Kenny Drew – Undercurrent (XRCD24)

Pianist Kenny Drew released only two recordings in his long career as a bandleader for Blue Note Records and these six compositions by the master of be-bob appeared in 1961 with release number 84059. Shortly after these recordings Drew would move to Europe and often „Undercurrent” is considered his best album of the American period. Despite the rather leisurely sounding title, it is a fireworks display of hard bob and the lineup with the young troupe of Blue Note stars is a perfect fit.

You can hear Kenny Drew on piano, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Hank Mobley on tenor sax, Sam Jones on bass and Louis Hayes on drums.

This title is part of a whole series of XRCD24 reissues from the Blue Note catalog and was remastered from the analog stereo tapes at Oceanway Studios in Hollywood by Alan Yoshida, one of the inventors of the XRCD process. The sonic qualities of the XRCDs, newly released under the Audio Wave label, far exceed previous digitizations and in some cases sound considerably better than the original LPs. The XRCD comes with a lavishly designed booklet with excellent photographs.

We recommend the use of „L’Art du Son” CD/DVD conditioner for even more sonic improvement.

Lista pieselor

1. Undercurrent

2. Funk-cosity

3. Lion’s Den

4. The Pot’s On

5. Groovin’ The Blues

6. Ballade