Bounce With The Counce
The Curtis Counce Group - You Get More Bounce With Curtis Counce! [CR00389 USA 2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC]
Originally released as an album in mono on Contemporary Records in 1957.
The most obvious thing to strike you about this album is the sleeve. Moving on, next it is the music... with Curtis Counce on double bass, Frank Butler on drums & Cal Perkins on piano in the right channel and then all the horn solos in the left, the extra wide stereo field adds considerable dynamism to playback of this extraordinary album.
This new 2023 pressing was cut by Bernie Grundman and pressed at Quality Record Pressings in Salina, Kansas. What is intriguing is the origin of the tapes used for the tapes used for this release.We know this album was only available as mono until 1972 when it reappeared as a stereo mix and renamed Counceltation. In 1984, OJC reissued the album once more with its original title and cover using a stereo tape. It is not disclosed anywhere whether the original recording session was taped in mono & stereo, or whether the stereo mix was mixed down from two or three track tapes in 1972.
Regardless of this, the seven hard bop tracks of five covers and two band originals sound amazing. The QRP pressing quality, Lester Koenig's original recording and a Grundman mastering ensures the listener enjoys the effect of sitting right between five great jazz musicians in their listening room. This album was recorded over five sessions between October 1956 and September 1957, so we can now only assume how many reels were used for the final stereo mixdown.
I am hoping Craft release a mono version, like they have with others in their Contemporary reissue series so we can hear how Koenig & Counce originally wanted this record to sound, but with a Grundman mastering. During this rip I noticed a little tape degradation in the left channel, it is hardly noticeable except for the two quiet sections on Big Foot (which was unsurprisingly the first track recorded in October 1956). This is not enough to spoil the listeners enjoyment when played back on a home system.
A1 Complete
A2 How Deep Is The Ocean
A3 Too Close For Comfort
A4 Mean To Me
B1 Stranger In Paradise
B2 Counceltation
B3 Big Foot
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ReplyDeleteMany thanks for share this great jazz stuff !!
ReplyDeleteWhat got me frequenting your blog(s) in the first place was all the post-punk, synthwave, 80s stuff. But who woulda thunk that you'd eventually satisfying my jazz itches more than my rock itches? Love this stuff! Keep it coming!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteI find the cover totally repulsive, some 1950's marketing exec's wet dream. A testimony to that era's rapant mysogyny and racism. How about a reissue with the actual artists' pictures? Is Curtis's countenance still too dark? Is this a copyright issue? I'm sorry for raising a stink, I love this blog and I support it when I can. Thank you for sharing your passion.
ReplyDeleteYou are not raising a stink at all as I'm sure that many do agree. It's not clear why they chose this version over the Countenace version, except that maybe it is a different mix and the tape is lost, plus this release uses the same original artwork from the OJC eighties reissue as well.
DeleteIs it possible this cover is actually counter-racist? After all, it does depict what is clearly a white woman enjoying the sounds of black musicians. Just adding little balance to this discussion. I can think of many album covers since, especially in the eighties rap era which are truly & disgustingly misogynist.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks BM & yes, a mono version would be great.
ReplyDeleteLovely! Thank you
ReplyDelete