Black Codes (From the Underground)Herbie Hancock - Man-ChildMiles Davis - Porgy and BessRoy Hargrove - EarfoodBONUSYou can take a listen to all of these albums with our Spotify playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2ZDS9c5q9yFarVAu6bsvui?si=RNzgEcPUSliadquuPVr99QLike those You'll Hear It shirts Peter shows off on the podcast? Want some YHI swag of your own? Take a visit to our store! Just go to https://teespring.com/stores/open-studioLet us know what you think by leaving a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review, or head over to our YouTube channel and leave a comment for this episode.Interested in more jazz advice? Go here to browse our catalog of jazz lessons and courses available for purchase.Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram at:https://www.facebook.com/heyopenstudiohttps://twitter.com/heyopenstudiohttps://www.instagram.com/heyopenstudio See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hey, Peter. Hey, Adam. Do you hear that? Yes. How's it sound? It sounds awesome. This is making the list. I'm Adam Annis. And I'm Peter Martin.

And you're listening to the You'll Hear It podcast. Daily Jazz advice coming at you. Coming at you today, that feels so good. It does feel good. Good way to kick off our 10-episode marathon right here. Ten episodes ain't happening. We got one hour. We've got one hour.

There's no way. Talk fast. So why do we just intro with Roy Hargrove, Because we are talking about today something that we've been talking about doing for a while and looking forward to. This is our seven greatest sounding albums of all time. And so this became a difficult, like we're talking about not just, I mean the foundation has to be great music, of course. But we're focusing in a little bit more on the audio aspect of it, the engineering, the presentation of it, the sound space, the sound stage as it were. Now I'm just saying stuff.

You are just saying stuff. Yeah, but you know what I mean? It's like how does the album, because I think you could have a great, great recording with some of the most incredible music with just I kind of, mediocre sound or even bad sound. For sure. And it can really, just like a live performance, can kind of ruin the gig. But these are albums that are both great musically, in most cases, if not all, actually,

but also just incredibly sounding and often innovative in the way the sound is presented. Agreed. I'm going to kick it off here. I'm going to kick it off with an album from 1977, which isn't maybe in a time in jazz where you would think like, oh, great sounding stuff. Yeah. We got a couple of albums from the 70s on here. This is not wrong with the 70s. Don't hate on the 70s? Every time I hear this album, this is an album from Jao Jouberto, the amazing Brazilian singer-songwriter. I think it's jazzy enough to qualify for our list, but it just, every track is so lush and brilliant and sounds like this. This is a state.

Super wide orchestral plays, I love it. Pan. Heavy Pan. Spanis are so beautiful. I mean, as someone who has produced his own records for years, it's a sound that I dream that I could get. It's a great reference point, too. I mean, there's some really cool, specific things that are done to bring it out. That was, you could definitely tell that on a musical and a sound level,

that was a reference point. Well, actually, Shirley Horn recorded this song on Here's to Life. That didn't make our list, but it could have. That actually has a very, I would put that in a similar vibe as this for sure. But the dryness and the forwardness of that brush on the snare drum and, of course, his voice, which is like a, you know, jar of honey. Yeah, and there's a lot of it. He's kind of sounds like sort of straight down the middle. You've got the woodwinds heavy on the right, like a lot of pan separation, but still a really warm sound that kind of pulls everything together.

And the whole record is absolutely beautiful. So check out. Amaro. So we do have a Spotify playlist. Ryan, put that in the old Trello card there. so folks can see it in the description. Amarosa. Now, not any relation to the Amarosa that was in the White House until recently.

That's Amarosa. This is Amaroso. Okay, big difference. Big difference. Although the cover looks like it could be her. So next, we're going to go with an obscure record. Right. That has never been mentioned on the podcast before that you'll hear.

This is kind of blue by Miles Davis. You know, we wanted to leave it off, but we couldn't. Yeah, you're really starting with the slumbering ones. I mean, you know, that's got to be one of the most organic bass sounds. I mean, it's Paul Chambers. So you're starting on third, of course. But I've never heard his, I mean, actually some other recordings from around this time. But now these horns, that's heavy pan there too.

But it's like, you know, they were right together and you can hear that. And, wow. Piano. I think we've got to play it on through until it hits the solo, because that's when the sound comes alive. Yeah, and the drums, I mean, that's such. a, it's weird because there's so much echo there, I mean, reverb, yet the drums are like totally in control,

you know? Like very dry and organic sounding. Engineered by Fred Plout. I don't know if you knew that. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It sounds so good we're just talking over it. Ah. A symbol. I mean, that right symbol.

Man, you could take a bubble bath in that symbol, in that sizzle symbol. Big and beautiful. Yeah. That's, of course, So What from Miles Davis's classic. So it sounds great. So what?

So what? Yeah, whatever. Here's another one from around that same era. This is a live album. Oh, I love great sounding live records. My favorite part about this has always been the way the drums sound. The piano is actually just I, the way it sounds. I mean, the playing is great.

Yeah. But the way the drum sound on this makes this one of my favorite sounding records ever. I mean, that's for Nelfornier. That's the way he's tuning that, too. The world's finest. But for a live album, this to me sounds so, so good. Yeah, it's super well-miked and captured, like, very present, but you're right. The piano sounds just all right.

It's right. I think it's probably just an all-right piano. Exactly. It's what it is. Great pianist. Yeah. I piano. Still works out good.

So that's live at the Pershing, but not for me. Yeah. Majemal Trio. I mean, if you don't know that, you don't know. Live at the Al-Hamburg has a good sound, too. Have you familiar with that one? I am, yeah. That was interchangeable here.

Ahmed's, you call him Ahmad or Ahmed? Amad? Amad? Because I've heard him refer to himself, I believe, as Ahmed. So I started doing that, but I do go back to Ahmad sometimes. Hey, if Ahmed says Ahmad, Adam says Amad. So now we're going to skip ahead a couple of decades. Yes.

So this is like 1985-ish. Also a record that's never been on the show. I know. You know what it is? This was a great reminder, I think, to us that we don't. talk enough about giving it enough for the engineers and the producers. We're talking about the music because, you know, we're getting, you know, this is daily jazz advice, but when we do talk about our favorite recordings, I think that the sound is, it's not only so integral to the

project, but so much to our enjoyment, even as musicians, a lot of people think, oh, we're not as affected by that. I mean, I'm affected by even more. Of course. Even if the performance is great, like, if the piano's whack or the sound isn't good, I'm moving on to something else, because there's too many good sounding, great sounding records. For sure. So this is Black Codes from the Underground, went Marcellus, 1985. Sounds like a big room. Yeah.

Kenny Kirkland. A lot of reverb on everything. So this is definitely typified of like that particular time period. Yeah. But I love it, you know. Well, you could just see these guys in their 80s gear like on a big stage somewhere, like at a festival, right? Exactly.

That's the sound they went for and it like really captured that band at that time. That's great. Yeah, and I think there's a lot of like kind of that new digital reverb that everybody was excited about. So there is a certain, you know, you could say artificialness to how it sounds. Like it's the opposite of like a live dry recording at the Vanguard or something. But I think it's just really good. And the way that the drums, I mean, Jeff Tain Watts, it's like it's just massive. It's like a percussion section, the way that it's presented and great recording.

Tim Geelan is the engineer on that. See, on mine, I actually give it up for the engineer. It's cool. We all have our own style. Damn, man. Wow. What do we have next? This is yours.

We're going straight back to the 70s How you like your production? You like it overproduced? Because I got you. Oh, shopped up at the bow. This analog synth for days. Tight, tight drum. There's a couple of pillows in that bass drum

shoved in there. If only they would start grooving, come on. Let's go. Let's get the party started. What? What? Okay, I think this is the hardest pan I've ever heard. Like on that clav side, you hear that?

You got headphones on the other way. I mean, it sounds like it's there. Yeah, the way these drums and bass were recorded, and the horns are so lush. Like, you don't expect it when they come in. It's so good. That guitar, that's Wawa Watson on the guitar, by the way. When he comes in with that,

it just kills me every time. I got a chance one time to play with Wawa Watson. It was very exciting. very excited I'll bet did he have his for Wawa that is

it was but a blip in his musical career yeah he did as a matter of fact next we're going to we're going back to Miles Davis I mean there's like

probably a dozen Miles Davis albums that could have made this list from from every era because he always had you know the best engineers

the best producers working on his stuff it was important to him to like he really understood the importance of it sure if it's important

to Miles kids it should be important to you that's right in general well well something as far as music Yeah.

This is from Porgy and Bess. I think this album is one of the best sounding big recordings I've ever heard. Ooh, intimate, though. That's the magic of it. It's a large ensemble that sounds in your living room. I think they record this all in one room. Some of the footage I've seen of it, Gilevens, right? Gilevens, yeah.

And, you know, speaking of the balance or whatever, So a lot of these acoustic jazz albums that we've been listening to, you know, the engineer plays a crucial role in the room and everything, but a lot of the sound of these albums is done in the actual, like, orchestration in how it's played.

You know, like the balance that Gil Evans arranges this version of summertime plays a huge role in how it sounds. Right, but then it still needs to be captured in a way, and there's some choices. Like, for instance, if you were hearing that live or even sitting in that beautiful studio, I think that was at the same kind of blue, the old church, CBS, I mean, Columbia Studios

I think so. I think so. That, you know, with that Harmon on, it would be so different than this. It would be so subdued. Yeah. You know, but he's got it so out front. So in a way, it's a little bit artificial. Because if you were in a concert hall, it wouldn't sound like that.

It wouldn't sound like that. Although it would be my extent, it kind of, it possibly would. Yeah. But it's almost like just taking advantage of technology and how you can present the music in just an amazing way. It's awesome. Now, for this one, can we, I don't know if you already have that. the same track.

Can I make a request on this one? Yeah, of course. We could even vamp. I think it's, I'm not so sure. I got you, buddy. Yeah, okay. This is a great piano song. It's a great piano sound.

It's a great piano. It's a tight, close hi-hat, yeah. Now, this is a wide piano. I know I've been said, but this is super wide. And the horns are a little bit like the black coat. It's kind of 80s reverb kind of vibe a little bit. What I'm surprised works on is the piano's not heavy reverb. The horns are.

But it still has a blend. Like the drums kind of pulls it together. The drums are somewhere in the middle maybe. Yeah. It's a great tune, too. Yeah. That's Roy Hargrove, Ear Food. We started off our podcast with that.

I have a bonus one, but before we get to the bonus, who we sponsored by today. Well, before we even get to who we're sponsored by today, look, I can put a hat inside of a hat and then put a bonnet inside of that. What do you know about that? You got a skull cap inside of a top hat. That was Al Schmidt, by the way. Great engineer. He's engineered some great recordings.

Pop records, jazz records. You are so serious about your... Hey man, got to give it up. I want to work with that cat. So, yes, we're sponsored by Open Studio. Please go to Open Studio Jazz and check out our offerings. Also, consider going to You'll Hear It.com slash podcast and check in on what do you know about? You'll hear it.

Premium. Oh, I'm a member. Oh, which is weird because I'm part of the podcast. Like, why do I have to pay? You signed yourself up. Oh, you're paying? Yeah. I had to buy the mug and stuff.

Yeah, but we got swag. And it's just a kind of fun way to be. be a little bit more included. I'm actually going to about to drop a special little surprise in there. You don't even know about it. Yeah, just for premium members. I'm so glad I'm paying. It's a little bonus.

And also, yeah, OpenCadioJazz.com, you can hear about our award-winning courses and all that kind of stuff. And can we read one before we go to the bonus? I wish you would. I wish you would. I want to read a, because we haven't been talking about the ratings and reviews, but we've been getting them. They've been happening.

We're on a new chart system. I feel like we've been talking about how we haven't been talking about it. No, no, we actually skipped over. We're getting some good ones. I'm kind of vamping because I'm trying to remember where they are exactly. Okay, here we go. This one kind of was nice. I caught my eye.

It's from McKenzie. You know what, we're going to start a new thing. Anybody who leaves a rating or review, we promise to say your name and read it on air. Can we commit to doing that? No, I don't want you to leave a rating review. Don't do that. Is that what you mean? Yeah.

No, this is for the listeners. Okay. Anyway, so this is, we're going to go back in times, but anybody from now, forward we're going to do that so this is from mackenzie in pittsburgh the u.s. uh five stars as an emerging jazz writer you'll hear it is one of the most important tools in my arsenal many people who write about the music today know very little technically and i started listening to the podcast in order to be more respectfully write about and discuss this art form my analysis is my analyses and interviews have a writer all right exactly have improved greatly since discovering you'll hear it many

of my friends are working jazz musicians and we've spent long hours in the car listening and discussing our favorite episodes. Thanks so much, guys. Seven stars manually entered. So that's a cool one. Thank you, McKenzie. And we appreciate the support and the love. And because of this kind of thing, we've been really climbing up our new chart. We're up into the 20s on music commentary. Did you know that? We're music commentators. And we're in the 20s? Yeah, for Apple Podcasts. In the U.S. And in Switzerland, we're like number four, number two or something. I got to call my mom. This is amazing. Does your mom live in Switzerland?

No, I just used to be so proud. Yeah. So thank you guys for all the love. It's spreading like wildfire. Like wildflow. It's spreading like wildflower. That's way better than wildfire. Yeah, exactly.

It's spreading like a horrible fungus. Spreading like wild flowers. It's so lovely. Like a disease. All right. So we're going to do our bonus here. You casually just tossed around, you know, a dry sound like live at the village fan garden.

We didn't have a single live at the Village Vanguard album on our list here. So I put it in a classic one. This is Bill Evans Trio. I like it. Be likey. Bill Evans Trio,

live at the Village Vanguard. This is Gloria's Step. And until tomorrow, you'll hear it.