Ray Charles: Ray Sings, Basie Swings
Telarc SACD-63679
Format: Hybrid Multichannel SACD

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In an impressive display of technology, Telarc has created a pairing that never was -- Ray Charles and the Count Basie Orchestra -- by marrying tapes from a mid-1970s Ray Charles concert useful only for Ray’s vocals, to charts performed by the current Count Basie Orchestra. Only a few years ago, mating recordings from different eras would have given us a sonic mess -- think of the single some years back of Natalie Cole singing with her father, the late Nat King Cole. It’s to Telarc’s credit that that didn’t happen here. This disc isn’t perfect, especially when you consider that this multichannel SACD was derived from 24-bit/96kHz stereo masters. But when I played the multichannel tracks, Ray was right there next to me, his voice glorious in its fullness. To do this, Telarc mixed his vocals in all channels to keep it centered. The Basie band is spread out in front across a wide but not particularly deep soundstage that sounds clear, if not as full as it might have. The two-channel mix sounds pretty good, too. This is a nice step up from the CD version. . . . John Crossett

Hans Zimmer & Klaus Badelt: Music from The Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy
James Fitzpatrick, Nic Raine, conductors; City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir.
Silva America SILCD1241
Format: CD

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Almost everyone likes film music to some degree or another. A movie with a good main title theme often has its audience leaving the theater whistling or humming the tune. Practically every movie ever made has, or had at the time of release, a soundtrack album. A few of these provide good repeated listening experiences, but many don’t, primarily because they are simply strings of brief musical cues that have meaning in the context of the film but little on their own. This disc presents an alternative to "the complete soundtrack" CD: concert suites constructed from the music Hans Zimmer and Klaus Badelt composed for the three Pirates of the Caribbean movies. They are well constructed, and use the original orchestrations as much as possible. James Fitzpatrick and Nic Raine conduct the City of Prague Philharmonic, a pickup group of the best Czech musicians. Recorded in Prague, the sound is larger than life but much more handsome. Little effort has been made to create a natural sound; instead, this is the big, bold sound needed to punch through the theater screen and fill big halls. For what it is, this recording is awesome. Silva America has released many other compilation discs by the City of Prague Philharmonic that are well worth seeking out. Some are devoted to genres, such as Warriors of the Silver Screen [SSD 1081], which offers music from Prince Valiant, The Vikings, and Taras Bulba, among others. Others are devoted to the work of a single composer, such as Film Music of Hans Zimmer, a two-disc set that includes a couple of the Pirates cuts, plus suites from Gladiator, The Last Samurai, Crimson Tide, and a lot more. If you want the main meat of the music from these films without all the minuscule cues, the Silva series is just the thing. They also make pretty good demo discs for your audio system....Rad Bennett

The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live at Monterey
Experience Hendrix/Geffen/UMe 602517455160
Format: CD

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When Jimi Hendrix appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival in the summer of 1967, he was already a star in the UK, and by the time he’d finished his 45-minute set at Monterey, he was well on his way to becoming a sensation in the US. The guitarist secured fame in his own country in much the way he had in Britain -- by grabbing the attention of the rock cognoscenti and letting them spread the word. Eddie Kramer’s new remastering of the performance, first released in full in 1986, is more vibrant than that earlier version and clears more space around each of the instruments. Noel Redding’s bass playing, in particular, is in much better focus. Hendrix could play with great finesse, but at Monterey he used volume, distortion, and feedback to grab his audience by the throat. The performance is thus a bit ragged at the edges, but part of the blame for the occasional flub can probably be attributed to the primitive sound systems rock bands used in 1967; two years later, at Woodstock, stage monitors allowed musicians to actually hear what they were playing. Band of Gypsys remains Hendrix’s definitive live statement, but Live at Monterey captures a key moment in rock history....Joseph Taylor

Jacintha: Goes to Hollywood
Groove Note GRVG1040-3
Format: Hybrid Stereo SACD

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This is the first recording by sultry jazz vocalist Jacintha to be totally devoted to music connected with the movies. She approaches the task with the utmost simplicity and taste. It has never been Jacintha’s style to resort to histrionics or drama, and she refrains from any sort of overkill here, treating her naturally beautiful voice like the golden instrument it is. "Windmills of Your Mind," "Easy Living," and "The Summer Knows" are naturals, because their style is close to jazz. On other tunes, such as "Que Será Será" and "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head," she slows things down to ballad tempo. In fact, if I have any complaint, it’s that there’s nothing really uptempo on this disc; when all nine tracks are played in a row, there’s a certain sameness. Fortunately, it’s a golden-hued sameness. The accompaniment is by a fluctuating octet, and the sound is amazingly clean, clear, and warm. Though the disc is only two-channel, the instruments are rock-steady in their positions, and Jacintha’s voice emerges from a phantom center channel that’s perhaps the most solid I’ve heard. The CD tracks are models of balance and clarity; the SACD tracks add a bit more air around the instruments and a slightly more subtle focus....Rad Bennett

Habib Koité & Bamada: Afriki
Cumbancha CMB-CD-5
Format: CD

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Having gained worldwide recognition in the late 1990s from his releases on the Putumayo World Music label, Habib Koité has spent the decade since sharing his unique style of guitar playing and blend of musical styles, which range from traditional West African genres to more broadly incorporate blues, flamenco, reggae, and salsa. Afriki (Africa in the Bambara language) is the first CD in six years for Koité and his six-piece band, Bamada, but the intricately layered rhythms and polished musicianship that made the group famous remain strongly intact. Native to the West African nation of Mali, Bamada employs traditional instruments, such as the 20-stringed kora and the marimba-like balafon, while expertly incorporating a host of other instruments, including violin, cello, horns, and harmonica. Singing in English, French, and Bambara, Koité’s voice is at once immensely deep and ethereally wispy. The recording is crisp and clean, perfectly suiting his crystalline vocals and plaintive guitar plucking. Standout tracks include the bluesy "Barra," which features a beautiful kora solo, and the fast-paced title track, which calls on all Africans to embrace their rich cultural heritage and not look to Western nations for charity and guidance. In every sense of the phrase, Afriki is world music....Shannon Holliday