SwingDJs

A few of you might have received copies of the remastered version of George Gee's Buddha Boogie. What did you think? I couldn't hear much difference, the remastered version is perhaps a little crisper. But remastered or not, I was reminded by listening to the CD and reading my old review why I didn't like the CD in the first place. What do others think of this CD, and what tracks, if any, do you spin?

I haven't really compared it to the old version yet but I did like the CD. I spun "Well Git It" last night and it was pretty well recieved.

My favorite is still "Swingin' live" -the CD with the blue cover.

For those of you who don't know George Gee: check him out. One of the best "Dancers' bands" out there. "Swinin' live" is always on my recomended music list.

http://www.georgegee.com/music.html

-Greg

Early in my Swing Dancing hobby development I made it to Catalina and heard George Gee play one night. I decided to pick up the CD because I had a good time dancing to the band. I often find I'm forgiving to bands based on other factors.

Upon listening to the CD, I was pretty disappointed as I don't really dig the "jazzier" late Basie Style that dominated the CD.

Therefore I can't recommend the CDs for DJing, but would recommend checking George Gee out when performing at a dance venue.

I like Swingin Live and the Frankie Birthday CDs. I can't comment on his latest (the Geneva Live CD).

I play Buddah Boogie the least, not that is bad, I just prefer the others.

I should pull it out, dust it off, and try it out again, that one has been buried for awhile.

Nathan

Swingin' Live is still my personal favorite, too. Three of his four cds are live cds, and I definitely feel that's when he's in his element (although rumor has it he's soon doing a studio recording with Frank Foster or led by Frank Foster or something about Frank Foster that will have an all-star line up of local NYers that I'm definitely looking forward to).

I play various tracks every once in a while. The sound on his recordings (Buddha Boogie in particular) is just missing something. I expect like a lot of bands, George Gee is probably pretty good if not awesome live but studio recordings lack the flavor of a liver performance.

Toon Town Dave wrote:I play various tracks every once in a while. The sound on his recordings (Buddha Boogie in particular) is just missing something. I expect like a lot of bands, George Gee is probably pretty good if not awesome live but studio recordings lack the flavor of a liver performance.

Yes, that is the case. Recording a big band is a very tricky task that only a few producers really get right. (the right balance of ambient vs. direct mics, the right levels, the right kind of mics, the right mixing engineer, etc.) Not even the "Swingin Live" CD captures what they sound like live. The Big Band has sounded absolutely awesome every time I have seen it over the years.

i heard bill elliott records his albums with a single vintage mic in Capitol Studios B, just like the old big bands. i think it's in the liner notes or something.

his recordings sound awesome, although the palladium live recording is a bit wonky.

julius wrote:i heard bill elliott records his albums with a single vintage mic in Capitol Studios B, just like the old big bands. i think it's in the liner notes or something.

his recordings sound awesome, although the palladium live recording is a bit wonky.

Ya, this goes back to the "over engineering" i usually hear in big bands. We're lucky to have a lot of good bands these days that don't do that... such as Elliott, Mora, C5, etc... I so appreciate a band who knows not to add reverb and the like to their recordings.

Jesse, I think you helped me put my finger on what was missing in the sound on Buddha Boogie. You mention reverb, I don't think there is any (or not much), real or artificial. It's kind of like talking on a telephone with too much echo cancellation it just sounds a little flat.

Live music in a hall would probably have lots of well timed echo bouncing off the walls, ceiling, etc.

Just tried turning on the EAX on my soundblaster and it does sound better with some echo/reverb. Still a little wonky because the presets add a lot of reverb.

BB was probably recorded with a ton of short range, highly directional mics. I can hear a ton of echo in Mora's stuff. C5 has it just about right on their CD.

Always glad to help

Ya, Mora's stuff sounds like the mikes are at a pretty good distance, creating that "Stuffed into a room with a single Mic" kinda sound. I dig it. Not too many bands could get away with going that far back with their sound.

C5 definitely gets the right mix for the combo work they do.

He remastered the sound on the CD, as I mentioned in the first post. So does anyone have it, and find it better? Mr. Miner?

Ron wrote:A few of you might have received copies of the remastered version of George Gee's Buddha Boogie. What did you think?

The remastered release definitely sounds a lot better than the original version.

I couldn't hear much difference, the remastered version is perhaps a little crisper.

I can't exactly put my finger on what is better, but the recordings sound fuller, clearer, and like Ron said, crisper. Non-technical terms at their best!

Since we've been getting into the habit of providing samples, for a limited time I will put up short sound samples of "The Continental", one of the songs where the differences between the original and remastered are quite noticeable:

Original (1.41 MB)
Remaster (1.41 MB)

Note for those who care: These samples have been encoded using the "--alt-preset insane" LAME setting (320 CBR) so that little information has been lost for the comparision.

For a visual, here is how the different .wav files look:

What do others think of this CD, and what tracks, if any, do you spin?

I think it's cool that George recorded this ablum with the smaller band, giving it a different sound and feel from those done by the Make Believe Ballroom Orchestra.

I spin many of the songs from this album time to time, especially his interesting originals: "Duckin' And Divin'", "She's Never Satisfied", and "Foo-La-Di-Oo-Wee-Dot". "720 In The Books", "Basie Boogie" and "Everyday I Have The Blues" would probably be my favorite covers on the album.

Of course "Swingin' Live!" is still my favorite George Gee album.

Jesse

it sounds like he increased the volume on the track and made it wider

that is all i can hear. i wouldn't buy it, but then again, i didnt buy the original one, so it doesnt mean much