Don Wilkerson – Preach Brother! (UHQCD)

Louisiana-born tenor saxophonist Don Wilkerson made his debut on the Blue Note catalog in 1962 with the album “Preach Brother!”, a great soul jazz classic that remains far behind its undisputed merits and is one of Blue Note’s most underrated gems. In the mid-1950s, Wilkerson joined Ray Charles’ band, with whom he played on many of the soul legend’s classic albums released on Atlantic, developing an intense sense of playing that is clearly evident in the six brilliant original pieces on “Preach Brother!”. Accompanied by guitarist Grant Green, pianist Sonny Clark, double bassist Butch Warren, and drummer Billy Higgins, Wilkerson unleashes all his unbridled energy, ranging from the jump blues flashes of the album opener “Jeanie-Weenie” to the bold conclusion with “Pigeon Peas”. In between, Wilkerson transports his listeners to church with the unrestrained cries of “Dem Tambourines” and “Camp Meetin” before striking a completely different note with the expressive “Homesick Blues” and engaging in a lively conversation with Green’s soulful guitar on “The Eldorado Shuffle”.

As part of the extremely popular “Blue Note 85th Anniversary Reissue Series” Universal Music Japan presents the sonically impressive remastering of this jazz classic by the legendary Kevin Gray, who is also responsible for Blue Note US’s analog reissues such as “Tone Poet” and “Classic Vinyl” – as a limited Japan only UHQCD with OBI stripe. The original recording session for “Preach Brother!” took place on June 18, 1962 at Rudy Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

UHQCD stands for Ultimate High Quality Compact Disc and is a joint development of the Japanese CD replication company Memory-Tech and the Audio Quality CD Company from Hong Kong. Unlike conventional CDs, UHQCDs are not pressed from polycarbonate, but cast from a photopolymer and cured with UV light. Another layer of high-purity polycarbonate is applied to the softer photopolymer for scratch protection. The combination results in significantly reduced reflection of laser light inside the CD and an unmatched precise edge transition between pits and lands of the CD. UHQCDs are 100% compatible with standard CD players. Musically, the result is a sound image strongly reminiscent of analog master tapes.

While Universal Music Japan’s first UHQCD series relied on the DSD data of previous SHM-SACD releases, with increasing popularity, albums that had not previously been released as SHM-SACD are now appearing. Typically, the Universal Archive master tapes are re-converted to DSD for this purpose. UHQCDs are ideal for music lovers who want to get as close as possible to the sound of the recording, but do not own an SACD player.

Lista pieselor

UHQCD

1. Jeanie-Weenie

2. Homesick Blues

3. Dem Tambourines

4. Camp Meetin’

5. The Eldorado Shuffle

6. Pigeon Peas