HiRez Poll Botti, Chris - NIGHT SESSIONS [SACD]

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Rate the SACD of Chris Botti - NIGHT SESSIONS

  • 7:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 6:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 5:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 4:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 3:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1: Poor Content, Surround Mix, and Fidelity

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    6
upon trying to do a laserdrop of this one so i could check it all out on the computer and see what's going on in the various channels, it turns out my trusty ol' Pioneer can't make it all the way through this disc anymore and stutters when it gets to Track 9 😫😢
i hope it's the player and not the disc or oy i'll be Verklempt!! 🙏🤞 i'll give it a go in the Cambridge Audio BDP in a keb'mo! 🤷‍♀️
 
what i can say from the tracks i have checked out, is.. i can't rate this SACD right now because i think.. somewhat bizarrely.. (drum roll, please!) 🥁 i suspect this may be yet another Nathaniel Kunkel 5.1 mix (like his 5.1 of Keane's "Hopes And Fears") where ithe Fronts and Rears may actually be reversed!!! maybe not on the whole album but on tracks 1 & 9, to me it feels like the Fronts & Rears are the wrong way around?

or maybe he is upto his "old tricks" and it was all on purpose including the Keane mixes!? how odd 🙃👀

when you get a chance, go to your copy of this one and check out the various channels in isolation, particularly on the first track and on track 9;

on Channels 1 & 2 (usually Front L&R) in these instances there's only a very faint whiff of lead instrument reverb with accents of acoustic guitar etc, whereas Channels 5 & 6 (usually the Rear L&R) have dry lead instrument in full and loads of Bass.. very odd indeed and all that Bass in the Rear channels is not what you'd expect in a 5.1 mix of this vintage at all.

i will try flipping the channels on those tracks and see what it does! curiouser and curiouser! 🧐
 
just trying to get my head around this phenomenon.. and considering what may have been an intentional stylistic decision of Nathaniel Kunkel's all along.. what does this kinda "triangle" effect create, where the lead instrument/or lead vocal is only in the Centre and Rear L&R but not in the Front L&R..? 🤔
 
just trying to get my head around this phenomenon.. and considering what may have been an intentional stylistic decision of Nathaniel Kunkel's all along.. what does this kinda "triangle" effect create, where the lead instrument/or lead vocal is only in the Centre and Rear L&R but not in the Front L&R..? 🤔
:unsure: I'll try to find mine and check it out
 
A nice smooth EQ and a beautiful sounding disc.
I really like the mix.
I turned off the subwoofers and ran all the speakers full range to test.
L/R front and surround have bass guitar. I did notice a little lower bass from the surrounds on tracks 1 & 9.
The center has the main trumpet and a snappy drum sound.
There is also some trumpet coming from the surrounds but not from the front L/R. I like the effect. It really fills the room without making it too front heavy.
All the channels are active for a nice immersive mix.
 
when you get a chance, go to your copy of this one and check out the various channels in isolation, particularly on the first track and on track 9;
I'm listening to the first track now and while there is (unusually for a circa-2000 5.1 mix) quite a bit of bass in the rears, I think the layout is correct. Most of the main drum parts are upfront, and the lower-level dry trumpet signal in the rears pulls it out into the room a bit and makes for a more 'integrated' presentation (as @Beefalo mentioned above). The percussion popping up in the phantom rear center at around 2:45 sounds great! Hopefully they'll put this up on Apple Music in Dolby Audio soon, I'd say it's among the better of these early-2000s Sony 5.1 mixes.

Chris Botti Lisa 5.1.jpg
 
I was very, VERY fortunate to finally obtain a copy of this SACD. I will freely admit that I am very biased when it comes to this release. For many years I was Leblanc's (a musical instrument manufacturer) primary photographer. I had the opportunity to spend a morning with Chris. Chris plays a 1939 Martin Committee trumpet. Leblanc acquired the Martin company in the 70's. They wanted to tear his horn apart to see why it sounded so good. They wanted to replicate it. That horn "breathes" like no other, and Chris freely admitted that THAT horn was in many ways responsible for his sound. Evidently, a friend found it in a second hand store and after playing it, he refused to give it back to his friend! When I photographed him, he had just released his "A Thousand Kisses Deep" CD and was a touring member of Sting's band. He hadn't yet done his PBS specials that launched him into stardom. Having photographed many of LeBlanc's artists, I have to say that Chris was wonderful. A truly nice person, which is just another reason why this release is so special to me. Botti, sometimes gets a bad rap as being a smooth jazz artist. My introduction to his music, being a huge prog fan in those days, was his involvement in the Bruford Levin Upper Extremities avant gard rock/jazz project. Far from smooth jazz. However, I fell in love with "Night Sessions" and to this day is still one of my favorite, well, late night music selections. I couldn't wait to hear it in 5.1. It didn't disappoint. The 5.1 mix was pretty interesting. Sometimes the trumpet was in both the left and the right speakers (and subtly doubled in the rears). Sometimes in the center, with acoustic guitars and percussion in the rears. As others have noted, the bass is primarily in the rear speakers. It makes for an interesting mix that I really enjoyed. As the title implies, it a late night listen, so for the most part it is a laid back and low key album. Only the track *Streets Ahead" lets loose, and fills the room with sound. Yet, even when the instrumentation is sparse, there always seems to be noticeable use of all speakers. Still, it is the trumpet playing that makes this release special, and it sounds great. I always thought this CD was wonderful, and now found out that the SACD 5.1 mix is awesome. A solid, biased, yet unbiased 10.
 

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