Originally Posted by
PMB
I'm surprised that no one thought to get in touch with the engineer on the Virtuoso #1 session. His name is Dennis Sands and that was his first recording! Some quick research unearthed the serendipity behind the making of the album. Dennis was working as a mixer at MGM and his involvement with the Pass project only came about because the designated engineer arrived at the studio drunk. As it was evening and there was no one else in the building, Norman Granz asked Dennis to take over and the young man soon became principal sound engineer for Pablo. He later moved on from recording jazz to the more demanding (and no doubt more lucrative) world of film and is now one of the world's leading soundtrack engineers and mixers with movies such as Back To The Future, American Beauty, Forrest Gump, Spiderman and The Avengers to his credit.
I was as curious as everyone else on this thread to get the inside story and wrote to Dennis, receiving this reply today:
Hey Paul. The Joe Pass Virtuoso 1 album was the very first project of any kind I ever did as engineer. As I recall I recorded a direct feed plus a mic on his guitar and amp. Joe was quite specific about his sound and was pleased with what I did. The mix was live with no remix. Btw the story of the designated mixer showing up drunk was true. That’s how I ended up doing the session. This led to many others for Norman Granz and Pablo Records. Ella, Oscar Peterson, Sarah Vaughan, Milt Jackson, Basie, Joe Turner, many others. Incredibly lucky. BestD
So not yet the complete story but I sent a follow up message asking for further details (guitar/s used, how the track Here Comes That Rainy Day ended up with a markedly different sound etc.). Not expecting too much to be resolved as the recording took place almost 50 years ago but let's see what eventuates...
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