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Impulse!/GRP · 1996

Tales from the Hudson

Michael Brecker

Recorded: 1996   Original cat#: IMPD-191
Michael Brecker — Tales from the Hudson album cover

Tales from the Hudson was recorded in 1996 at the Power Station in New York. It is Michael Brecker's fourth album as a leader, produced by Brecker and George Whitty, with Pat Metheny co-producing. Impulse! released it in 1996. James Farber recorded and mixed it, and the CD was mastered at Masterdisk.

There is no vintage pressing to look for. The album came out on CD only, and no vinyl edition existed until 2012, sixteen years later. That 2LP remains the only vinyl version, so the usual original-against-reissue comparison does not apply here. The questions worth asking are about the package and the pressing plant, since there is no tape-generation question and no alternative cut to weigh it against.

Best early pressing for audiophiles: None exists. The album had no vinyl release in 1996.

Best modern pressing for audiophiles: Universal's Play 33⅓ Series 2LP, the only vinyl edition.

Best-value modern: The same record, or the CD if a clean copy is hard to find.

Recording history and tape provenance

The band is Jack DeJohnette on drums and Dave Holland on bass, the rhythm section from Miles Davis's band around 1970. Joey Calderazzo plays piano on most tracks, with McCoy Tyner on "Song for Bilbao" and "African Skies." Don Alias plays percussion and Pat Metheny guitar.

Brecker wrote five of the nine pieces. Metheny contributed "Song for Bilbao," Calderazzo "Midnight Voyage" and Don Grolnick "Willie T."

This is a mid-1990s digital-era recording, made and mixed with the studio conventions of its time. It does not have the tape-era character of the 1950s and 1960s recordings, and no reissue can give it one.

The 2012 Play 33⅓ Series pressing

Universal's Play 33⅓ Series edition appeared in 2012 as a 180g 2LP, spreading the nine tracks across four sides. Acoustic Sounds lists the catalogue number as AUNI 3107, where Discogs gives DZ 3107.

The series exists to put 1990s and 2000s CD-only albums onto vinyl for the first time. Retailer descriptions credit the pressing to MMP in Germany, with sleeve and package design by Khiov.

The package has a gatefold jacket, a six-page insert and two black poly-lined inner sleeves. No mastering engineer is named in the retailer listings or on the Discogs entry.

No substantial body of owner reviews comparing this pressing with the CD could be found. With one vinyl edition and no published comparison, there is no basis for rating it against anything else.

Buyer's guide by budget

$$$: The Play 33⅓ Series 2LP. There is no other vinyl option to weigh it against.

Pressing tier summary

Tier ⇅ Pressing Cat# Year ⇅ Format Source / Mastering Notes Market ⇅
– Universal, Play 33⅓ Series DZ 3107 / AUNI 3107 2012 Stereo, 33⅓, 2×180g Not credited. Pressed by MMP in Germany Not rated. The only vinyl edition. Gatefold, six-page insert, design by Khiov
none currently listed
$267VG+
$349NM
$391M

References

Related guides: Black Codes (From the Underground) · Lanquidity · Heavy Weather

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