Gloria Steward - Jazz for Dancing (Triston 2021)

 

Produced by Silver Medal (Global Music Awards) Prize Winner, Jürg Schopper, this 1965 vintage recording is as humble and unknown as wonderful.

The Swiss pressing is as sought-after as it can be, but the Turicaphon’s master-tapes were located and saved by Herr Schopper and put at safe at his AliBaba’s Cave/warehouse.

The difference with other collectors is that Jürg loves sharing his musical nuggets with others 🥇

The result and second master-tape dubbing, after the awesome, prize-winning double-tape of Satie’s piano works, is this two-reels box.

Recorded in Berlin, (at the time) Western Germany, Gloria’s velvet, strong voice is masterfully accompanied by The Manfred Burzlaff Quartet, a vibes-fueled jazz quartet of great German musicians.

… and the vibes are just awesomely captured by the recording engineer with an organic, full-bodied sound, lively and true… the recording character reminds to me the best Blue Notes’ Van Gelder’s engineered discs… yes, it’s that good 🥇!

Some outtakes not included in original vinyl disc are present here and the two precision metal-reels spin flawlessly on the Studer… the sense of being “here” (you in studio/musicians in listening room) is seldom experienced… no hypes: smooth, natural voice, explosive dynamics and pleasant music makes this box a true Desert Island tape.

The two reel-tapes are tail-out which will preserve tapes from print-through phantom sound, a wise choice.

I could listen to this music every evening, sipping an Oban glass and lazily puffing an Habano.

Isn’t this the best use for music? The main reason we spend our money?

Would it be a public attitude, we’d buy a Porsche for being posers, not a Studer’s… we’re just (musical) truth seekers… and a wonderful, exclusive, so well-conceived tapes-box is racing-gasoline for our reel-to-reel machines🤟🥇🤟😎🥇

Expensive? Maybe, but such a thing will be giving years and years of pleasure and enjoyment with unaltered quality.

The guarantee of a 100% analog-processing, Telefunken M10 playing/Telefunken M15 (non A) recording is worth the expense!

Your (good) ears will tell and confirm you 🥂

Enjoy as I did… kudos to Jürg and his staff and stuff for such a fantastic, old-school masterpiece.

💫💫💫