VA - Impulse! 6 Great Jazz (2015) [Esoteric Japan SACD Boxset] (DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC)

ESOTERIC proudly introduces a series of re-master collection – A great Jazz collection from Impulse label. This newly remastered box set includes the follow titles: John Coltrane Quartet - Ballads; Sonny Rollins - On Impulse!; Roy Haynes Quartet - Out Of The Afternoon; Oliver Nelson - The Blues And The Abstract; Count Basie And The Kansas City 7; John Coltrane And Johnny Hartman. These new audio versions feature ESOTERIC's proprietary re-mastering process to achieve the highest level of sound quality.

Throughout John Coltrane's discography there are a handful of decisive and controversial albums that split his listening camp into factions. Generally, these occur in his later-period works such as Om and Ascension, which push into some pretty heady blowing. As a contrast, Ballads is often criticized as too easy and as too much of a compromise between Coltrane and Impulse! (the two had just entered into the first year of label representation). Seen as an answer to critics who found his work complicated with too many notes and too thin a concept, Ballads has even been accused of being a record that Coltrane didn't want to make. These conspiracy theories (and there are more) really just get in the way of enjoying a perfectly fine album of Coltrane doing what he always did – exploring new avenues and modes in an inexhaustible search for personal and artistic enlightenment. With Ballads he looks into the warmer side of things, a path he would take with both Johnny Hartman (on John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman) and with Duke Ellington (on Duke Ellington and John Coltrane). Here he lays out for McCoy Tyner mostly, and the results positively shimmer at times. He's not aggressive, and he's not outwardly. Instead he's introspective and at times even predictable, but that is precisely Ballads' draw.

Tracklist:

01 - Say It (Over And Over Again)
02 - You Don't Know What Love Is
03 - Too Young To Go Steady
04 - All Or Nothing At All
05 - I Wish I Knew
06 - What's New
07 - It's Easy To Remember
08 - Nancy (With The Laughing Face)

Recorded on December 21, 1961; September 18 and November 13, 1962 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Musicians:
John Coltrane - tenor saxophone
McCoy Tyner - piano
Jimmy Garrison - bass on 1-6, 8"
Reggie Workman - bass on "7"
Elvin Jones - drums


Size of the folder with DSF files ~ 1,28 GB

In 1965 and 1966 tenor giant Sonny Rollins issued three albums for the Impulse label. They would be his last until 1972 when he re-emerged on the scene from a self-imposed retirement. This date is significant for the manner in which Rollins attacks five standards with a quartet that included pianist Ray Bryant, bassist Walter Booker and drummer Mickey Roker. Rollins, who's been recording for RCA and its Bluebird subsidiary, had spent the previous three years (after emerging from his first retirement) concentrating on standards and focusing deeply on intimate, intricate aspects of melody and harmony. He inverts the approach here, and digs deeply into pulse and rhythm and leaving melody to take care of itself. This is not a "new thing" date but instead focuses on playing according to the dictates of the rhythm section and on interchanging with Booker and Roker, leaving much of the melodic aspect of these tunes to Bryant. Rollins could never quite leave the melody out of anything he played because of his intense gift as a lyrical improviser; he nonetheless stripped his approach back and played tunes like "On Green Dolphin Street" by improvising according to theme rather than strict melody, where his interplay with the rhythm section becomes based on the dynamic and shifting times played by Roker. While things are more intimate and straight on "Everything Happens to Me," he nonetheless plays the edges, filling the space like a drummer. Melody happens throughout, the tune is recognizable, but it is stretched in his solo to a theme set by the shimmering cymbals and brushed snare work of Roker. The oddest cuts in the set are the last two; spaced out readings of "Blue Room," and "Three Little Words"; they sound as if he were preparing the listener for a true change in his approach. Melody gets inverted, with spaces and syncopation taking the place of notes. The swing is inherent in everything here, but it's clear that the saxophonist was hearing something else in his head, the way he squeezes notes tightly into some phrases where they might be placed elsewhere, and substitutes small, lithe lines inside Bryant's solos which dictate the harmonic intervals more conventionally with his singing approach. And speaking of rhythm, the album's hinge piece is the burning calypso "Hold "Em Joe." Here again, as Bryant's changes play it straight, Rollins shoves his horn inside them and draws out the beat on his horn over and over again. As strange and beautiful as this record sounds, it would have been wonderful if he had chosen to explore this track on his later records, but that restless spirit was already moving onto something else, as evidenced by his next offering, which were his original compositions for the film Alfie with arrangements by Oliver Nelson. If anything, Sonny Rollins on Impulse! feels as if it were a recording Rollins had to get out of his system. But thank goodness for us because it's a winner through and through.

Tracklist:

01 - On Green Dolphin Street
02 - Everything Happens To Me
03 - Hold 'Em Joe
04 - Blue Room
05 - Three Little Words

Recorded on July 8, 1965 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Musicians:
Sonny Rollins - tenor saxophone
Ray Bryant - piano
Walter Booker - bass
Mickey Roker - drums


Size of the folder with DSF files ~ 1,36 GB

Out of the Afternoon is a splendid sounding 1962 set from the Roy Haynes Quartet – which, at the time, consisted of Haynes, Henry Grimes on bass, Tommy Flanagan on piano, and Roland Kirk on saxes, manzello, stritch, and flutes. The album is a delightful mix of techniques in arrangement and performance, with all of the musicians delivering terrific work. Haynes' drumming is absolutely wonderful here, lightly dancing around the other instruments; Flanagan's piano playing is equally light and delicate; Grimes' bass work is outstanding (during "Raoul" you have a chance to hear one of the few bowed bass solos on records of that era); and there's no more to be said about Kirk's sax and flute work that hasn't been said a hundred times, apart from the fact that the flute solos on "Snap Crackle" help this cut emerge as particularly outstanding.

Tracklist:

01 - Moon Ray
02 - Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words)
03 - Raoul
04 - Snap Crackle
05 - If I Should Lose You
06 - Long Wharf
07 - Some Other Spring

Recorded on May 16 & 23, 1962 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Musicians:
Roland Kirk - tenor saxophone, manzello, stritch, C flute, nose flute
Tommy Flanagan - piano
Henry Grimes - bass
Roy Haynes - drums


Size of the folder with DSF files ~ 1,48 GB

As Oliver Nelson is known primarily as a big band leader and arranger, he is lesser known as a saxophonist and organizer of small ensembles. Blues and the Abstract Truth is his triumph as a musician for the aspects of not only defining the sound of an era with his all-time classic "Stolen Moments," but on this recording, assembling one of the most potent modern jazz sextets ever. Lead trumpeter Freddie Hubbard is at his peak of performance, while alto saxophonists Nelson and Eric Dolphy (Nelson doubling on tenor) team to form an unlikely union that was simmered to perfection. Bill Evans (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), and Roy Haynes (drums) can do no wrong as a rhythm section. "Stolen Moments" really needs no comments, as its undisputable beauty shines through in a three-part horn harmony fronting Hubbard's lead melody. It's a thing of beauty that is more timeless as the years pass. The "Blues" aspect is best heard on "Yearnin'," a stylish, swinging, and swaying downhearted piece that is a bluesy as Evans would ever be. Both "Blues" and "Abstract Truth" combine for the darker "Teenie's Blues," a feature for Nelson and Dolphy's alto saxes, Dolphy assertive in stepping forth with his distinctive, angular, dramatic, fractured, brittle voice that marks him a maverick. Then there's "Hoedown," which has always been the black sheep of this collection with its country flavor and stereo separated upper and lower horn in snappy call-and-response barking. As surging and searing hard boppers respectively, "Cascades" and "Butch & Butch" again remind you of the era of the early '60s when this music was king, and why Hubbard was so revered as a young master of the idiom. A must buy for all jazz fans, and a Top Ten or Top Fifty favorite for many.

Tracklist:

01 - Stolen Moments
02 - Hoe Down
03 - Cascades
04 - Yearnin'
05 - Butch And Butch
06 - Teenie's Blues

Recorded on February 23, 1961 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Musicians:
Oliver Nelson - tenor saxophone, alto saxophone on "6"
Eric Dolphy - alto saxophone, flute on "1"
George Barrow - baritone saxophone
Freddie Hubbard - trumpet
Bill Evans - piano
Paul Chambers - bass
Roy Haynes - drums


Size of the folder with DSF files ~ 1,44 GB

One of Count Basie's few small-group sessions of the '60s was his best. With trumpeter Thad Jones and tenors Frank Foster and Eric Dixon filling in the septet, Basie is in superlative form on a variety of blues, standards and two originals apiece from Thad Jones and Frank Wess. Small-group swing at its best.

Tracklist:

01 - Oh, Lady, Be Good
02 - Secrets
03 - I Want A Little Girl
04 - Shoe Shine Boy
05 - Count's Place
06 - Senator Whitehead
07 - Tally-Ho, Mr. Basie!
08 - What'cha Talkin'?

Recorded on March 21 & 22, 1962 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Musicians:
Count Basie - piano, organ
Thad Jones - trumpet
Frank Wess - flute, alto flute on "2, 6 & 8"
Frank Foster - tenor saxophone, clarinet on "1, 3-5 & 7"
Eric Dixon - tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet
Freddie Green - guitar
Eddie Jones - bass
Sonny Payne - drums


Size of the folder with DSF files ~ 1,43 GB

John Coltrane's matchup with singer Johnny Hartman, although quite unexpected, works extremely well. Hartman was in prime form on the six ballads, and his versions of "Lush Life" and "My One and Only Love" have never been topped. Coltrane's playing throughout the session is beautiful, sympathetic, and still exploratory; he sticks exclusively to tenor on the date. At only half an hour, one wishes there were twice as much music, but what is here is classic, essential for all jazz collections.

Tracklist:

01 - They Say It's Wonderful
02 - Dedicated To You
03 - My One And Only Love
04 - Lush Life
05 - You Are Too Beautiful
06 - Autumn Serenade

Recorded on March 7, 1963 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Musicians:
Johnny Hartman - vocals
John Coltrane - tenor sax
McCoy Tyner - piano
Jimmy Garrison - double bass
Elvin Jones - drums


Size of the folder with DSF files ~ 1,23 GB

ESOTERIC equipment used for re-mastering:
The criterion of re-mastering is to faithfully capture the quality of the original master. ESOTERIC′s flag ship D/A converters, model D-01VU, Rubidium master clock generator model G-0Rb and ESOTERIC MEXCEL interconnect cables and power cords, were all used for this re-mastering session. This combination of highly advanced technology greatly contributed to capturing the high quality sound of the original master.

This Box Set Produced by Motoaki Ohmachi (ESOTERIC COMPANY)
Mastering Engineer: Kazuie Sugimoto (Victor Creative Media Co., Ltd. Mastering Center)

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