October 1998

Modern Jazz Quartet - Concorde
JVC JVCXR-203-2
Originally Released: 1955
Remastered Released: 1998

by Marc Mickelson
marc@soundstage.com

Musical Performance ****1/2
Recording Quality ***1/2
Overall Enjoyment ****1/2

John Coltrane- Settin' The Pace
JVC JVCXR-202-2
Originally Released: 1958
Remastered Released: 1998

by Marc Mickelson
marc@soundstage.com

Musical Performance ****1/2
Recording Quality ***1/2
Overall Enjoyment ****1/2

[Reviewed on CD]For me, hearing the opening bars of "Ralph’s New Blues" from the Modern Jazz Quartet’s Concorde is like meeting an old friend on the street -- instant recognition, even after all these years. I used to have Concorde and John Coltrane’s Settin’ the Pace on vinyl along with a drove of other Prestige titles (no originals) and Verve super-quiet Japanese pressings. It seems like ancient history, but I can vividly remember my last turntable -- a Michell Gyrodec with Micro Seiki tonearm and Shure V15V MR cartridge. I kept this setup longer than I should have, not for its sound (which my current digital setup easily surpasses) but because of the great jazz I had on vinyl.

These JVC CDs, the first two in JVC’s XRCD2 series of audiophile remasters, are gems -- mostly because of the care that JVC has lavished on them. Thanks to the XRCD2 process, neither of these recordings sounds 40 years old (but both are). Although on Concorde John Lewis’ piano work is still obscured by the resonant playing of Milt Jackson on vibes, the individual instrumental lines are easier to follow overall, which is good for further study and increased admiration of the performances, but not essential to enjoyment. And there’s now a bottom end, not one that will shake the foundation of your house, but one that’s clear and discernible. Overall, I get the strong impression while listening to JVC’s version of Concorde that I’m hearing this recording on its best day.

Settin’ the Pace is vintage Coltrane. He’s with the Red Garland Trio (which he recorded with a number of times), and although the shortest tune is over seven minutes long, the cuts have characteristic individuality and flow. Coltrane’s playing twists and turns, raises musical issues, then resolves them. Garland and crew are sympathetic helpers, always recognizing whose recording Settin’ the Pace is. The bass solo on "I See Your Face Before Me," for example, seems only to set the stage for Coltrane’s reentrance. The sound here is great given the age of the recording -- resolved yet a touch sweet. I know one of the professed aims of JVC with the XRCD/XRCD2 series is to bring analog-like sound to digital, but these discs are far better than I remember the vinyl being.

Concorde and Settin’ the Pace appeal to me for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that they remind me that so little jazz of equal quality and historical importance is created today. But given the way that JVC modernizes the sound on these two recordings, you have no reason not to consider them. They have legs.

So What Exactly is the XRCD Process?

An analog recording selected for the XRCD program is first played back on a custom-built deck through a specially designed mastering console. To the extent that polarity reversals, edit pops and other types of problems can be remedied, they are corrected at this stage.

The analog signal is then fed into JVC's K2 A/D converter, where it is translated into 20-bit digital words. The digital information is re-generated through JVC's Digital K2 and transferred to a Sony PCM-9000 in its 20-bit form. The optical disk is then shipped to a dedicated XRCD line in JVC's Yokahama, Japan manufacturing facility for actual disc production. At the plant, the optical disk is played back through the same Digital K2 machine, where the digital signal is "bit down" to 16 bits, treated to another layer of K2 regeneration, and finally sent to the laser of the glass cutter. These elaborate production measures are designed in part to eliminate any time-based jitter in the data stream.

JVC settled on the conventional aluminum coating for the final disc after conducting extensive gold vs. copper vs. aluminum listening comparisons. Simply put, JVC believes that aluminum sounds best. The final product comes in a handsome bound cover with liner notes and a detailed explanation of the XRCD process. Missing is the standard push-release clamp for holding the disc, which instead rests in its own sleeve.

By the way, the main difference between XRCD and XRCD2 discs is that in the creation of the latter, Digital K2 regeneration is used during the mastering and manufacturing processes.

...John Upton
jmu@soundstage.com


GO BACK TO: