I’ve opted not to do a direct comparison with other releases for this review.
(By the way, my references for the above notes were a selection of vinyl copies: the original US Columbia 6-eye stereo and mono versions, an early 1960s US Columbia re-pressing on the 2-eye label, and the recent UHQR issues from Analogue Productions). All of this becomes rather interesting and, when, listening to this tape, it becomes quite obvious – more on which later. Any reverb on the piano, saxophones and drums would be bleed-picked up on the centre microphones. Apparently, the only channel fed through reverb plates was the centre channel, so any reverb was on this channel only and therefore depending on how that was mixed, it would considerably affect the overall sense of ambiance. In the second session the two saxophones were reversed, so Coltrane appears on the right of the stage and Adderley on the left.
In terms of the 3-track session tapes, the three tracks left, centre and right were initially assigned as follows: left channel: piano, tenor sax centre channel: bass and trumpet right channel: alto sax and drums. Miles fans) all know: the source used for the original vinyl release (and also the ultra-collectable 2-track and 4-track 7.5ips tapes – which, sadly, I don’t currently have copies of). In other words, it’s more authentic to the ultimate source that we (i.e. Therefore, unlike recent uber-fi vinyl reissues that were sourced from the original 3-track session tapes (which was the extent of multi-track recording at that time), this is NOT a remix. The source for this tape is a Columbia production master – moreover, it’s a flat master, hence unequalised and uncompressed – essentially a safety copy of the original stereo master. On that note, let’s discuss the provenance of this title.
In the worst cases I’ve heard of things that are basically little more than a vinyl (or even digital) recording copied to tape – seriously! Exploring this tape’s source Its source is probably unknown, and it’s very unlikely to be an original master / safety master / production master or similar. A bootleg copy you buy on an auction site is just that: a bootleg. While we’re on the subject of copyright, people often ask me – why not just buy bootleg tape copies on eBay, where’s the harm, what’s the big deal? Well, apart from the obvious legal issues (and the fact that big guns like Sony / Columbia tend to come down on perpetrators like a ton of bricks), the key issue for me is quality.
However, US readers don’t despair… having looked into the copyright situation, there appears to be nothing stopping a US buyer self-importing, in other words buying the tape from a non-US retailer…. The release is fully compliant with European copyright but it’s not a Sony / Columbia release, so as such it’s not available for sale direct to US customers. Like the recently reviewed Blue Train by John Coltrane, this release is from Hemiolia Records, a niche artisan Italian label which solely offers analogue titles. At least, not legally, which is a key consideration – not only in terms of legitimacy and ethics, but also (importantly) the quality of what you’re getting. But it’s never before happened on 15ips, 2-track, master tape copy. Yes, there have been many and varied reissues and versions of Miles Davis’ seminal 1959 masterpiece over the years. Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue from Hemiolia RecordsĬards on the table: this is one of my all-time favourite albums, so I’m going to get into some fairly extensive rambling here.
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