Review (highfidelity)
The recordings from this disc contain one of the last recording sessions of Ray Brown (1926-2002). He was very happy with it and wanted to repeat the meeting with the piano player Shota Osabe. Four months later he was dead. This is no "farewell" or "last" album, or anything similar. This is splendid, refined playing of an experienced man, who does not need to hurry anywhere, who does not need to prove anything, who just met with a few friends and played a few pieces. On this disc we find recordings of jazz classics as well as pieces from Ray Brown and Shota Osabe – in total fourteen brilliant interpretations in a, today a bit forgotten, formation of a piano trio. The disc was issued in 2002, but only now, due to the K2 HD technology we get it in such a refined form. Winston Ma, the owner of the editor, First Impression Music, decided to issue it via a daughter company, named Last Impression Music, where especially nice discs, with high artistic value, are issued.
When we put it on in our player, besides the fantastic, swinging music, we get exceptional sound that references with saturation, presence and timbre to the best years of jazz (50.). The piano from Osabe is vivid and full, similar to Browns contrabass. The latter has a slightly boosted attack and contour, but it can be splendidly heard. The boost is in the fact, that it is heard clearer than in reality. But its coherence and vividness are on a very high level. It is no element placed somewhere in the back, but an equal partner to the piano. The percussion is also clear, but it can be heard, that it is not the main actor here. The timbre is rather sweet and slightly dark, just as usual like in the K2 HD – I catch myself more and more often that this is maybe the "right" interpretation of the reality. Anyway, the cymbals are "heavy" and substantial. The whole has just that character. The thing I would point to as an asset of the best recordings from the 50. is better presence and directness of the instruments. I don’t know where this comes from, maybe because the microphones were placed closer to the instruments, but it gave a more "audiophile" picture. But I will not complain. Happy Coat is a disc played with feeling and recorded with love (or the other way round, but lets just leave it as it is). The only "sin", if it is one, is showing of the instruments as quite massive. But maybe I am mistaken, and this is how they should sound? Regardless of that, this disc is worth to have just for listening, and the fantastic sound will just enrich us.
Detailed Description
Shota Osabe's debut release Happy Coat is creating quite a stir in both Japan and the USA. Featuring the late Ray Brown, arguably one of the greatest double bassists to have ever lived, it is a collection of some of Osabe's favorite jazz standards. Brown is on-hand to lend not only his inimitable performance, but his extraordinary production talent as well.
Ray Brown had a prolific career as a jazz bassist. He played alongside some of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century, including Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, and Ella Fitzgerald, to whom he was married from 1947 to 1952. Always active in his later years, he is known for discovering and producing records for Diana Krall. He died in 2002 just hours before a scheduled performance in Indianapolis. He was inducted posthumously into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame in 2003.
Happy Coat was recorded by engineer Erik Zobler onto tape and mixed by fifteen-time Grammy Award-winning mix engineer Al Schmitt. It was recorded on February 27 and 28, 2002, just months before Brown's death. It is presented here in a reissued K2 HD format to preserve the wonderful performances and beautiful sound quality. Happy Coat is a treasure for any jazz enthusiast and a special reminder of Ray Brown's incredible talents.
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Shota Osabe Piano Trio - Happy Coat (2002), First Impression Music / LIM K2HD 031
