A few weeks ago, Dave Thompson alerted me to a remastered album by the Bill Evans Trio with alto saxophonist and flutist Herb Geller in Hamburg, Germany, recorded on February 14, 1972. I knew this material had been released in the past as a bootleg, so I was curious to hear how it sounded now. I found the album only streaming on Spotify, Amazon, Apple and other platforms. Curious, I did a little research and found that the digital album was released by Lantower Records. A little more research located Lantower in Buenos Aires, Argentina. So I reached out to learn more.
In short order, I received an email from Roberto Sarfati (above), the charming co-owner of the label. An e-dialogue began and a new friendship formed. Roberto co-founded the label with Diego Vila, and the pair acquire tapes of live jazz performances and undertake restorations to clean up distortion and other imperfections. Then the music is posted to streaming platforms such as Spotify, Amazon, YouTube and Apple.
Then came the bigger surprise. Roberto asked if I was familiar with the label's other releases. That's when he mentioned the Oscar Peterson and Ben Webster performance. The radio and telecast called the 84th NDR Jazzworkshop was held at the Funkhouse in Hannover, Germany on December 14, 1972. While this material was issued as a poor-sounding bootleg by Gambit in 2009 and the telecast appears in pieces on YouTube, the Lantower restoration is remarkable for its sonic warmth and clarity provided to Webster's wide-bodied sound on the tenor saxophone.
The album features Peterson and Webster backed by Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on bass and Tony Inzalaco on drums.The tracks are Poutin', Sunday, I Got It Bad, Perdido, Come Sunday, For All We Know, Cotton Tail, Ben's Blues, In a Mellow Tone and Autumn Leaves, a Peterson solo.
The Bill Evans Trio album features Herb Geller, who by 1972 had moved to Germany 10 years earlier following the sudden death of his wife, pianist Lorraine Geller, in 1958. The trio featured Evans on piano, Eddie Gomez on bass and Marty Morell on drums.
The trio was on tour in Europe and performed in Hamburg on February 12 and 14, 1972. The latter date is the material that was released and was part of Germany's NDR Jazz Workshop. The tracks on the new release are Re: Person I Knew, Turn Out the Stars, Gloria's Step, The Two Lonely People, Sao Paulo, Stockenhagen, Nardis, Waltz of Dissention, Quarter Tone Experiments, Northern Trail, Sao Paulo (rehearsal), Northern Trail (rehearsal), Quarter Tone Experiments (rehearsal) and Waltz of Dissension (rehearsal). Herb played flute on Waltz of Dissention and Quarter Tone Experiments, and alto flute on Northern Trail, Sao Paulo and Stockenhagen. [Photo above of Bill Evans and Herb Geller during the 1972 rehearsals]
Again, the sound is warm, big and clear, with depth and dimension. Regarding the sound, Roberto and Diego included the following note:
No compression. No filters used. Frequencies were balanced to achieve a balanced overall sound. Controls were applied for sounds out of register or “broken”, in order to ease listening. Given the difference in sound quality between tracks during the concert and the rehearsal tracks, an attempt was made to make the overall sound as homogeneous as possible. In all the themes it was sought to reconcile the respect for the original aesthetic of the live recordings of that time with the current technological possibilities in relation to the recovery of the timbre and the ghosts of the sound of each instrument, giving the register as much realism as possible. The language and musical aesthetic of the Bill Evans Trio can be heard in the best possible sound balance with total transparency and definition for the first time.
JazzWax tracks: To access Oscar Peterson and Ben Webster, you can listen at Spotify by going here. You will also find it on Amazon, YouTube, Apple and other streaming platforms.
To access the Bill Evans Trio with Herb Geller, you can listen at Spotify by going here. You will also find it on Amazon, YouTube, Apple and other streaming platforms.
More from LanTower Records: What other titles has Lantower Records released on streaming platforms? Here's a list and links to the music:
- The Miles Davis Quintet: Complete Recordings Live at the Olympia in Paris in 1960—Go here.
- The Miles Davis Quintet: Complete Recordings Live at Konserthuset in Stockholm, Sweden in 1960—Go here.
- Sydney Bechet Claude Luter and His Orchestra in Paris: At the Olympia, December 1954—Go here.
- Benny Goodman: The Complete Happy Sessions—Go here.
- Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Ed Thigpen: May 1965, Müncher Jazztage—Go here.
- Ornette Coleman Quartet: At the Théâtre Du Palais de Chaillot, October 1971—Go here.
- Louis Armstrong & His All Stars: February 7th. 1959 at Nederland—Go here.
- Duke Ellington and the Newport All Stars at the Paris Jazz Festival: November 1, 1969—Go here.
- Thelonious Monk Quartet/Nonet: Liederhalle Mainz, Germany, November 8, 1967—Go here.
- Thelonious Monk Quartet Sendesall Bremen: Germany March 8, 1965—Go here.
- Gato Barbieri & The Sound of South America: Berliner Jazztage, Berlin November 5, 1972—Go here.
- Chick Corea and Gary Burton: Berliner Jazztage, Berlin, November 4, 1972—Go here.
- Astor Piazzolla: Piazzolla Íntimo, Paris—Go here.
- Astor Piazzolla: 1956-1957, Complete—Go here.
- Jacques Brel: Au Publi,c 1961, Olympia & Club Domino, Paris—Go here.
- Jacques Brel: Au Public, París, November 10, 1966—Go here.
- Jacques Brel: Au Public, Bergen, May 10, 1964—Go here.
- Jacques Brel: Au Public Club Domino, 1963—Go here.
