My decision to digitise some of my family's old records has really paid dividends. I have found a double LP of Stephane Grapelli recorded live with the Hot Club Of London at the Queen Elizabeth Hall London on the 5th of November 1973. The Queen Elizabeth Hall is a great place to go and hear music. I think that the acoustics here are much better than the Royal Albert Hall.
My father loved to listen to Stephane Grapelli and I have also loved his music since I was a boy. For me the violin is the perfect jazz instrument. It has a wide range of tones and Grapelli can make the violin almost sing. The violin also plays well with acoustic jazz guitar and double bass.
Grapelli is a maestro on the violin. He has played jazz violin in concert with Yehudi Menuin. Two maestros together: it was a fabulous combination. You can certainly hear classical music intermingled within the complex melodies of Grapelli's jazz. There is folk music in there too.
http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/e/emi66830a.php
The Hot Club of London included Diz Disley and Denny Wright on guitar. These two guitarists were also great musicians and provided a most sympathetic backing. Their guitar playing is far better than anyone in the Rolling Stone 100 with perhaps the exception of Jimmy Hendrix. They were masters of their craft.
One of my favourite tracks on this recording is "Misty". I thought that Errol Garner could not be bettered and that the piano was the best instrument to portray this sublime song. Well, Stephane and the Hot Club of London made a masterful rendition of this classic too.
Len Skeat laid down the perfect rhythmic and bass accompaniment; there was no need for a drummer.
I really like the sense of humour that comes across on this recording; at one point Grapelli and the two guitarists were mimicking one another.
I could play this type of jazz all day and like Errol Garner's music I could never tire of it.
From a technical point of view this album has been recorded, possibly by the BBC, and mastered with a deft touch that Diz Disley would have been proud of. There is a wide dynamic range and a fantastic sound stage, you can hear where the musicians are positioned. The audience reaction comes across very well and I felt that I could have been at the performance. I could hear the crowd all around me.
This 125 gm LP puts many modern recordings to shame. The PA system in the hall does that too. Some modern sound engineers should listen to this recording and learn to show a lighter touch on the sound compression sliders. The sound of pop music could be improved too by allowing more dynamic range to show through.
All this goes to show that the original recording techniques and the mastering of the tapes are of prime importance as far as Hi-Fi is concerned and this exposes the aridity of arguments about which is better CD, Vinyl and "High Resolution". None of these media can be enjoyed if the original recordings and masters are poor.
I was really surprised at how well this double LP had survived. There were no scratches on the record and there was minimal snap, crackle and pop. However, someone had dropped record #1 and chipped the edge so great care was needed when I cued the first track on both sides. This means that I cannot allow anyone else to play this record on a deck.
I have now converted the album to digital and it sounds exactly the same. I did not need to use noise removal but you can hear a gentle crackle in the very quiet bits but this does not spoil any of the enjoyment. The vinyl and my digital conversion both sound fantastic so there is no need to buy a new digital or analogue version, for that matter. The LP is now filed away.
What really matters, is that Stephane Grapelli and the Hot Club of London have produced musical perfection and we are so lucky that we can get a taste of this via our recordings and Hi-Fi systems.
I urge all music lovers to buy this record.
http://www.discogs.com/St%C3%A9phane-Grappelli-I-Got-Rhythm/release/2435496
http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1457711/a/Live+In+London.htm
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