Paul Desmond Take Ten

Featured in Michael Fremer's Heavy Rotation in the October 2005 Issue of Stereophile!
No, not Take Five but Take Ten is the title of this LP and its very first number. Certainly this should not be taken as a hint that it was not Dave Brubeck but Paul Desmond who was the composer of this "million seller." At the recording session, the guitarist Jim Hall was more than a substitute for the piano - he contributed to the quartet a whole new sound coloring which was tinged with the influences of bossa nova. The numbers are all easy-going and airy, the melodic lines and sound are filled with transparency. All the while one is curious as to the clear part-writing, and the wealth of ideas emanating from the soloists. This does not only apply to the old favorites "Alone Together," "Nancy" and "The One I Love," all three of them arrangements made ad hoc in the studio and which demonstrate how familiar the musicians were with one another, how they listened to one another, answered, and kept the dialogue flowing. The atmosphere is relaxed, and this conveys itself to the listener even after almost half a century.
RCA's recording and playback process was ahead of its time at the time. The music comes out of the speakers with all its brilliance, clarity and now finally without the disturbing crackling noises of a 2nd-hand LP with these South American-inspired treasures.
This Speakers Corner production was made using analog master tape and mastering 100% pure analogue.

Features:

• 180g Vinyl
• Pressed at Pallas in Germany

Musicians:

• Paul Desmond, alto sax
• Jim Hall, guitar
• Gene Cherico, bass
• Gene Wright, bass (1)
• Connie Kay, drums

Selections:

Side A
1. Take Ten
2. El Prince
3. Alone Together
4. Embarcadero
Side B
1. Theme from ''Black Orpheus''
2. Nancy
3. Samba de Orfeu
4. The One I Love (Belongs to Somebody Else)

Recorded at Webster Hall, New York City, by Ray Hall 1963.