[78-L] Miles Davis etc [was Thelonious Monk [was Leonard

[Julian Vein]

Geoffrey Wheeler wrote:
> Discussing Miles Davis’ work on various labels in the 1950s and early 
> ’60s, he says of Davis’ Columbia recordings: “Davis's Columbia work was 
> OK ...” The Institute of Jazz Studies has a recorded extended interview 
> with Rudy Van Gelder in which Van Gelder discusses at length the 
> difference between his recording methods for Blue Note and Prestige and 
> those of Columbia where Davis is concerned. He disagreed with 
> Columbia’s approach to micing and other recording details, especially 
> that of “sound.” I bought Davis’ first Columbia LP with great 
> expectations but was somewhat disappointed with the results. Compared 
> with his Prestige performances, these were rather tepid. I have on tape 
> an alternate take of Davis and Coltrane doing “Bye Bye Blackbird” which 
> is hilarious. It’s just one mistake after another. Only the rhythm 
> section seems to know what it is doing. I have no idea if this take was 
> ever issued, and, if so, on what compilation. My interest was only in 
> the original LP albums.
========================
I have the Miles Davis complete CD set on Columbia--just been playing a 
few and agree about the weak sound. Strange, because contemporary 
sessions had full sounds, like the Buck Clayton Jam Sessions and Eddie 
Condon. The "Bye Bye Blackbird" may well be on the CD set.

Van Gelder's recording techniques continue to raise ire to this day. He 
sacrificed natural ambiance for a 
"let's-hear-all-the-instruments-equally" approach. He was also 
parsimonious with regard to capturing the full sound of the double bass.

Criticisms I've heard:

"You can't hear the bass."
"He's OK, but he doesn't know how to record a piano."
"You can't hear the drums properly."
"He uses microphone, rather than studio ambiance."
"He sticks in reverb."

His efforts for Savoy are more natural.

Fortunately for him, he recorded much quality music, so that we can 
ignore his faults to some extent.

I've noticed that in his recent remastering of his early work, the 
results are often much fuller than the originals. Unfortunately, there's 
little that can be done with his knob twiddling on the Miles Davis "Bags 
Groove" session!

Is the interview available?

       Julian Vein


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