Weekends are when I catch up on Jeff's Place, do a little hi-fi writing, and get in a little more music listening than I can on weekdays. This Sunday morning it's a jazz fix of Oscar Peterson and Duke Ellington, along with some fresh coffee and Eggs Benedict for breakfast.

(By the way, nearly all of the music discussed at Jeff's Place is music I've purchased, and none of it is provided by record companies for review.)

Exclusively for My Friends by Oscar Peterson (MPS)

This MPS box set of Exclusively for My Friends by Oscar Peterson is stunning. I’m a big fan of Oscar Peterson, and this box set of 6 LPs has turned out to be my favorite among my Oscar Peterson albums. The 6 albums are titled:

Volume 1 - Action

Volume 2 - Girl Talk

Volume 3 - The Way I Really Play

Volume 4 - My Favorite Instrument

Volume 5 - Mellow Mood

Volume 6 - Travelin' On

The original recordings were made in the living room of Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer in Germany, a jazz aficionado and friend of Oscar Peterson’s, and the head of MPS back then. There's an insert in the box set that shows the master tapes that the albums were sourced from, and discusses the restoration techniques used for the tapes.

The ‘sound restoration’ techniques used were all done in the analog domain, and they chose to leave a few master tape boo-boos intact. The work done on the tapes was consonant to the music, and the result was great tone, living room like presence, and musical performances that I truly enjoy.

Sonically and musically the Exclusively For My Friends box set is superb, and each of the LPs has a gatefold jacket with lots of good information. If this is any indication what sort of material MPS had in its vaults I sure hope they release more of it. All I can say is that if you don't pick up a copy of this for your jazz library you're going to be kicking yourself, and word has it that there's not that many of the box sets that were produced, so get it while you can. Very, very, highly recommended.

Masterpieces by Ellington by Duke Ellington And His Orchestra (Analogue Productions)

The Analogue Productions reissue of Masterpieces by Ellington by Duke Ellington And His Orchestra has received a lot of praise from the audio community, some of it deserved, and some of it not.

First of all, kudos to Analogue Productions for doing a lot of great jazz reissues, they are truly the friend of the jazz enthusiast.

The Acoustic Sounds website gives a nice description of the historical setting & significance of this album:

"Masterpieces By Ellington shines from an astonishingly brief period of history that gave the recording industry two of its greatest achievements — the introduction of magnetic tape recording and the 33 1/3 LP, or long-playing record.

Four years. That's all it took to go from the discovery by Americans, of German advancements in the field of sound recording, to the marketing of tape decks in the U.S. by the Ampex company, to Columbia's unveiling of its 12” LP, and the first long-playing record to be sold to consumers."

You should go out and read the description of it at the Acoustic Sounds website, it's a real interesting read. I'm impressed with the fact that this album was recorded briefly after the advent of magnetic tape recording, and it sounds great considering that. It does sound 'of the period' though, and if you buy it because you think it's going to be an awesome 'audiophile-style' recording, you'll probably be disappointed with it and wonder what the hell all those reviewers 'saw' in it.

If you're someone like me who likes vintage audio electronics, big horn loudspeakers, restored Garrard turntables, then I think you'll 'get' this 'vintage' album and be impressed.

I pretty much love all the Ellington music I've heard, and if you want to call me an 'Ellington slut' go ahead, it's true. I'm definitely a big fan! Masterpieces by Ellington is terrific music, and for everyone who loves the music of Duke Ellington you'll want to be sure to add this to your collection. I also want to recommend that you go read Fred Kaplan's (one of my favorite jazz reviewers) review out at Slate, who considers Masterpieces by Ellington to be the greatest Ellington album of all time.

Thanks for stopping by!