Lionel Hampton & The Golden Men Of Jazz – Live At The Blue Note (1991)

From Al Grey's rumbunctious trombone to Hamp's hot mallets and sensitive ballad playing, from Terry's ebulent blowing (he was still at or near his prime) to "Sweets" Edison's slightly damaged musical economy of expression…
With great rhythm section (featuring good old Milt Hinton on bas, Hank Jones on piano and "the baby of the band" Grady Tate on drums), with more than solid sax work from Buddy Tate and more modern soloist James Moody (he was still in his prime), this CD couldn't have gone wrong.
Granted, some of the stars have seen better days, but this CD gives me such great listening pleasure !!! Playing swing and be-bop repertoire (inluding Moody's hillarious vocal take on interpretation of his own solo - " Moody’s Mood for Love " - complete with yodeling at the end), these golden men create the feeling of a genuine jazz festival, with plenty of great and spontanious interplay - check out the last and so often played Hamp's "Boogie Woogie", but also "Flyin' Home" and "Lover"… Very, very enjoyable !!!

Personnel:

Lionel Hampton - Vibes
Harry "Sweets" Edison - Trumpet & Flúgelhorn
James Moody - Tenor Saxophone
Buddy Tate - Tenor Saxophone
Al Grey - Trombone
Hank Jones - Piano
Milt Hinton - Bass
Grady Tate – Drums

Tracklist:

01. Ow!
02. Hamp's Note
03. Moody's Mood for Love
04. I Wish I Knew
05. Lover
06. Flyin' Home
07. Hamp's Boogie Woogie

Recording Producer - Bill Titon
Executive Producer - Robert Woods
Recording Engineer - Jack Renner

Recorded Live at the Blue Note, NYC, June 11-13, 1991

Microphones:
Vibes - Schoeps MK-21 & Sennheiser MKH-50
Piano - Schoeps MK-21
Bass - Audio Technica ATM35
Drums - B&K 4011
Brass - Sennheiser MKH-40
Saxes - B&K 4011
Vocals - Shure SM-58
House - Schoeps MK-8
Console - Ramsa 824B, custom engineered by John Windt
Digital Recording Processor - Ultra-Analog 20-Bit. 128 times oversampling A/D, costom engineered by Kenneth Hamann
Microphone & Interconnecting Cables - Monster Cable
Speaker Cables - MIT 750H Shotgun with Terminator
Monitored trough Madrigal Audio Labs Proceed PDP-II D/A
Monitor Speakers - ADS 1530
Power Amplifier - Threshold SA/4e Stasis Pure Class A
The signal path utilized the latest cable technology from Monster Cable, incl. M1000, M2 Series I Prolink & Series III Prolink bandwith balanced
Digital Editing - Sony DAE 3000

Sound Quality: 9