[Dixielandjazz] Fixing recordings

[Stan Brager]

We're in agreement here, Steve. If it's an improvisational art, then leave 
the warts in or re-do better. I don't believe that Sidney Bechet worried 
about how his one man band recordings came out. Why should we?

I've heard many musicians who've made errors and, then, to their credit, 
embellished the error to make it fit into the scheme of his solo. I've also 
appreciated musicians who've made errors and didn't let that bother them one 
bit. It's called a learning process.

Stan
Stan Brager
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 7:50 AM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Fixing recordings


> Far be it from me to disparage others who fix errors on recordings. I can
> understand why they feel that way and wish them well.
>
> As for me, give me on record what was actually played. I prefer the 
> recorded
> sound to be as close to what the players actually sounded like when they
> were creating the music. And I prefer, if it was live, to have as much of
> the audience reaction as possible in the mix. Like Ellington at Newport 
> with
> Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue.
>
> Case in point is the Mosaic reissue of Eddie Condon works. The mistakes 
> are
> there, some glaring, depending upon who the listener is. On "That's A
> Plenty", Bob Wilber misplays a four bar break at the end . . . reed 
> squeaks
> and all. It is during the band round robin of 4 bar ending breaks. As a 
> reed
> player, I heard it immediately. However, many, if not most listeners don't
> hear it as a mistake. At most they may wonder why the clarinet took 2 
> ending
> 4 bar breaks. And why did the original cut and the Mosaic reissue leave in
> that first break when it could have been easily removed leaving only the
> second.
>
> To me, the thinking behind the differences in the breaks, difficulty 
> factor,
> etc, is an important part of who Bob Wilber is musically.
>
> I may be telling tales out of school, but I believe even Bill Haesler 
> missed
> hearing it the first time he listened and when I mentioned it, re-listened
> and then by gosh, there it was.
>
> We all hear differently. To Bob and Kash, they want precision. Perhaps 
> they
> prefer heavily arranged music also. OK, fine. But I listen for what the
> musician is trying to do, I want to hear a musician extend him/her self. 
> And
> mistakes will be a part of that extension. So I don't mind mistakes and
> actually prefer to hear them. One wrong note in a Basie/Sinatra recording
> isn't going to bother me one bit. As Artie Shaw once opined, if you don't
> make a mistake or two in a jazz performance, you are not trying hard 
> enough.
>
> IMO, fixing records will become more and more invasive as technology
> improves to the point that the synthesizers will take over the music with
> "perfect" computer recordings that sound better than music played by real
> musicians with instruments, in both fidelity and freedom from errors. Why
> then would anyone want to listen to musicians and live music?
>
> Computerized King Oliver. Can you dig it?
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
>
>
>