Oscar Peterson Motions & Emotions Master Quality Reel To Reel Tape

This item not eligible for any further discount offers!

In trio formations, as soloist and fellow musician of the Singers Unlimited - this is how piano giant Oscar Peterson has so far appeared on the re-releases from the MPS catalogue. In the series Ambassadors for MPS, the Canadian now reveals another exciting face with a 1969 recording selected by Till Brönner: on Motions & Emotions we experience him with jazz versions of popular pieces from Pop, Easy Listening and Songwriting as the protagonist of a quartet of longtime companions, embedded in rich orchestral colors. She was painted by a magician of the guild, the great Claus Ogerman, who had previously worked for Tom Jobim. The Brazilian is also represented with his standard "Wave", in which the orchestra builds a luminous tropical backdrop for Peterson's fantastically dragged phrasing. Peterson and Ogerman pay tribute to another great orchestra leader, Henry Mancini, in "Sally's Tomato" with feather-light trilling brilliance. Jimmy Webb's "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" experiences a metamorphosis almost into the classical - Ogerman opens infinite sound spaces here with the distantly indulging strings. Bobbie Gentry's "Ode To Billy Joe" cleverly abducts Countryfolk into Bigband Jazz by means of fiery keyboard playing. Finally the hits: from soul comes Bobby Hebb's "Sunny", whose theme the pianist here cleverly harmonizes out to then decorate it bluesy in dialogue with the wind instruments. Burt Bacharach's "This Guy's In Love With You" shines with a leisurely late night mood and a pompous finale. "Yesterday" is provided with a sparkling bossa substructure, while the second Beatles homage "Eleanor Rigby" oscillates between loose groove, deep melancholy and swing. Peterson plus quartet plus orchestra: Enthusiastic detail work also in the popular sector.

"The question about favorite albums is basically not an easy one, except in my case, because Motions & Emotions by Oscar Peterson is actually my absolute favorite album. I think Motions & Emotions might even be the perfect instrumental album." - Till Brönner

DOES HORCH HOUSE DO ANY KIND OF REMASTERING DURING THE COPYING PROCESS?
Absolutely not! Why mess with the best? The whole point of what they do lies in capturing the magic of the original analogue master tape in its purest, most faithful form possible.

'Remastering' can be compared to using computer software to edit an original photograph. The benefits are that you can remove unwanted marks or noise, clean things up, remove distortion and boost clarity. The downside is that in doing so, you often lose the natural essence of the original and the result can seem rather synthetic, lacking in real life character.

The unfortunate fact is that tapes, like photographs, do tend to age over time, and most analogue masters are now between 30-80+ years old.

So Horch House undertake a painstaking 'soft refurbishing' process, which is key to recapturing the original quality of a master tape.

CAPTURING THE MAGIC OF MASTER TAPE
How exactly does Horch House translate an original analogue master tape into faithful copies on reel-to-reel tape and vinyl records?

They use a process that's been meticulously researched and developed by their expert team of sound engineers, with input from some of the world's leading specialists.

The first step is to carefully assess the sound quality of the original master tape, which their experts do in great detail. The unfortunate fact is that tapes do tend to age over time, and most analogue masters are now between 30-80+ years old. What they're looking to do, therefore, as an integral part of their copying process, is to restore the sound quality back to its original level. They want you to hear exactly what the first sound engineers heard (and indeed the musicians themselves), on the day that the original recording was made. This is in stark contrast to any kind of 'remastering', which they most definitely do not do! They're not looking to 'improve' the recording in any way, but rather to return it as closely as possible to its full original beauty.

They call this their 'soft refurbishing' process.

HOW CLOSE ARE HORCH HOUSE COPIES TO THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES?
Horch House believe that they're as close as it's possible to get - not simply to the master tape in its current condition, but to that master tape's original condition. Thanks to their detailed 'soft refurbishing' process, their master tape copies could, in a sense, now be considered as better than the current originals because they've been lovingly restored to deliver the same sound quality that the originals had on the day they were first recorded.

WHAT ABOUT COPYRIGHT? ARE MASTER TAPE COPIES LEGAL?
All Horch House master tape copies are fully authorized, licensed and approved by the relevant record label/music publisher.

** It is standard practice in all recording studios to keep the tape "tail out". This reduces "pre-echo" and it means that the tape should be placed on the right hand side of the recorder, re-wound and then played.