The summit of audiophile jazz piano trio
Michael W. Riemann | Nuernberg Germany | 12/29/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This recording - together with its predecessor "Midnight Sugar" -ranks among the undisputed summits of all audiophile jazz piano trio music, be it music or sound quality. It has become a bit complex to keep track of all technically different releases. By any means the XRCDs are the best offers when it comes to redbook 16 bit CD releases, but I learn that there is a hybrid SACD available for "Midnight Sugar" meanwhile (which I still have to hear)."
A landmark recording
Douglas G. Cardenas | San Antonio | 05/14/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Back in "the day" I had this recording on LP. I found this and other Three Blind Mice disks at my favorite audiophile dealer in the late 70's and fell in love with this one and several other Three Blind Mice releases which I HIGHLY recommend, 'Scandinavian Suite' by Tatsuya Yakahasha and the Tokyo Union, 'Blow up' by Isao Suzuki Trio/Quartet, both of which can be found on XrCD, and Maiden Voyage, which I can't find now and I don't remember who recorded it (anyone knowing anything about this recording, please drop me a line).
Bottom line - This recording won several awards for its magnificent rendering of the piano. The raw detail and dynamics of the instrument, particularly in the upper registers, is breathtaking! The bass is likewise well recorded, being deep, smooth and retaining all of the fingering detail that makes it so lifelike. It's very obvious that little if any compression or limiting was used in this session. It has the sound of a direct-to-disk recording, which I assumed it was when I heard it for the first time. Music wise - from the opening lone strike of a single key and soft chord which opens 'Misty' to the oh, so sweat low-high tap that ends 'Angel Eyes', you are in for some of the most eloquent interpretations of these classic and lesser known jazz standards. You'll want this disk in your permanent listening rotation, let there be no mistake about it.
As a quick side note, Another favorite trio recording I loved way back when and just found on CD is a direct-to-disk album called 'The Three' by Ray Brown, Joe Sample and Shelly Manne (the LP can be found here on Amazon but the CD will take a bit more searching - I found it on the Test of Time Records web site which is the label that released the direct-to-disk LP http://www.testoftimerecords.com/album.asp?id=58. I ordered it through Amazon but now I can't find the link here anymore). The CD was produced from the 2-track tape made during the D-2-D session and lacks the dynamics of the real thing as well as suffering from a tiny and intermittent bit of noise from a bad connection to the recorder's right channel - noticeable only through headphones unless you're really looking for it - but the performance is so worth the downgrade in audiophile standards."
Track Listings (7) - Disc #1