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