boonesyndicate
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This is a great recording. Very ethereal, yet structured at the same time. Title track is a great tune. Lovano, Frisell, and Paul starting an adventure that has lasted over 20 years.
"Get It Together" was a good album. The title track was a hit single. However, it seems like the guys at Motown didn't really pay the album much mind when they re-mastered it and offered it as a two-fer with Skywriter. Their source material, at least for the song "Get It Together", does not seem to be a master tape, but rather someone's vinyl copy. I've never known a master tape to skip, which this track does. I'll have to give the time at where the track skips on the CD later.
I have a couple of these Jackson 5 two-fers, and the others seem to be okay. Maybe the masters were lost/stolen and the only way was to use a vinyl recording as the source. But even with that, they could've found a record that didn't skip to use as a source.
However it went down, somebody dropped the ball.
Here's "Smitty" soloing over one of those difficult compositions of Steve Coleman back in the early '90's. Clearly "Smitty" is a baaaaaaad man. Well, none of the cats playing on this tune are sad, because if you can make it through a chours of one of Steve tunes, and make it sound as if you're playing it in your sleep, you're doin' thangs!
I haven't seen "Smitty" on too many recordings since joining the Tonight Show Band. If anyone knows anything......
Comments
Motown..as a whole has done an awful job of remastering their classic albums. I think because they were so singles-centric, album mixes in particular were bad. Feelin' your pain here, although I have been impressed with the job done on The Complete Motown Singles Collection (now up to like 48 discs and Vol.9), but that doesn't excuse what they've done with the LP's.
I only have the J5 two-fer type re-issues. I wasn't aware that others were in bad shape too. I think they did much better with the Special Edition CD's that they released. Classic recordings with a bonus CD of previously unreleased music (usually a live performance). I have one for Rick James' Street Songs. I've been meaning to buy Marvin's What's Going On but still haven't gotten around to it.
You are right about those Special Ed's..of course those prolly get different treatment in mastering than any regular albums. With all the Motown stuff that has come on CD, besides the classic albums and artists, they are missing a ton.