Label: American Jazz Classics (Europe), 99005
Style: Jazz, Cool Jazz
Country: Yale, Oklahoma, U.S. / Plainfield, New Jersey, U.S.
Time: 76:36
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 378 Mb
The sound on most of these songs is excellent, with only a little occasional sound breakup present. I don't know if it was the fault of the microphones, or the recording equipment, or the CD recording medium sampling rate, which can be notorious for that brittle sounding sort of thing. On "How High The Moon", some of the quieter trailing notes had a tendency to sound like a kazoo. I can't fault the performers for that. Their performances were excellent and the songs they played were all very good to excellent. The only other complaint I have is that Chet Baker's trumpet is always front and center, but the piano music is often lost way in the distance, with only the piano solos suddenly being loud enough to hear clearly. Very strange, not what you would hear if you were there in person, but that is a recording studio problem, and nothing to do with the musicians. Overall, there was not a bad song in the bunch. Maybe using a little more care in transferring the master tapes to a future type of recording medium will restore this music to its proper glory.
(amazon.com/) Review by Daniel M. Hart. September 2, 2013
I agree with many of the reviews that rated this collaboration 4 and 5 stars, and I am a passionate fan of both artists. I believe the cover of this album is misleading in that the implication is a collaborative effort between two icons of Jazz. This release is from the Chet Baker catalog and IMO (and even from a casual listener's standpoint) It is Chets superb talent that is clearly featured up-front here! If you are an aspiring musician wanting to transcribe, dissect and absorb Chet's precise melodic tone and emotive delivery this is your album; all are on full-display here! Pepper Adams baritone sax solos on "Alone Together," "How High The Moon" and "If You Could See Me Now" are in-and-of themselves noteworthy examples of masterful execution in the art of subtly "stretching-out" while all-the-while maintaining reverence to the original composition. Herbie Mann's flute finds the occasional spotlight and on some tunes has a delightfully playful "jitterbug" approach (notably "How High the Moon"). This would be the perfect album for a lazy Sunday afternoon for relaxing, or background music for a romantic candlelight dinner but the mix is not conducive to the group effort. Even on an audiophile grade Hi-Fi Audio system, this album played soft and low, it can be difficult to distinguish Bill and the supporting musicians (all who "up-their-musicianship" amidst their contemporaries) in the mix; and if played low enough, at times they are so far back in the mix, they drop completely out of the aural spectrum leaving large gaps of silence between Chet's playing. As a lover of this era of jazz, in my opinion many of these compositions (sans the show tunes in the later track list) are exquisite respectful interpretations of many standards of that day, expertly executed. I agree with the other critics who would have preferred the show tunes were left off of this compilation - they do not belong with the body of the classic jazz standards here. If you love this era of jazz and know of these artists, few albums come to mind that take you to such a wistful state of aural bliss. Maybe some day it will be re-mixed, remastered and re-released. I'm hoping so!
(amazon.com/) Review by Jazzoid. April 19, 2017
01. Alone Together (06:52)
02. How High The moon (03:36)
03. It Never Entered My Mind (04:41)
04. Tis Autumn (05:18)
05. If you could see me now (05:17)
06. September Song (03:05)
07. You'd be so Nice to Come Home to (04:33)
08. Time on my hands (04:33)
09. You are the night and the music (04:06)
10. Early Morning Mood (09:02)
11. Show me (06:31)
12. I talk to the trees (05:50)
13. Thank heaven for little girls (04:35)
14. I could have danced all night (03:41)
15. Almost like being in love (04:50)
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