|
|
 - Tatum in great formThis album is a must have for anyone other than the most hardened luddite that prefers awful sound quality to an unbelievable "re-performance". From what I understand, Zenph actually re-performed the concert in front of a live audience at the Shrine Auditorium to get some of the same ambiance of the original. As a result, the original recording that had awful sound quality has now set the piano free of all of the cloudiness. The album has everything.. SACD surround, normal CD, and even a binaural version for headphone listening. I do not need to comment on the performance itself. However, it is classic Art Tatum...which is to say it is spectacular. Rating:  - Computer replacing the artist?I'm still in doubt where the line is about restoring jazz recordings. The cd presents the original 1949 concert re-create by Zenph Studios, using computer technology. Most of the original recordings, in spite of Tatum's greatness, have poor technical quality. The restoration is superb, but is it real? How about the ambient noise, for instance? Highly recommended. First, because is an Art Tatum concert, and second to check the new technology. Rating: - TATUM BY ZENPHALTHOUGH I RATED THIS ITEM WITH FIVE STARS, I WISH THEY USED A BETTER PIANO. THE TECHNOLOGY WAS ASTOUNDING HOWEVER AND I WILL PURCHASE MORE ZENPH RECORDINGS. ADDITIONAL COMMENT-AS A PIANIST, I FOUND THE VERSION FROM THE PLAYER'S POSITION WONDERFULLY CLEVER. WISH I COULD WATCH THE KEYBOARD AS WELL. HOW ABOUT A CD VERSION? Rating: - God is in the house, again!The original "Piano Starts Here" album has been my favorite for many years, or rather - decades. It was plagued by tape hiss, cracking, flat tuning due to stretching of the original master and so on. Every time I'd listen to it I was wondering how wonderful it must've been to hear Art Tatum live, without all these problems of an old recording. But then, I was grateful that anything was preserved at all. Those recordings were 70 years old after all. And then Zenph studio did the impossible: they managed to extract all the information from the original recording, way beyond capabilities of today's MIDI standard, and then re-performed it at the place where the original performance took place at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. I had the pleasure to be there and listen to the master live! What an experience that was... one can only wish for more of the same. So now, the old used and abused "Piano starts here" in my collection is replaced by the new recording of the true Jazz Master and I just can't get enough of it. The muddy sound of the original recording which was most offensive in fast passages in "Tiger Rag" and "Tatum-Pole Boogie", is now replaced by perfect clarity and sheer brilliance that will bring true joy of Tatum improvisations to the listener. If you are having reservations due to technology used to produce this recording, think no more: this album is for purists, it has no traces of technology in it, it is simply Art Tatum at his best. Finally, Art Tatum gets the treatment he deserves. Rating: - ART TATUM PLAYING A MODERN YAMAHA PIANOAny ART TATUM fans out there, do not hesitate to buy this multi cd, through the wonders of modern technology you really do hear TATUM playing in super hi fidelity, I had my doubts through an initial audition on computer speakers, but when the CD arrived, and I played it on my home setup, I was blown away by the incredible sound, this really must have been how TATUM sounded in person on a good instrument, I only hope they release volume 2 in the next 12 months, there are some incredible tracks that TATUM recorded but due to poor recording technology, we miss out on how it must have sounded in person,
|
