"Desmond Blue" question

[ArneW]

Hi,

has anyone heard the new "Desmond Blue" remaster on RCA/Bluebird? It has been one of my favourite albums ever, long before it was discovered by some audiophile community. I have an original A1-pressing, the initial RCA/Bluebird CD release ("Late Lament" w/ bonus tracks), an early 90s Japanese CD and both the Classic Records LP and CD. I like the Classic reissue, even if it's still a tad too bright and doesn't feature any of the bonus tracks found in the cheaper RCA releases. The new edition has even more bonus tracks; it has been remastered by Michael O. Drexler (never heard of him before). I'd really like to hear from someone about the sound of the CD.

New "Desmond Blue" remaster w/ 6 bonus tracks (http://www.cdnow.com/cgi-bin/mserver/SID=2104417908/pagename=/RP/CDN/FIND/album.html/ArtistID=DESMOND*PAUL/ITEMID=1497784)

Arne

[Bob Lovely]

Arne,

I have the "remastered" CD and I am very happy with the sound. The dynamic range and sound stage are very good, in my opinion. I will qualify my opinion only to share that the "remaster" is the only version I have ever heard.

Bob :)

[MagicAlex]

I believe that the version included in the RCA boxset is one and the same with the remaster. If so then it sounds fine to me although it's not my favorite Desmond album. Didn't MFSL reissue this as well?

[ArneW]

Hi,

I think the box set uses the older "Late Lament" remasters. A brief comparison of CDNow's tracklists shows that almost every track on the new remaster clocks in about 0.02 or so longer than on previous releases. I doubt that the "Late Lament" tracks have been cut from the original three track - there is some audible tape damage not present on the Classic reissue. Or perhaps it's the other way 'round and Bernie Grundman decided to stick with the original stereo master tape because the work parts (from which Ray Hall remastered the first CD issue) were deteriorated? Maybe Steve knows something about it?

Arne

[ArneW]

P.S.: There had been no MFSL release of "Desmond Blue". The one they did was "Blues In Time" (UDCD 648, Paul Desmond Quartet /w Gerry Mulligan).

Arne

[MagicAlex]

Thanks for the info Arne. That Desmond/Hall box is excellent isn't it? I have both the RCA and the Mosaic set. The 'Demond Blue' session isn't on the Mosaic.

[Kayaker]

I have the French 24-bit CD remasters of Easy Living, Take Ten and Two of a Mind. These sound wonderful, particulalrly the first two - real audiophile quality (Ditto the Sonny Rollins "The Bridge" and "What's New"). I was looking to upgrade my copy of Desmond Blue to the new French version when I saw the Bluebird edition in a record store - it looks like it has more tracks. Now Its a toss up. Has anyone compared the two versions?

[ArneW]

I listened through the CDNow sound snippets last night. Even if you can't tell anything about the sound quality, the saxophone and the drums are very upfront compared to the string section. Guess I'm gonna buy it anyway (it doesn't seem to be available in Germany, though).

Arne