Johnny Hammond – Gears
Vinyl rip in 24-bit/192 kHz | Art scans | Jazz-funk
2022 Craft Recordings “Jazz Dispensary” Ltd Ed. of 2000 copies || Orig.rel. 1975 Milestone
Like its predecessor Gambler’s Life, this Mizell Brothers production stands out from Hammond’s catalog for being very different from the soul-jazz / blues organ tradition that Hammond usually worked in. The Mizells wrote all but one of the compositions here, and its definitely of a piece with the other (heavy-handed?) production work of the Mizells on contemporaneous efforts by Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbard, Bobbi Humphrey and others.
The Mizells crafted their own stylized sound, praised very highly over the years by rare groove crate diggers the world over, perhaps less so by jazz purists. As much as I like their body of work, a lot of their records do begin to feel interchangeable after a while . If you subjected me to a blind ‘taste test’ of randomized tracks, I would be able to identify them easily as Mizell-produced but might have trouble figuring out which artist they are attributed to.
This album is near the top of the pile of the Mizell’s oeuvre, though, and is currently my favorite of them all. It has some unique characteristics, like the juxtaposition of jazz-funk session giants like Harvey Mason and Chuck Rainy alongside musicians associated with the avant-garde like Michael White (violin) and Julian Priester (trombone). It makes for an album that has its head in the clouds but its feet planted firmly on the ground. Dig it!
Label/Cat#: Milestone – CR00518
Country: US
Year: 01 Nov 2022
Genre: Jazz, Funk, Soul
Style: Fusion, Jazz-Funk
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue, Stereo, 180 g
Tracklist
A1 – Tell Me What To Do (05:16)
A2 – Los Conquistadores Chocolatés (05:56)
A3 – Lost On 23rd Street (06:36)
B1 – Fantasy (06:06)
B2 – Shifting Gears (05:19)
B3 – Can’t We Smile (04:35)
Total length: 33:48
More information: https://www.discogs.com/release/25064710-Johnny-Hammond-Gears
LINEAGE:
vinyl, 2022 Craft “Jazz Dispensary” / Milestone CR00518;
Record cleaned on Music Hall WCS-3 machine with custom fluid;
Pro-Ject RM-5SE with Audio Tecnica Signet TK7E cartridge;
AT-618 Disc Stabilizer weight;
Pro-Ject Tube Box S2 preamp with Philips NOS ECC83 tubes powered by Accu-box battery PSU;
Audioquest Black Mamba and Pangea Premier interconnect cables;
RME Babyface Pro interface ;
Adobe Audition at 32-bit float 192khz;
all clicks and pops removed manually with Adobe Audition 3.0;
resampled, dithered, converted to FLAC using iZotope RX Advanced;
Tags done with Foobar 2000 and Tag and Rename;
Monitoring through Yamaha NS10M near-field monitors and Sennheiser HD600 headphones.
Transferred and edited, Sept 2023 – Jan 2024.
Musical personnel credits
Arranged By – Larry Mizell
Arranged By [Vocals], Backing Vocals, Producer – Larry & Fonce Mizell
Clavinet – Fonce Mizell
Conductor, Copyist – Sigidi
Cymbal, Gong, Percussion – Kenneth Nash
Drums – Harvey Mason
Electric Bass – Chuck Rainey
Electric Piano – Jerry Peters, Johnny Hammond
Executive-Producer – Orrin Keepnews
Flute, Vibraphone – Roger Glenn
Guitar – Craig McMullen, John Rowin
Keyboards [Solina] – Larry Mizell
Organ, Synthesizer – Johnny Hammond
Piano – Jerry Peters
Tenor Saxophone – Hadley Caliman
Trombone – Julian Priester
Violin – Michael White (2)
Written-By – Larry & Fonce Mizell* (tracks: A1 to A3, B2, B3)
Technical credits
Art Direction – Phil Carroll
Coordinator – William Jordan
Engineer, Mixed By [Remix Assistant] – Jeff Hawks
Engineer, Mixed By [Remix] – David Hassinger, Jim Nipar
Engineer, Recorded By – Eddie Bill Harris
Lacquer Cut By – KPG
Mastered By – Kevin Gray
Photography By [Cover] – Charlie Franklin
Photography By [Liner] – Phil Bray
Recorded By [Assistant] – Phil Kaffel
Production credits
Produced For – Sky High Productions, Inc.
Recorded At – Fantasy Studios
Remixed At – The Sound Factory
Mastered At – Cohearent Audio
Lacquer Cut At – Cohearent Audio
Pressed By – Record Technology Incorporated
Published By – Alruby Music
Exclusive Retailer – Jazz Dispensary
Exclusive Retailer – Craft Recordings
All-analog mastering from the original tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio.
“Limited to 2,000 copies on 180-gram black vinyl, exclusive to the Jazz Dispensary and Craft Recordings stores.”
“The LP is housed in a tip-on jacket, featuring faithfully reproduced original designs.”
Harvey Mason appears courtesy of Arista Records. Roger Glenn appears courtesy of Prestige Records.
320 kbs mp3
16-bit lossless
24-bit Resolution (96 khz and 192 khz)
password: vibes
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