Cti

[Doctor Jeff]

Looking for something to listen to on the drive to work and while at the gym--came across the CTI Master Collection.

Amazon.com

Wow, what a great disk. I LOVE the early CTI stuff, it's so well-performed and recorded. The sound is LUSH. I know the orchestrations were overdone on the Wes CTI recordings, though I still like them, but on these recordings it complements the players, doesn't overwhelm them. The CTI sessions guys were the best in the business at the time. Ron Carter, Billy Cobham, Steve Gadd, Herbie Hancock, etc. And Freddie Hubbard and Stanley Turrentine were at their peak.

There are a lot of great guitarists, some I'm not too familiar with. Some nice guitar work by Sonny Forrest with Hank Crawford, Eric Gale with Stanley Turrentine, and John Tropea on the fabulous version of Also Sprach Zarathustra by Eumir Deodato (one of my favorites from the era). And of course George Benson, finding his voice as a solo artist.

Then there's the 1972 CTI California Concert, with a who's who of the jazz world. Hubbard and Turrentine were clearly the top draws. I love how the MC in the introduction refers to "a young cat who's making the scene these days" referring to Ron Hubbard or Billy Cobham or George Benson, none of whom were big names at that point.

Amazon.com

Anyway, I love jazz from all eras, but I have a special spot for the excellent performances and pristine Van Gelder production of these CTI albums from '67 through '76. Anybody else have a favorite CTI album?

[nyc chaz]

I have a majority of the albums CTI made on vinyl.My favorites are Benson's Beyond the Blue Horizon(learned his solo on So What from a transcription in Downbeat magazine),Paul desmond Skylark,Deodato Prelude Don Sebesky's Big Box and Jim Hall Concierto.I probably could pick a dozen more that i truly love.Jazz producer's today could learn a lesson from CTI that you can make an album that both jazz fans and a wider audience can enjoy without doing the dreck that permeates "smooth" jazz today.

[Doctor Jeff]

I have a majority of the albums CTI made on vinyl.My favorites are Benson's Beyond the Blue Horizon(learned his solo on So What from a transcription in Downbeat magazine),Paul desmond Skylark,Deodato Prelude Don Sebesky's Big Box and Jim Hall Concierto.I probably could pick a dozen more that i truly love.Jazz producer's today could learn a lesson from CTI that you can make an album that both jazz fans and a wider audience can enjoy without doing the dreck that permeates "smooth" jazz today.

A majority of the albums? That must be in the hundreds!

The ones you mentioned are all great.

[nyc chaz]

A majority of the albums? That must be in the hundreds!

The ones you mentioned are all great.

If i told you how many records and cd's i have you probably would not believe me.Music whether gear or recordings has always been my first love and that's where my spare income went.