Concord Delivers SACDs

This month Concord Records joins the other prominent jazz labels by beginning to reissue its back catalog on SACD. (Once again, for anyone still in the dark on the SACD format: it stands for Super Audio Compact Disc, and if you have an SACD player, you’ll enjoy a quality of sound heretofore unknown in the digital world, thanks to a sampling rate 64 times greater than that of a regular CD.)

Concord will release 30 SACD reissues this year, one for each year the label has been in business-it’s a yearlong anniversary party at Concord HQ, you see. The first five SACDs in the series were actually released last month and are listed below. But we just received a box containing five discs that will be out June 24: Rosemary Clooney’s Girl Singer, Charlie Byrd’s The Bossa Nova Years, Gene Harris’ Listen Here, Carmen McRae’s Fine and Mellow and George Shearing/Hank Jones’ The Spirit of 176.

Taking full advantage of the new disc format, Concord has put three different programs on each disc. There’s the regular CD program (which means that you can plays these discs in a normal CD player), a stereo SACD program (which will reveal the high quality of the recordings) and then there’s the multi-channel surround mix program (which will envelope you in the sound if you have enough speakers set up).

Below is a full list of 2003 Concord SACD reissue releases. Collect them all.

Released May 20:

Art Blakey Keystone 3

Stan Getz Pure Getz

Tania Maria Come With Me

Tito Puente Goza mi Timbal

Jim Hall All Across the City

June 24:

Rosemary Clooney Girl Singer

Charlie Byrd The Bossa Nova Years

Gene Harris Listen Here

Carmen McRae Fine and Mellow

George Shearing/Hank Jones The Spirit of 176

July 22:
Michael Feinstein With the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra

Nneena Freelon Shaking Free

Poncho Sanchez Conga Blue

Mel Torme/Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass Velvet & Brass

Rosemary Clooney White Christmas

August 26:

Herb Ellis/Joe Pass Seven, Come Eleven

Mongo Santamaria Live at Jazz Alley

Susannah McCorkle From Bessie to Brazil

Karrin Allyson Sweet Home Cookin’

Cal Tjader La Onda Va Bien

September 23:

Pete Escovedo Flying South

Maynard Ferguson & Big Bop Nouveau These Cats Can Swing

Jack McDuff & Joey DeFrancesco It’s About Time

Marian McPartland Silent Pool

Monty Alexander’s Ivory & Steel Jamboree

October 21:

Dave Brubeck Blue Rondo

Mel Torme & George Shearing A Vintage Year

Ray Brown Trio Bam Bam Bam

Scott Hamilton Scott Hamilton with Strings

Gary Burton Like Minds

Originally Published June 17, 2003