SHEFFIELD LAB 3 Audiophile HARRY JAMES The King James Version GATEFOLD EMBOSSED

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HARRY JAMES & HIS BIG BAND The King James Version
EX/NM Used Audiophile Vinyl Record

Record Label: Sheffield Lab 3

Sheffield Lab Direct-to-Disk, Limited Edition Audiophile Pressing. Gatefold, embossed cover. TAS Superdisc.

"Harry James said that he'd have played for free if he'd known how good it was going to be..."

Sheffield Lab are the pioneers of Direct-To-Disc recording and had much to do with the advent of the "audiophile" label put on recordings that exemplify top standards in recording, mastering and pressing. Long out of print, these original Sheffields are considered to be some of the finest recordings ever produced.

This album was recorded with all tube electronics designed and built by Sheffield Lab. Produced by Lincoln Mayorga and Doug Sax, engineered by Ron Hitchcock and pressed in West Germany.

Condition: Gatefold, embossed sleeve has very little wear but a few small creases and a small stain above the 'V" in Version on the front. Corners opposite the spine are dull, others are sharp. Spine is solid. Top and bottom have a bit of shelf wear but no chipping or splits. There are no spindle marks on the label. There is a small round sticker on the label (see scan). Vinyl is clean, shiny and plays like new.

Side 1
1. Corner Pocket        
2. Lara's Theme (From "Dr. Zhivago")        
3. Cherokee        
4. More Splutie, Please
   
Side 2
5. Traces        
6. Don't Be That Way        
7. Sweet Georgia Brown        
8. Shiny Silk Stockings        
9. Blues Stay Away From Me

Review: In late July 1976, trumpeter Harry James recorded enough music for two LPs. This particular set gives one a good sampling of his 1976 orchestra and finds James happy to emulate the swing sound of Count Basie. The arrangements, by Ernie Wilkins, Thad Jones, Ray Conniff, Dave Matthews, Rob Turk and Jimmy Haskell, are top drawer and the sidemen are some of the best. James was playing well enough this late in his career, to once again reaffirm his legend in jazz and that says volumes about this LP. Very Highly recommended. ~ Amazon

Review: This is a quality piece of virgin vinyl, the background noise is insignificant as you'd expect. Then the first track 'Corner Pocket' rings out. Holy Crap! You know all those buzz words like ambience, attack, palpability - just forget it and listen. Here you are hearing the sound of the chapel, the acoustic is just so real - you can almost see the pews, and there, in the middle, Les DeMerle dominates with the most gorgeous sounding drumkit. It's not floating in space, the cymbals aren't a mile behind the kickdrum, the ride doesn't go "tisss". This is what a drumkit - unamplified (rare nowadays) sounds like in a chapel - What else would you expect? It's there in front of you - low on the floor, just slightly to the left and with each strike separated by a natural distance, no guerrilla with 10 foot arms here. The kick taps your chest, the ride is a big piece of beaten metal. Spread in front and to either side are the rest of the band - and then Harry plays. The dynamics are just unbelievable, you can't imagine how this level could be cut - it slices through the other instruments and you feel the bell pointed at you, but no way does it make you wince. I hear a decent, unamplified cornet every week, I know just the sort of levels it produces, that hint of tearing silk, the ringing of the bell, the "puh" and flash of harmonics as a valve opens.

But - and this is very important, what you don't get is the sort of microscopic taking apart of the music that some audiophile records seem to think will impress. You don't hear the clattering of Quin Davis' Sax because if you did it should be taken to the repair shop and rebuilt! The Alto Sax is difficult to place in space - just as it should be, it's designed to spread it's sound. The whole sounds just as it should, not a collection of instruments, or tracks edited together.

Is this great music? I'm not sure. I'm not a huge Big Band fan, and when all is said and done what you get is a supremely professional performance, not something desperately original or groundbreaking. I always go on about music being infinitely more important than the recording, but personally here I just wallow in the recording itself - the craft, the perfection. And in doing so I can appreciate the music, but in the final analysis this isn't stuff I'd listen to for any other reason.

Is this the greatest recording ever made? Dunno - of course I've hear a tiny fraction of one percent of the total so how on earth can I comment? Is it the best I've ever heard? Oh yes, and by a margin that often depresses me. If this is what vinyl, and my system is capable of then why do we put up with the dross that makes up the rest? Harry James himself said that he'd have played for free if he'd known how good it was going to be...

Is it better than digital - don't make me laugh - it's so much better than anything digital I've had here it makes you weep in frustration. Sheffield labs do still sell CD copies of this disc and of course without a mastertape they use that vinyl master as their source - how ironic. ~ Amazon