Two sizzling LPs from Reference Recordings:
This was my first RR LP, via mail order to boot straight from their office
in the Bay Area, and to use the cliche, I was indeed 'astounded' by the
all the cuts of Side 1. It starts with fanfare music which ends quickly
with some orchestral 'slambang', and to surprise the listener, a chesty
male voice starts to talk and tells the audience to listen for 'the richness
in bass, the naturalness of the sound without shriek or boom' - and some
shrieking ACTUALLY follows. Next cut is an excerpt from Red Norvo's band
and the music is very enjoyable and delicately recorded. As the cover
mentions, listening to this thing may be habit forming and in those days
it really was for me....To this day, this LP has always entertained all
listeners that have visited me, this is a one of a kind demonstration of
what a fantastically recorded LP can sound like.
Fans of The Grateful Dead would know Mickey Hart as their drummer. In this one, he teams with Airto and Flora, and the result is,
imo, the most awesome drum/percussion LP I have ever possessed.
In the old days of TAS, the reviewers would always talk about the Gates
of Dafos, the cut in which Hart, after banging the killer drum, THROWS
the drum to the ground which blew out (literally) many subwoofers in
those times. When I had multiple 12 inch woofers then , it was a blast
to play the track. And each drum whack by Hart is followed by a tremendous sense of hall reverberation that is easily heard. And the other
cuts are a mixture of funk percussive rock jazz that is very unique. Recorded by Prof. Johnson and cut by Doug Sax, this LP is what I would
call, an all-star cast recording.