Donald Byrd – Places and Spaces (UHQCD)

Less than two weeks after Bobbi Humphrey recorded “Fancy Dancer” at the Sound Factory in Hollywood, Donald Byrd went into the same studio with largely the same musicians to record his new opus, “Places & Spaces”. The album, peppered with hits such as “Wind Parade”, “Dominoes”, “You And Music” and “Just My Imagination” proved to be the absolute highlight of the star trumpeter’s fusion period. It was Byrd’s fifth consecutive album produced by the visionary Larry Mizell and also Byrd’s penultimate recording session for Blue Note, the label he had been signed to since 1958 and which had accompanied him on his remarkable journey from first-class hard bop trumpeter to pioneer of R&B funk fusion.

Line-up: Donald Byrd (trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals), Fonce Mizell (trumpet, clavinet, vocals), Ray Brown (trumpet), George Bohannon (trombone), Tyree Glenn Jr. (tenor saxophone), Larry Mizell (piano, vocals), Skip Scarborough (piano), Craig McMullen (guitar), John Rowin (guitar), Chuck Rainey (bass), Harvey Mason (drums), Mayuto Correa (percussion, conga), King Errisson (conga), James Carter (flute), Kay Haith (vocals), Larry Dunn (synthesizer)

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 sessions for “Places And Spaces” took place on August 18, 20 and 25, 1975, at The Sound Factory in Los Angeles.

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. Change (Makes You Want To Hustle)

2. Wind Parade

3. Dominoes

4. Places And Spaces

5. Night Whistler

6. Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)