The El reissues of João Gilberto's first 3 albums

How about the Doxy/Cargo Records Label:

http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=463375173&pf_rd_i=301128

 

The French label Frémeaux will be reissuing the first three albums as one release on Frémeaux CD FA5371 “João Gilberto.” The reference is at the bottom of this page.

According to SocaDisc, it will be released by the end of June.

 

The "Lengendary" CDs have added reverb. They sound good, but the original vinyl sounds much better. But expensive.

A good alternative are the 60s U.S. releases on Atlantic and Capitol. Same as the 3 original Brasil records. No reverb and very nice sound, though not as nice as the Odeon.

A few examples of the 3 US 60s issues on vinyl.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JOAO-GILBER...1617597?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item2a16d3fb3d

http://www.discogs.com/João-Gilberto-Brazils-Brilliant/master/235201

http://www.discogs.com/João-Gilberto-The-Boss-Of-The-Bossa-Nova/master/167274



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Interesting. I wonder what sources they will be using.

 

That appears to be the case.

 

Interesting offer...CD along with the LP. I'd love to know the source of the LP.

 

Just ordered this from Amazon.de. I'm not familiar with the Klimt/Cargo label, but we shall see how it sounds...

http://www.amazon.de/Joao-Gilberto-White-Album-Vinyl/dp/B0073YDA2G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337774709&sr=8-1

 

These's a Jp SHM-SACD of the white album that sounds about as good as this stuff is ever going to sound. I enjoy it a lot.

 

This is exciting. Fremeaux is a great label. Hoping for the best.

 

My copy of Chega is indeed the El/Cherry Red issue. I am going to play a bit of it and see if I can hear the channel imbalance.

I know I have at least one orig. U.S. Capitol and one U.S. Atlantic LP as well. From Post #28, I know I have the Atlantic LP and the second Capitol LP shown. I may have the first too. Funny, I did not acquire these at Amoeba or Rasputin. Found these at out of the way smallish record stores. Still a few left in SF. These do indeed sound good.

You guys are correct. Channel imbalance is present on my El/Cherry Red Chega CD. CD still sounds good, however and since my preamp has a mono switch, I could lessen/eliminate the imbalance by clicking to mono. No fake stereo on this CD that I could hear.

I can't believe JG came to SF twice in the 2000's and I got see him twice. Very good shows and a quiet audience.

 

Then clearly Cherry Red are using the WP cd for their source and as the source for the vinyl reissues on Doxy/Cargo. I would say that knowing this Joao and his lawyers will be furious and these reissues from dodgy sources will probably put the kibosh on any properly mastered editions from EMI/Capitol in the future.
Interested in what the french reissue will be like, Fremeaux label do some nice stuff, but I suspect they will also use the WP compilation.

 

Sad news, Mr. Shears.

 

I received the white album from amazon.de late last week. It was so poorly packed that it was a miracle it wasn't damaged in shipment.

The LP is contained in a cardboard innersleeve (no plastic lining) and was covered with bits of paper when I first removed it from the sleeve. The vinyl looks good, is probably 180g, but is a bit noisy even after cleaning...we'll see if it quiets down.

I've listened to it a couple of times on my office system (Beogram 4000/Beomaster 4400/ADS L-710) and it sounds pretty good to these ears. I'm keen to get it home this morning and listen to it on the main system.

In any case, the performance itself is mind-blowing. I've never heard this album before. It is drop-dead wonderful.

 

Today at Amoeba I found a digipak Spanish re-issue of the first 3 albums $14.98. It is in on the UBATUQUI label, says it is 24 bit remastered and is a Spanish release.

I will play a few cuts in a few mins and post initial impressions.

Sounds GREAT. Pure MONO. Left channel not louder than the right. No echo/reverb/etc. Clicked the MONO switch on my preamp and nothing happens.

Good price. And good sound. I will be interested in others' comments.

It gets better: Booklet has song lyrics, full discography of the first 3 albums (and their U.S. equivalents) with release dates and pix and orig. essays from the U.S. LP's are replicated. Release date is 2012.

The only mastering credit says: Produced for CD by Jordi Pujol. Cat knows what he's doing.

 

this is a great album.. i'm not convinced by this issue though.. one of the songs has distortion on it...

the music is amazing ..as a side note my son was born on tuesday and this was the album playing as he came into the world...

 

Congratulations, Serge! Beautiful story, I can think of no better music to first hear in this world

 

Congrats on the baby!

On which track are you hearing distortion? I played the LP on my main system tonight and didn't detect any.

 

I was needledropping some brazilian vinyl a couple of days ago and noticed some distortion on the late 80s brazilian pressing of the Joao 'white album', specifically on the left channel of 'É Preciso Perdoar'. The acoustic guitar is clogged and the bottom end suffers badly. So I did a comparison between the original issue CD and the Japanese pressing from a couple of years back and I reassessed my thoughts. The Japanese is very nicely mastered and has the best sound. The original cd is tonally nice but has some strange artifacts especially around Joao's close miked vocals.

 

That second copy that you saw on the shelf?... I bought that one!

The problems with this release are that ALL THREE of the albums are in mono (I want the true stereo versions of the second and third), it has the same shortened and combined O Nosso Amor/A Felicidade tracks as the World Pacific release, and the songs are not in the same order as on the LPs. (They're in chronological order, which I guess is actually kinda cool.)

I hope someone on here will buy the French release so we can see what the deal is with that one.

Aren't public domain releases fun? I have a feeling that over the next decade as the 50-year time horizon covers the Sixties and Seventies rock bands, all hell's gonna break loose!

 

They are mono recordings. 'Stereo' pressings are rechanneled. The O Nosso Amor/Felicidade tracks were never on the LPs, they're from an EP release. This also tells us this new release is also sourced from the WP cd, probably summed and reEQd.

 

Hey Peter, Peter here!

I was considering purchasing João's first three albums on Él Records as UK imports, but the questionable sound quality, coupled with the low price of this Spanish import, made your recommendation a no brainer purchase. Besides, I really don't need all of those bonus tracks on the João Él reissues.

Off topic, but I previously invested in UBATUQUI/Fresh Sounds Records' reissue of Bob Thompson's Just For Kicks/Mmm Nice!/On The Rocks (3 Lps On 2 Cds) and have been quite impressed with their work in terms of audio quality and quality packaging. They're definitely doing something right!

I can't wait to receive my copy of The Warm World Of João Gilberto: The Man Who Invented Bossa Nova (complete Recordings 1958-1961) in the mail! Thanks again for the heads up!

 

Now I'm embarrassed. I honestly thought the second and third albums had true stereo versions!

 

Have you heard the NON SACD version of this Japanese Release? Does it sound the same (as good as?) the SACD version?

 

2nd and 3rd albums sure sound like true stereo to me...

 

NO NO NO. This SACD, compared to the original Brazilian cd (which may be digitially identical to the original cd versions from other territories) is a poster child for the ills of compression.

The original cd is a demo disk. Sounds like Chesky recorded it yesterday. It's one of the most dynamic in my collection. Some tracks have DR19! It has tremendous delicacy and ease. The voice, the guitar, the percussion all just flow out of the speakers with great bite and tune. It has a very hot treble, but clearly was intended that way. Gilberto is right up on the mic and singing very quietly. Unbelievably good and live sounding.

The SHM-SACD sounds like it has a cold. Bassy, timbres totally changed, the guitar sounds muted, percussion in the background. It sounds okay, but everything that set it apart in the original is gone. DR rating is 4 dB less than the original cd. If you equalize the volume and listen back to back, you will hear the aural apocalypse on the SHM-SACD. All too common in the hi-rez game.