LP REVIEW: Erroll Garner – Other Voices (1957)
US, 1970 re-issue on Columbia, CS9820
As a fan of RAW Music, I have attended many monthly audio events and I regularly visit the record store and got to know Hakim and Yassine and the team. At some point Hakim says to me, ‘why don’t you review a few records for us and post your observations online – we’ll pick some random jazz and you write something”. Don’t ask me why he asked me, ask him :-), but it sounded like a fun thing to try. So every week or so, Hakim, Sam or Yassine pick a random record or two for me to review. Here is my first one. We’ll try and do this on a more or less regular basis. Let us know what you think – send your comments to me, complaints to Yassine 🙂 !
My articles are not necessarily about sound quality, but it makes sense if you sort of know what I am listening to. My system is reasonably high performance. I have a Thorens TD125Mk11 turntable with a Cardas re-wired SME3009 tonearm and a Dynavector TKR cartridge. Electronics and speakers are from APL Hifi from Bulgaria (you can listen to an APL DAC in the RAW showroom). IC’s and speaker cables are Esprit ‘Aura’ from France. Powercords from Titan Audio in the UK.
Vinyl is about the experience. Going to a store. Handling the record. Putting it on the turntable. Seeing the stylus in the groove, the tonearm tracking the record, and that mechanical (and electrical) movement gets transformed into music. There is something soothing about seeing a turntable in action. Much better than tapping the screen of your iPad! And it’s about the sound.
Label
Columbia derives its name from the District of Columbia. It was originally the Columbia Phonograph Company and they distributed Edison phonographs and recorded cylinders throughout the Washington, D.C. area. In 1894 the company ended its ties with Edison and began selling its own manufactured recordings. Columbia began selling ‘disc’ records in 1901.
The original version of Columbia’s iconic “Walking Eye” logo was designed by S. Neil Fujita and was introduced in 1954. The logo was supposed to represent a stylus above the grooves of a record, but was nicknamed the “Walking Eye”. It became a registered trademark of the company.
Artist
Erroll Garner is a famous jazz pianist. A ‘wunderkind’. He could not read nor write music and I do not think he had to rehearse much – he just played! His best-known album is probably ‘Concert By The Sea’ – if you see it, you should get it. His style is very recognizable. Punchy, percussive, improvisational, and just plain interesting to listen to.
Music
I listen to a lot of jazz and generally, I would not go for an album where a jazz cat plays in front of an orchestra. But I was pleasantly surprised by this record. This is not a sugar-sweet orchestra, it swings and still has a jazzy feel despite some of the obvious violin parts underpinning the music. But Garner’s style cannot be buried under an orchestra, he’s simply too powerful.
That combination makes this record stand out. He plays some of his standards like ‘Misty’ so if you have never heard anything by Erroll Garner, you get a good first impression. If you know him, you probably won’t have this record and it could be worth seeking out.
Sometimes LPs sound great, other times not. But even if it does not sound good by ‘audiophile’ standards, it can still sound great in a different way. This 50+ year old record by Erroll Garner sounds great because it sounds like you think records from the fifties should sound. It just has that great old sound. That’s its character. Even the occasional tick adds to that experience. Vinyl people know what I mean. The Album cover proudly states: ‘Electronically re-recorded to simulate stereo’ 🙂
RAW does not list the LP on the website so you have to ask for it in the store. Best thing, it’s only 30 AED.
If you want to listen to the Erroll Garner record, check it out on YouTube:
Tracks:
1. Misty
2. The Very Thought Of You
3. It Might As Well Be Spring
4. Dreamy
5. I Didn’t Know What Time It Was
6. Moment’s Delight
7. On The Street Where You Live
8. Other Voices
9. This Is Always
10. Solitaire
Personnel:
Erroll Garner, piano
Arrangements by Erroll Garner in association with Nat Pierce
40+ piece orchestra under the direction of Mitch Miller
“Even the occasional tick adds to that experience. Vinyl people know what I mean.”
– our brain has politely ignored these daily crackle and pops and focused mainly on the what matters most – analogue hi-fi that till this day has yet to be beaten for an efficient, genuine hi-fidelity musical reproduction system. Excellent review…