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Eddie Graham Trio - S' Wonderful Jazz (1984/2015) [DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC]

Posted By: HDV

Date: 11 Dec 2024 13:10:32

Eddie Graham Trio - S' Wonderful Jazz (1984/2015) [DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC]

This live album from 1984 featuring drummer Eddie Graham and his trio was recorded at Mario's Restaurant in Palm Desert, California. Renowned for its superb sound quality, typical of all Wilson Audiophile releases, the collection of swinging standards has been hard to find for several years.

For five years Eddie Graham was the drummer with Earl Hines, one of the greatest and most spontaneously inventive pianists in jazz history. Hines had routines on several numbers audiences demanded every night, but on others the performance varied according to his mood and inspiration. He himself had practically perfect time, but the counter-rhythms he delighted in setting up between his two hands created something of a problem for even the most talented of drummers. Eddie Graham quickly learned to cope with it and Hines remarked gratefully on the fact that during his tenure all members of the group were “comfortable with one another,” and that there was “no temperment, no selfishness, no conflict of personalities,” all of which he had endured in earlier phases of his career. “Eddie is a very gifted drummer," he added, “who can put on an act that is a whole show in itself, and does.”

This “act” was one Hines appreciated very much. “It takes the pressure off me,” he said on many occasions. After creating a percussion fantasy that enchanted most listeners, Eddie would rise up modestly from behind his glittering equipment to a storm of applause. Small and dark-haired, his appearance suggested a veritable Merlin of the drums.

His solos, as this album demonstrates, were logically constructed and never a matter of loud, wild noise. The excellent recording here also shows the good, clean sound he consistently produced from the drums. Muffled thuds, as of backstage mahem, have never been a part of his stock in trade. His strong beat and accents have a positive definition that frequently brings to mind the work of one of his favorites, Buddy Rich.

For this session, he left the selection of tunes to Jane Jarvis and Jim DeJulio, who chose fine standards written between 1927 and 1949. Tempos and rhythms were mutually agreed upon before each performance, most of which were made in one take. Where there was second or a third, the first, as is so often the case, usually turned out to be the freshest, because the musicians were listening more closely to one another and not thinking of recreating what they had played before.

Tracklist:

01 - 'S Wonderful
02 - Cherokee
03 - That Old Feeling
04 - You Are Too Beautiful
05 - Bali Hai
06 - Jitterbug Waltz
07 - You've Changed

Recorded by David A. Wilson at Mario's Restaurant in Palm Desert, California.
Analogue to high definition digital transfer by Bruce Brown at Puget Sound Studios.
Reissue Produced by Wilson Audiophile Recordings, LLC.

Musicians:
Eddie Graham - drums
Jim DeJulio - bass
Jane Jarvis - piano

Technical / Listening Notes:

This recording is destined to become one one of the most controversial jazz records ever produced. The debate will not center around the music interpretation. These excellent jazz classics, delightfully and energetically performed, not surprisingly, by Eddie Graham’s Trio, provide an eminently satisfying musical experience. What will be surprising to many is the sound on this record. The recording is unusual in its perspective, compared to most jazz recordings. The perspective is very natural and acoustically rich. Although to some listeners it will seem too distant, the textures and balance are exactly as though you were listening to the group performing, as they were, in a fairly large, good-sounding room. That good-sounding room is Mario’s Restaurant in Palm Desert, California. The room is 75 feet by 45 feet with a 20 foot ceiling. The walls are partially draped.

The acoustical blend resulting from the more distant perspective seems to better preserve the ensemble achieved by the Trio. The recording captures, with extraordinary accuracy, the positioning of the instruments within a large and dimensional soundstage. Microphone experiments performed on-site established the fact that the spaced Schoeps Omnis were much more accurate than a more conventional sounding cardioid condenser array which was also tried.

Jim DeJulio’s acoustic bass should image at the far left, somewhat forward of the piano. If your system’s sound-stage-resolving capability is up to it, you will hear that he is near a wall that is quite acoustically absorbant. The piano is back from the bass and more toward the center of the soundstage. As you listen, you are facing the side of the piano, with Jane sitting to the left, not far Jim. The piano (a nine foot Steinway) physically extends over halfway across the soundstage. Eddie's very complete drum set (Slingerland drums and Zildgian cymbals) occupies a considerable space behind the piano. The lid of the piano has been completely removed so that it would not 0bscure the sound of the drums. The sound of the piano therefore, is quite open, but somewhat reduced in level. Eddie’s mountain of drums is anything but obscured! During their solos, the drums almost seem to grow in size, as well as loudness.

The Schoeps microphones were fed through Monster Reference balanced cable to a custom vacuum tube mic to line level preamp. The master tapes were recorded at 30ips on Wilson Audios custom-built Ultramaster 1/2 inch, 2-track analog machine. Mastering of the lacquers was done at Wilson Audio’s mastering facility in Provo, Utah.

Dynamic Range Report

Analyzed: Eddie Graham Trio / S' Wonderful Jazz
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR15 -6.45 dB -26.12 dB 4:32 01-'S Wonderful
DR17 -7.18 dB -29.01 dB 5:21 02-Cherokee
DR16 -7.72 dB -29.96 dB 6:01 03-That Old Feeling
DR14 -17.82 dB -33.44 dB 5:04 04-You Are Too Beautiful
DR16 -5.63 dB -26.70 dB 5:56 05-Bali Hai
DR17 -9.85 dB -31.36 dB 4:32 06-Jitterbug Waltz
DR15 -14.81 dB -32.87 dB 6:28 07-You've Changed
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Number of tracks: 7
Official DR value: DR16

Samplerate: 2822400 Hz / PCM Samplerate: 176400 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 1
Bitrate: 5645 kbps
Codec: DSD64
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Thanks to the Original customer!

Eddie Graham Jim DeJulio Jane Jarvis DSD Studio Masters