Tsuyoshi Yamamoto

I don't have anything recent, but his recordings from the 70's on the Three Blind Mice label are among my most played LP's. The ones I have are Midnight Sugar, Girl Talk and Misty.

Mostly old standards with a few originals, all trios with Aikira Daiyosho on bass and Tetsujiro Obara on drums. Fantastic playing and recording and excellent Japanese pressings. I never tire of them.

They are/were available on CD from Amazon.

hi Mike

can you give me a link to the music.

maria

Thanks for the tips, Bazz. I just got "Blues for Tee" from Amazon. This was one of the reference recordings that was used to set up systems at the audio shop where I worked when I was in high school, so it is great to hear it on my Naim kit. I will have to look into one of the other titles on CD - but they are not cheap from Amazon. Would you recommend one over any others? Are any studio recordinigs or are they all live?

Maria, I don't have a link to send you, but you can find the CDs at Amazon.com

Cheers,
M

Mike

They are all studio recordings. Of the three my favourite is Midnight Sugar, but they're all very good.

Thanks, Bazz. Just curious, since you're down under... What is your familiarity with Osborne speakers?

quote:

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What is your familiarity with Osborne speakers?

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I can't offer a lot of help there Mike. I know that Osborn speakers are made in Melbourne, are expensive, appear to be very solidly made and are ported designs with mostly Focal drivers, but I've never heard any of them. They also make a range of home theatre speakers.

Their website, http://www.osbornloudspeakers.com.au/ waffles on about imaging and tonal balance and Mr Osborn compares his top model, the Grand Reference Monument!, with JM Labs Grand Utopia. To me these are Round Earth cues, but of course I could be wrong.

Hi Mike,

Here is one more, recorded in 2001: Autumn in Seattle (FIMSACD 040). T. Yamamoto is joined by Ken Kaneko on Bass and Toshio Osumi on Drums. It is on the First Impression Music label. I ran across a reference to this on one of my more obscure forays into the 'net where a reviewer said that First Impression has some of the best sounding SACDs out there. Yes, this is a hybrid SACD and both layers are excellent; every bit as good as the old TBM discs Girl Talk, Midnight Sugar, and Misty, which I have treasured for almost two decades. The title piece is by Yamamoto and the disc contains reinterpretations of "Misty" and "The Way We Were" originally on TBM. He definitely is a more mature talent now. If you go to the web site: www.fimpression.com you (Yes, you too, Maria) will see that the same title is available as a XRCD (which I didn't know when I got the SACD about a year ago). The web site also features Midnight Sugar as a SACD. First Impression Music is apparently the labor of love of one Winston Ma, who apparently was connected to TBM's US distribution in the '80s.

BTW, the same review said not to miss the hybrid SACD of Vivaldi's Four Seasons with an Italian group, Sonatori De La Gioiosa Marca (FIMSACD 052) Of my many versions of the Seasons, this is one of the most refreshing. The CD cover quotes a Heuwell Tircuit of "In Tune" magazine as saying that this is one of 10 greatest recordings of the century (the last one, I assume).

When I bought these two SACDs I had Sony's flagship SACD player, but that is long since gone in favor of, and to help finance, my CDS3. I am very happy that both are hybrids as they sound way better on the CDS3.

Good listening,

Norman

Oh, and I just checked Amazon.com: they are listed there, but for more than at FIM's site. I'd just as soon support FIM directly.

Noman,

Thanks for the great information in a very nicely composed post that answers many questions... but leaves me with one:

What is an XACD?

-Mike

Hi Mike,

BTW, after my posting last night, I played both CDs mentioned for the first time in a long time and realized that both are HDCDs, so particularly suited to the Naim players above CD5i.

XRCD is a process developed by JVC where they take the master tapes and do everything in the manufacturing chain very "right". The CDs are not encoded so are pure Red Book standard. You can read about the process here or just type in xrcd.com. Music Direct in Chicago carries all of them and they had a 20% off sale about a year ago when I picked up a bunch, including the Steamin/Cookin/etc series by Miles Davis, as well as some great classical pressings. Some have said the sound is a little bright, but not on my CDS3 . The Rubenstein recording of Chopin pieces is particularly good. I'm at the office now, but if you are interested, I could post some of the inventory numbers later.

Norman

Actually, check out Wes Phillips' review of 10 Jazz XRCDs, which prompted me to go on that buying spree a year ago here

Norman

Norman,

Posting the inventory numbers would be cool. Why not start an XRCD thread?

Cheers,
M

Hi Mike,

I might just do that. The last time I extolled the virtues of XRCD here, the thread pretty much crashed when the $25 MSRP was trotted out. I do have to admit that, like Wes Phillips said, the sound is not like night vs day. The outlay is worthwhile, however, if you aren't duplicating any holdings. That thought came to mind last night when I saw Patricia Barber's Cafe Blue available on FIM's website as a HDCD. If I didn't have the already very good Red Book version, I would have for sure ordered it.

BTW, I have noticed that some of my TBM CDs from the 80s have resurfaced as JVC XRCDs.


Norman

I noticed that as well, Norman. And both JVC and TBM/FIM seem to be offering the same titles online.

-Mike

I think I'l try those two myself. The XRCD idea is fascinating.

I have a CD copy of Midnight Sugar which is just a pale shadow of the vinyl, but that applies to most CDs in my experience.

Maybe XRCD holds out some hope (or maybe I need a CDS3!)

Mike,

I just posted some of my favorite classical XRCDs on the thread "Classical novice...help". Still haven't decided whether or not XRCD merits its own thread.

Norman

Here is a new release of "Misty" on 45 rpm LP by Cisco records. I can't take advantage of it because my LP12/Valhalla doesn't play at 45s

Norman

Norman,

Acoustic Sounds http://store.acousticsounds.com/ have both Misty and Midnight Sugar on 45 rpm vinyl. I'm just about to order them.

Hi Bazz,

Thanks for the input. I actually noticed that Music Direct also has both of those titles. Do a search on "yamamoto" to bring up all of their offerings incl. the FIM and XRCD listings covered above. I have bought from both outfits and had good service either way. Music Direct has a more extensive hardware and tweaks selection, and I have found that they will "deal" on price more, particularly if you are buying a number of items. However, the international long distance charges may mitigate any savings you may be able to negotiate. Let me know how they sound. I ran across a 45 rpm Laurindo Almeida disc the other day that I bought back in the 70s which I can't listen to. Maybe the 45 offerings coming out these days will give me a reason to finally update my Valhalla power supply .

Norman

Norman,

After discovering that the 45 rpm TBM LPs are on 2 discs, and considering that the single disc versions already have fairly short playing times, I chickened out and only ordered Midnight Sugar as a trial (along with a few other titles).

My 33 rpm copy of Misty is in quite good condition anyway, but if the revamped versions are as good as claimed I'll order one later. I'll post when Midnight Sugar arrives.

OK, Bazz. Let us know. Obviously, I wouldn't be hanging out on these forums if I didn't care greatly about sound quality, but these days I find the convenience of playing a good quality CD, like the TBM CDs, often winning out over flipping LPs. The 45 rpm version would have to be pretty stunning for me to put up with hopping up to flip the record over every 10 minutes.

Norman

My two disc 45 rpm re-mastered copy of Midnight Sugar, numbered 027 of 1000, arrived from Music Direct in Chicago yesterday.

Playing time of each side ranges from a bit over thirteen minutes to (ahem) 6'49",
but the music is so fresh and alive I don't really mind hopping up every few minutes to change sides.

The quality of the re-mastering by JVC and the original recording engineer is outstanding. No half-speeed mastering kludge here, the three intruments are in superb balance and the claims on the sleeve of increased dynamic range, lower noise floor etc are all met for once. It's the nearest thing I've had to a live performance from disc.

There is an interesting diagram of the recording studio on the record sleeve, which shows the relative positions of the instruments and gives a full list of the recording equipment. It also shows the mic types and positions. No fewer than 11 microphones were used for the three instruments, six on the drum kit alone.

Anyway I'm very pleased with it and a couple of others in the order, especially Maria Muldaur's Rich Woman Blues, and I plan to order Misty today. After all, they are collector's items!

Thanks for the update, Bazz. Now I need to figure out how to spin my LP12 at 45 RPM

Norman

Easy Norman, just get an Origin Live DC motor kit and one of Herbies turntable mats http://herbiesaudiolab.home.att.net/ttmat.htm#TT%20Mat and you'll never look back

Hey Bazz: thanks a million! I had not previously heard of the Origin Live motor upgrade, I had really assumed that any major upgrade to my old LP12 would cost an arm and a leg (funny thing for a CDS3 owner to complain about). I've only read about 5 or 6 of the Google hits, but it looks like something I need to get into. It turns out that my old dealer in Kansas City handles it, so I'll be talking to him soon.

Norman

2001: Autumn in Seattle (FIMSACD 040)

Cheers!

Thanks for recommending this one. Got it 1-2 weeks ago and it's really good! Nice music, a very good performance and the sound quality must indeed be up there with the best of cd's.

So, what next .......

Claus