Sonny Clark – My Conception (UHQCD)

Melancholic and extremely sophisticated – this is how legendary jazz pianist Sonny Clark presents himself on “My Conception.” The album, featuring his own compositions, was recorded between 1957 and 1959, but did not see the light of day until twenty years later. Clark is accompanied by a band consisting of some of the most inspiring masters of Bop, including Hank Mobley, Donald Byrd, Paul Chambers and Art Blakey. Highlights of the album include “Junka,” “Minor Meeting” and Hank Mobley’s extraordinary solo in “Royal Flush.” “My Conception” was rated 4 stars in a review by Michael G. Nastos (AllMusic): “What sets Clark apart from other jazz pianists is his democratic approach of allowing his bandmates to fully express themselves in the compositions he wrote for them.”

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 “My Conception” took place on December 8, 1957, and March 29, 1959, at Rudy Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, 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

1.    Junka
2.    Blues Blue
3.    Minor Meeting
4.    Royal Flush
5.    Some Clark Bars
6.    My Conception