Herbie Hancock, River: The Joni Letters


Having read favorable comments on this disc in the likes of Hi Fi+, I purchased this cd over the weekend. What a huge disappointment! This recording is compressed to a significant degree and even worse is a spitty/crackly sound to the vocals and some of the spot miked instruments. It sounds like a poor cable connection or bad pot in the mixing/monitor console. I have not tried to play it on my truck cd/stereo to find if it is any more listenable.

I would be interested to hear if anyone else is similarily disappointed with the sonics of this disc. BTW, it sounds really bad on both of my home systems.
rhljazz

Showing 3 responses by apachef1

I received this disc last week but sill in the plastic wrap. I'll listen to it this week and let you know
RHljazz. I'm listening to the disc as I write this post. The instruments don't sound compresses at all but something was going on with the vocals
I started reading the credits and all the vocals were recorded at other studios. Avatar studio in NY is where all the instrumental was recorded
I think Herbie was creative and trying to give some of the vocals a more classic sound and possible had them recorded on analog tape? The sax work seems suspect to some analog work. I could be just the different techniques at each studio that recorded the vocals tracks 1and2 sound more analog but track 4 sounds very forward almost standing in front of me and singing. Not my favorite Herbi work

Ed
I think it a very "involved" album both on a sonic level the selection of tracks and the way they are arranged. I can see and hear the amount of time and work it took to compose this album. For me Its a type of disc that will only be listened too on those rare subtle moments. But those moments do pass quickly for something with a more upbeat tempo