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104 of The Very Best Sound Quality Recordings

A short while ago I set out to find the best sounding recordings in order to take advantage of my newly purchased audiophile stereo system.  I’m all about quality of music and sound so I wanted the best I could afford.

The criteria was simple, the recording had to be as close to master quality as you can get or a recording where you can hear the clarity, the frequency range and the sonic details that was originally intended.  At first I wanted to acquire the physical albums but I quickly found that was not always possible.  So alternatively there are plenty of master quality music available at places like the following (no worries, we’ll get to the list in a minute):

Tidal

Pro Studio Masters

Acoustic Sounds Super Hi Res 

HDTracks

Native DSD Music

Bowers and  Wilkins Society of Sound

The Classical Shop

Qobuz

Keep in mind if you purchase some of this music you will need to know what file format your audio player supports (watch for AIFF, ALAC, WAV, FLAC , DSD and new and arguably the best MQA).

Remember also that to listen to this music you do not have to have special speakers or headsets but the point here is to be able to hear the quality of the sound from the input source and to do that you need good quality output devices.

The above listed services are not free and they range significantly on the monthly and yearly costs.  You will need to decide how much music quality of sound is worth to you.

My search turned up the following albums.  They are not listed in any particular order or genre (that’s on purpose…my way of forcing you to listen to something new or different).  These albums were recorded meticulously and sound great on their own but  if you can get a master, or hi-res quality and play it on a system that can read and translate the media’s sound quality then you are off to the races.  So find these albums, download them from a hi-res site or stream them from a HD audio streaming service.  Your ears will love you.

One more thing… This is about sound quality not musical taste or about who’s music is better. We all love different types and styles of music. If you listen and you don’t like the music that’s fine but someone else might. My concern for this article is how it sounds. Try to listen to as many as you can. Happy listening.

So enough blah blah blah..Here we go…

The Beatles – Abbey Road
Daft Punk – Random Access Memories
Stevie Wonder – Inner Visions
Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On
Gustav Holts – The Planets – London Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra with Vladimir Jurowski
Darkside – Psychic
Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral
Charles Mingus – Mingus Ah Um
Thundercat – Drunk
Crosby, Stills and Nash – Day light Again
Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
Michael Jackson – Thriller
Paul Simon – So Beautiful or So What
Steely Dan – Goucho
Dave Brubeck – Time Out
Neil Young – Roxy – Tonight’s The Night Live
Kendrick Lamar: Damn
Radiohead: OK Computer
Nirvana – In Utero 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
Dr. Dre – 2001
R.E.M. – Automatic For The People
Burial – Untrue
Rage Against The Machine – Rage Against The Machine
Joni Mitchell – Blue
Miles Davis – Kind of Blue
Prince – Sign of The Times
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
Massive Attach – Mezzanine
U2 – The Joshua Tree, Remastered Deluxe Edition
J.S. Bach – The Brandenburg Concertos,Jordi Savall – Le Concert Des Nations
Duke Ellington And His Orchestra – Afro Bossa
Jerry Garcia and David Grisman – So What
Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan – In Session
Jazz at the Pawnshop
Dire Straits – Dire Straits
The War On Drugs – Deeper Understanding
Norah Jones – Come Away With Me
Pink Floyd – Animals
Miles Davis – Bitches Brew
Nils Frahm – Spaces
Aphex Twin – Syro
Wagner – Der Ring Des Nibelungen – Wiener Philharmoniker, sir Georg Solti
Steely Dan – Aja
Porcupine Tree – Stars Die (Remastered)
Pat Metheny – Letter From Home
Mozart – The Piano Concertos – Murray Perahia
Deadmau5 – Where’s The Drop?
Keith Jarrett – After The Fall
Nirvana – Nevermind
Tool – Lateralus
My Bloody Valentine – Loveless
The Black Keys – Brothers
Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness
Deftones – White Pony
Arcade Fire – Funeral
Dusty Springfield – Dusty In Memphis
Howlin’ Wolf – The Memphis Sessions
Modern Jazz Quartet – Third Stream Music
FKA Twigs – LP1
The Congos – Heart of The Congos
Boards of Canada – Tomorrow’s Harvest
Pink Floyd – Dark Side of The Moon
Talking Heads – Talking Sense
Joni Mitchell – Court And Spark
The L.A. Four – Going Home
Stevie Wonder – Innervisions
Buena Vista Social Club – Buena Vista Social Club
Bill Evans Trio – Portrait In Jazz
Tom Waits – Rain Dogs
Yes – Close to The Edge
Keith Jarrett – The Koln Concert
Harry Connick Junior. – She
Anne Bisson – Blue Mind
Mickey Hart, Airto, Flora Purim – Dafos
John Hassell – Fascioma
James Blake – James Blake
Manu Katche – Third Round
Sara K And Chris Jones – Live In Concert
Peter Gabriel 4 – (‘Security’)
Andre Heuvelman – After Silence
Doug MacLeod – There’s A time
Peter Erskine Trio – As it is
Bobby Timmons Trio – In Person
John Coltrane – Crescent
Sam Cooke – Night Beat
Muddy Waters – Folk Singer
The Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed
Jeff Beck – Wired
Bob Marley and The Wailers – Exodus
Grace Jone – Night clubbing
Depeche Mode – Violator
LSO, Les Troyens Berlioz – Sir Colin Davis
Bjork – Homogenic
Madeleine Peyroux – Careless Love
Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly
Gomez – In Your Gun
Bob Dylan – Love And Theft
Thomas Dolby – Aliens Ate My Buick
Steven Wilson – The Raven That Refused to Sing
Anne Sophie Mutter – Vivaldi – the Four Seasons
Eric Clapton – Unplugged
Santana – Ceremony
Muki – Quiet Riot
Toni Braxton – Secrets

Now this is not a final or definitive list. This is just what I found in my research. No doubt there are plenty more out there. I would love to hear what you think I’ve missed (always willing to listen). Put your thoughts in the comment box at the bottom of the page.

 

ALL TIME 10 ALBUMS THAT INFLUENCED ME

Recently someone asked me to come up with 10 albums that influenced me or had an impact on my taste in music and my choice in the music that I write. This was no small feat. It would be hard enough if I only like one or two genres but my musical tastes carry me across many diverse genres, from Rock to classical, from jazz to hip hop, from Heavy metal to latin. There is something in all of it that fascinates me, that compels me, encourages me and ultimately satisfies me. So my list of influences is not for the average listener. My taste is my own and I own up to it and I’m proud of it. However, I do hope you take the chance to listen to some of these albums. You might find something you like.
The following list is not in any particular order because its not about ranking the music its about their influence and impact on me. Enjoy.

MILES DAVIS – KIND OF BLUE
There is a reason why this album lands on almost all jazz fan’s lists and even music fans who aren’t jazz freaks. It’s freakin good. Whether you are a jazz fan or not, most people get it. It’s approachable and understandable. And for die hard jazz aficionados there is plenty of sophistication and coolness in this historic album.  I first listen to it when I was 12 after finding my father’s copy in a milk crate in our family homes’ crawlspace. I became a jazz fan from that day on.

 

CHICK COREA ELEKTRIC BAND – EYE OF THE BEHOLDER. 

After digging deep into the bebop world and moving through the Miles discography I came across the fusion genre. This was exciting for me because it had excitement, virtuosity, arrangements with multiple changes and writing that encompassed all sorts of other genres and musical tastes. The guys in this group gelled so well and created tracks that transcend most in there generation. No wonder they all went on to become masters of their instruments and music.

 

 

 

 

GENESIS – THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY

This one started me on to the path of progressive rock and lead to more influential groups in this genre as you will see later. Again, it was the big arrangements with multiple sections and odd meter changes and creative writing that was very different and more complex than everyday rock that lured me.

 

 

 

STEPS AHEAD- STEPS AHEAD

This Group started by vibraphonist Mike Mainieri began with Michael Brecker, Steve Gadd, Eddie Gomes and Don Grolnick. I was floored by the musicality coming out of this group and this album (still am).  But then as you listen more to their other albums you hear people like Bob Berg, Steve Khan, Victor Bailey, Mark Johnson, Peter Erskine, Tony Levin, Denis Chambers, Mike Stern… holy crap. They never put out a dull album.

 

 

 

 

PAT METHENY GROUP – LETTER FROM HOME

This album really opened my eyes to Metheny’s unique way of writing and arranging. I wish I could write like him. His compositions in the Metheny Group setting impacted me greatly and really influences my way of composing. Also check out the albums Speaking of Now, Imaginary Day and We Live here. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WYNTON MARSALIS – STANDARD TIME VOLUME 1

This album solidified my love for the genre. I spent hours and hours listening to every note every phrase. Damn I still do. This is when Wynton was at his most creative (of course he was very young then) It was also the beginning of the resurgence of jazz in the eighties and the beginning of the young guns as the new up and coming young jazz musicians were known. The members of this particular group are now masters of the genre.

 

 

 

 

 

YES – DRAMA

This like many of their music was way ahead of their time. Like the title states, there is lots of drama in this album. I like drama in music. It’s a very useful tool in telling a story. Love the many signature and progression changes. They were already masters at this point. This album still blows me away today. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IGOR STRAVINSKY – RITE OF SPRING (conductor HERBERT VON KARAJAN)

I was turned on to classical music by an old girl friend and I started by listening to mostly the Baroque period. But I like the music so much I started to research and got into it deeper.When I reached the period of Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Holts and Prokofiev I was in heaven. The Rite of spring is by far my favorite symphony. I’ve seen it performed 4 times. Did I mention before that I like drama in my music? I think this is where it comes from.  My kids would tell you how I used to make them listen to this music in a dark room so they wouldn’t get distracted. Is that mean? I know they appreciate classical music to this day. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BILL BRUFORD – ONE OF A KIND

After hearing this dude with Yes and King Crimson I was completely hooked on his style and his pension for odd signature drumming. When I came across this album it really solidified my love for odd signature compositions. Then when he began playing jazz I was in heaven. It would be the start of a live long search for this type of writing and playing. I try to incorporate it in my compositions whenever possible.  All his albums are fantastic. His first few albums are very influenced by Yes and Crimson and if you want to check out his more jazz offerings look for Earthworks

 

 

 

 

 

 

PINK FLOYD – ANIMALS

Yes Dark Side of the Moon was bigger, probably better and there are a whole slew of their albums that one might arguably say is better but this one had the most impact on me. Honestly I don’t know why. I just love these tracks. They seem to stay stuck with me longer than the others. Man these guys were creative.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEVE COLEMAN AND FIVE ELEMENTS – RHYTHM PEOPLE (THE RESURRECTION OF CREATIVE BLACE CIVILIZATION)

Ok the title is a little long in the tooth but its a great album. This one really left an impression on me. It pulled on my funky side, my love for odd signature tracks, and my jazzy side. The funky jazz feel is also injected with a kind of avant-guard element in some cases but without loosing its funky root. This will appeal to fans of funky grooves and also the hardcore jazz fan. I love this album. Its affect on the music I listen to today and the music I write and produce has been profound. Some may find this a little difficult to get into but I love when you have to pay attention to music. It keeps you engaged. 

So that’s my top 10. Of course there are countless others that could have made this list and many I struggled with on whether to add of not include but I had to choose.  Check them out.  Even it its not your cup of tea, take a chance.  You never know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, so I stuck an extra one in there.  Like I said, it was a difficult choice.

 

 

 

Is the Kensington Jazz Festival Toronto’s finest?

Is the Kensington Jazz Festival Toronto’s finest? For me, this year it definitely was. Why? Well…….

I’ve been to the TD Toronto Jazz festival almost every year. It boasts all the top tier artists in venues big and small. So too does the arguably better Montreal Jazz Festival.

But this year was not a great year for the big boys on the block. It was not a stellar year for talent. Don’t get me wrong there were some great acts for sure but the festivals did not live up to their fame in my opinion. This year’s Toronto festival was under-advertised, in a totally new and one of the most expensive areas of town. If you wanted to sit at a cafe and watch a band you’d better make sure your credit card is paid up or your wallet is fully stocked. Love the Yorkville area but not for a Jazz festival.

Then came the Kensington Jazz Festival. Held in the Kensington neighbourhood and situated mostly along Augusta Ave. and Baldwin Street. If you’ve never been to Kensington, it’s a few streets with a cluster of small shops, restaurants and galleries. It’s not the prettiest but it sure has character. And believe me there were no pushed up nose in the air ‘I’m better or richer than you’ show offs on this side of town…maybe a few wanna be’s.

This festival spanning Friday evening to Sunday night featured over 300 artists in 12 venues, store fronts and street corners. With talents ranging from some of Toronto’s highest profile artists to guys who just love to play jazz for fun. And believe me, some of those dudes on the street corners would be good enough to play right along side the big boys (and girls).

One of the many things that made this festival unique was the venues. The shops and restaurants in this area are very small so to see your favorite artist you most likely will be standing in a tightly packed crowd in maybe a supermarket, a back yard, a bycicle shop or even a suit store. Oh and some of these you had to pay for the privilege ($12 to about $22). But we are jazz lovers. We don’t care. These kinds of venue make for a more intimate atmosphere. You can turn and speak with people from all walks of life. The other good thing about this festival is that all the acts were literally within a 5 minute walking area. No jumping into public transit or navigating for parking spaces.

There were a few artists I wanted to see (Rich Brown, Mike Downes, Laila Biali, Joe Sealy, Ted Quinlan and Robi Botos) but had to miss those due to other commitments. I did however get a chance to see Mike Murley, Lorne Lofsky, Elizabeth Shepherd, Eddie Bullen and a slew of really good free outdoor acts.
(bonus – 3 perfectly sunny days, lots of great places to sit and have a brew or glass of wine)…oh and my sweetheart by my side.

Seriously, what more could you ask for?

NIGHT OF MUSICAL EXCELLENCE

In my lifetime, and probably in yours as well, I’ve been to many concerts or musical events that have left a lasting fingerprint on the soundtrack of my life. You know, those shows you will never forget because of the music. Not because of other things that happened at the concert, or the person you picked up or after-party you went to. No, its because of the music you experienced, the feelings it stirred in you and the joy you felt being part of that moment.

Its not a feeling you get accidentally. It was planned. It was created. It was done so by individuals or a group of individuals who have a certain gift, a certain talent. But what makes it all come together to produce those feelings is something all together quite remarkable.

On Thursday June 22, I had the privilege of experiencing such an event presented by world famous radio station 91.1 Jazz FM. It was a private concert put on to celebrate Canada’s 150th Birthday and held at one of the country’s premier high end audio and video boutiques, Bay Bloor Radio.

I think they must of called in all favours in choosing the musicians for the evening. This was truly a few of the brightest, most talented and world renowned jazz artists of our generation. I have no problem saying that. Because its true. There were two groups. The Mike Downes Quartet with Ted Quinlan (guitar), Robi Botos (piano/keys) and Larnell Lewis of Snarky Puppy fame on drums.

The second group was Rinse The Algorithm, lead by the hottest bass player on the planet, Rich Brown. Accompanying him were again Botos and Lewis with the addition of Luis Deniz on alto sax.

Lets just say that at the end of the evening all I could say was ‘Wow!’. And I could hear it and see it on the faces of the packed standing room only audience ‘Wow!’. On my way home ‘Wow!’. Lying in bed, not wanting to fall asleep, listening to the CDs I purchased from each group ‘Wow!’.

The most amazing thing, the part that made the experience stand out for me besides the display of virtuosity, the creative and inventive playing and the compositional excellence, was the amazing ability of these players to communicate musically. To read and anticipate each other. To converse without saying a word. To be in sync on the highest and most difficult of performance level. Yes other artist can and have done it but to witness it with artists such as this was memorizing and truly magically.

I am very grateful to both Jazz FM and Bay Bloor Radio for the opportunity to witness this totally satisfying evening of jazz and for what will become a long-lasting slice of musical memory to add to the soundtrack of my life.

 

PAT CLARKE – THE MAN WITH THE HARMONICA

There are many artists out there who are good at playing an instrument or using the one they were born with (their voice). What makes some of these ‘needles in a haystack’ stand out? Is it their talent? Possibly, but there is only so far you can hone a talent. Then what? What makes people want to see you or hear you over and over again? I believe it’s a combination of characteristics that this man, Pat Clarke, possesses. Talent (no doubt). He plays a wicked harp, sings well and writes intelligently. But he also has wit, personality and instant likability. All of that comes through in his music. Here he tells his story.
As usual, see examples of his music below the story.

“My tastes in music are fairly eclectic, having been brought up listening to my Dads music – classical, traditional jazz, Lonnie Donegan, Burl Ives and Harry Belafonte’s calypso material. Living in British North Borneo up to the age of 8, I didn’t get to listen to radio or watch television until the family returned to England in 1963, just in time to catch the start of the pop scene. Ready Steady Go, then Top Of The Pops were the highlights of my week – Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Spencer Davis, Animals, Troggs, Who, Hollies …marvliss!

The first harmonica playing I really noticed was by Manfred Mann’s Paul Jones on their single 5-4-3-2-1 and, following in my big brother’s footsteps, I bought my first ‘Echo Super Vamper’. Although it was a while before I could really play, I was soon jumping up to play with any band in Rugby that would have me – notably Greasy Kid Stuff who actually got paid for one or two gigs! In those days I was trying to sound like Keith Relf or Captain Beefheart.

At officers training school for the merchant navy I fronted a band for the first time and started writing my first songs. The earliest (now lost) recordings were made at sea, in 1975, on a borrowed reel to reel tape recorder, but it wasn’t until I went to art school in Manchester (1977) that I really started performing.

Playing in various duos (notably ‘The Rotating Kneecaps’ and ‘Hardluck & Whisperin’) on the thriving folk club scene I began exploring blues and folk music, discovering a few old blues-harpmen for the first time. Sonny Terry, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Moses Smith, Little Walter and Snooky Prior are still my favourites.

In my final year at art school, Victor Brox (ex front man with Aynsley Dunbar’s Retaliation) gave me my first break in a working band when college-mate Nick Clarke (a sparky guitarist protege of Victor’s) persuaded him to let me blow iron with his Blues Train. This was valuable experience, playing pubs and clubs all over the north of England, and a gig at Manchester’s Band On The Wall club gave me the buzz of seeing my name in the paper for the first time – Chris Lee wrote in the Evening News that I had “livened up Kansas City with some fairly ripe playing”. A couple of years later Nick decided to leave The Blues Train and we formed our own swinging R&B band, Yes Sir, named after an Elvin Bishop song we covered.

Yes Sir toured for 4 years, ranging from Carlisle’s Twisted Wheel to London’s Rock Garden and many pub & college venues in between, also enjoying some TV appearances and a successful residency at the Atlantis bar in Basel, Switzerland. We released an eponymous single in 1984, with Tom Waits’ Heart Attack and Vine as a double A-side. It was great buzz to see it in the window display of HMV, next to David Bowie’s Let’s Dance and, when Alexis Korner kicked off his Sunday Radio1 show with it, 2 weeks running, we thought we were headed for bigger things. When the band’s attempt for real commercial success with original material petered out in 1985, we called it a day. I began earning a crust with illustration, teaching and driving jobs, writing and recording my own songs on a 4-track cassette.

Wherever I lived and worked, from Manchester to Rugby and London, I found somewhere to do gigs with various duos, trios and bands – blues, pub-rock and heavy rock – until, in 2011, a chance meeting with one of the old band spurred the reformation of Yes Sir, with the intention of sticking to the original good-time ‘ridim & blooz’ music. We are still shaking our pants around the Northwest and hope to release a live album soon.

Now I have a home studio running Cubase, with Sony Vegas for video production. I’m just waiting for a working brain, so I can start using it to produce new music and videos.”

You can find Pat here and here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xuw2dDgPOPE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgYUdrYxUW0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FeTdoSdl1k

MUSIC IS THE NEW PLAGUE …and I’m loving it

This is a fantastically fascinating time for music. I can’t think of another time in recent (modern) history when music was so everywhere. I’m not talking about things like the big obtrusive boom boxes of the eighties. Nor does the rise of jazz in the 30s, and 50s or the explosion of rock in the 60s compare to what’s happening now. No, think more on a global scale. Was there ever a time when music played such an intriguing and meaningful part of the lives of so many people?

If you are out and about while reading this stop for a moment and take a look around you. How many people do you see with headphones and earphones? It’s mind boggling when you really stop to see it. It’s as if there is some conspiracy or secret mind altering thing going on. Like a silent plague that’s not so silent and plague being a good thing.

Music is enjoying an emergence on a hugely world wide magnitude. This of course spurred on by the innovation and popularity of the iPod and now iPhone and it’s competitors. Made more global by the adoption of internet radio, iTunes and music streaming. (The RIAA reported huge increases in music shipment and revenue in 2016 Read about It Here)

There is so much music now available and so many ways to access it. But that’s just part of the story. Take a look at where much of the music is coming from. No longer is the music industry moguls the only rightful distributor of music. No longer is the recording studio the only place to record music. No longer does the artist have to be under contract and a part of someone else’s vision.

Anyone (and I mean anyone) can now create, perform, record, distribute, promote, sell and even make money from their music. Ok, the make money part may be a little (a lot) exaggerated given the current saturation of ‘artists’ and their ‘music’ that is out there now. The fact is that it’s becoming more and more evident that the portion of royalties you get from today’s revenue streams are minuscule to previous generations of artists.

But this stops no one. The music still comes and we are all sucking it in like the air we breathe. I’m good with that. Because I love music. It’s entwined in everything I do in my life.

So what do you say we add some more music to the mix. There is a little site called Fandalism that I frequently upload music to and there are some truly amazing artists there. Many are musicians I’ve worked with on tracks and some I’d like to work with in the future. I’d like to feature a few of them here and in future posts. Let’s get to it.

Danny Roffe

HG Schmitz

Kjell Johansson

Hiro Ogawa

SaGoBa

Nobby Conrad

Michael Stark

Clifford Lisette