A few of my audiophile friends have wondered about just how good the 78 rpm format can sound. Well, here is exhibit A: a VERY clean virtually unplayed copy of an EmArcy disc from 1954 that I got at the Austin Record Convention earlier this summer from Justin from the Antique 78 rpm Record Shop. Justin has a store in Wichita Falls, Texas that I hope to visit some day.
I did not do *any* declicking, gain adjustment, compression, or summing to mono to this transfer. Pretty much the raw transfer with equalization adjusted.
This is almost a perfect record to really critically listen to, as there are both quiet sections with Blakey’s drums or Heath’s bass solo and louder passages with Henry Durant’s tenor sax. You can also hear Blakey shouting out encouragement to the band in the background.
This tune was originally released on 7″ 45 rpm and 10″ 78 rpm only. It finally made it to LP/CD in the late 80s, where it was included with the eight songs on the 10″ LP “Blakey” from 1955 and presented as “The Complete Art Blakey on EmArcy”.
Recorded in New York City on March 24, 1954.
Released as Emarcy 16007.
Credits:
Henry Durant – tenor sax
Horace Silver – piano
Percy Heath – bass
Art Blakey – drums
Sources:
https://www.jazzdisco.org/art-blakey/discography/
Link to Justin’s record store
https://antique78rpm.com/
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