If you’re a follower of this blog, you’ll already be familiar with Italian label Hemiolia Records’ major scoop in terms of some pretty special tape rights acquisitions, and you may have already checked out some of the incredible albums that have been released on tape as a result. If not, you can check out my earlier reviews of three of these: Miles Davis: Kind of Blue, Charles Mingus: Mingus Ah Um & John Coltrane: Blue Train.
Either way, here’s a quick recap about Hemiolia’s ‘Ermitage series’ of tape releases (of which there are plenty more to come, so keep tuning in!).
A short while back, niche / boutique Italian label Hemiolia signed a deal with Ermitage Distribution allowing them to produce 15ips, 2-track, ¼” tape releases of a selection of albums from Ermitage’s jazz back-catalogue. And what a catalogue it is – filled with the kind of titles I never thought I’d get to hear on tape in my lifetime! However, I admit that I was initially sceptical (you know that phrase, ‘if something seems too good to be true then it probably is’…). I mean, I’d never even heard of Ermitage and couldn’t really wrap my head around how this Italian company would have a licence to hold master tapes of some of the greatest ever albums from the likes of Sony, Columbia, Blue Note, etc, and be granted a licence to release them! So I did a bit of digging, first via Dr Google, and then by grilling the guys at Hemiolia (politely, of course) to find out more. Let’s just say I’ve never been happier to be completely wrong!
Who is Ermitage and what’s the provenance of these tapes?
Launched in the mid-1980s, Ermitage is an Italy-based independent classical music label, and is also a distributor and re-issue label of music and classic cinema (in the latter case, think Laurel & Hardy, Buster Keaton, Hitchcock, etc). If you check out Discogs you’ll find a total of around 450 listings for Ermitage – on CD, vinyl, DVD, etc.
The label’s first classical music releases were several vinyl records by the legendary Italian pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, which were then followed by many and varied releases on CD with a focus on opera, symphonic and chamber music. But the part that interests us here is Ermitage/Opera Leader Ltd, which is the company’s music distribution and re-issue department. Somehow or other (I’ve yet to find out exactly how – watch this space!), Ermitage’s owner, Gianni Salvioni, managed to negotiate with the relevant labels to acquire the rights to re-release, on 180g vinyl, a raft of seminal jazz albums. This process began in the late 1990s /early 2000s, and resulted in Salvioni amassing an enviable archive of production copies and production masters. Apparently, most of these tapes are ‘flat’, in other words unequalised and uncompressed production copies. From these, he produced Ermitage’s various vinyl releases that are already on the market. The tapes were then subsequently placed in his very well maintained tape archive.
Scrolling through Ermitage’s catalogue on Discogs I found more than 50 albums, mainly on vinyl, including titles from luminaries such as the aforementioned Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Charles Mingus, plus Bill Evans, Dave Brubeck, Chet Baker, Ornette Colman, Sonny Rollins, Billie Holiday, etc.
I’m afraid I have no idea which titles Hemiolia will release on tape going forward – they’re keeping their plans a closely guarded secret and are only announcing new releases as each one launches – but the larder, so to speak, is very well stocked!
On which note, where does Hemiolia come in?
Fast forward a couple of decades and this is where Hemiolia enters the story. Their contract is with Ermitage to produce a 15ips, 2-track tape release of selected titles within the Ermitage archive. So, starting with Ermitage’s superbly well-preserved ‘flat production master’, Hemiolia’s mastering engineer Petro Benini then carefully and skilfully creates a ‘new master’ on tape for production of the 15ips master copies. Obviously these tape copies aren’t subject to any of the equalisation and limiting that’s necessary for reliable vinyl replay, enabling Hemiolia to create a new ‘Pietro Benini master’ – which is also free of all the equalisation and limiting that would’ve been done for the original issues of these albums on vinyl (and many subsequent re-releases). In short, what you’re getting here is closer than ever to the original recording!
Benini’s master is then copied on a bank of Otari master recorders at Hemiolia to produce the copies that are offered for sale.
If you haven’t read my earlier reviews of some of these tapes, I’d recommend taking a look, as there’s some interesting detail about the lengths to which Hemiolia go to ensure a superb quality product, and also some unpacking of the subject of remastering – in which I found myself having to re-examine and overwrite some long-cherished beliefs!
A note for US customers
One important point to note is that due to the licensing contracts, these tapes are available for sale worldwide except for sale in the USA, therefore US-based buyers will need to personally import them from overseas. Royalties on authors’ rights are then collected by SIAE (the Italian Society of Authors and Publishers). Being ‘sub-contractors’ to Ermitage, Hemiolia also additionally pay royalties to Ermitage, who in turn pay the rights to the source.
Getting down with Getz / Gilberto
The 1964 jazz classic Getz / Gilberto is the fourth of the Hemiolia-Ermitage series of 15ips 2 track master copy tapes. Featuring the timeless classic ‘The Girl From Ipanema’, this smoochy jazz standard is sure to warm up even the most frosty listener!
By way of reference, I’ve had a couple of vinyl copies of this several decades: a UK stereo reissue probably from the 1970s, and a UK mono original first pressing.
The content and sound of this album doesn’t really need describing. It’s the most accessible jazz that I know of: Latinesque, sweet, and smooth as silk. My listening notes, starting with the stereo vinyl, are almost laughable: “João’s vocal: soft, gentle, creamy. Guitar: soft, creamy. Bass: soft, diffuse, smooth. Piano: soft, rich. Astrid’s vocal: clear, dynamic, soft. Saxophone: soft, rich, dynamic, resinous. Drums, very soft…”. Oh boy, you get the picture, right!
That said, the UK mono original results in a slightly different perspective. Obviously everything is centralised in the soundstage and there’s a little more expression in the playing, a touch more intimacy. But at the same time we lose that all-enveloping smoothness. Interestingly, the tempo of the mono cut appears to be notably faster. I’m pretty sure that this must be a psycho-illusion but I noted it nevertheless. The bass seems lower in level than on the stereo cut too, and perhaps the drums / cymbals / percussion are a little louder which aids the Latin tempo.
Take three, and it’s time to settle down with the tape…
Immediately, without any question whatsoever, the first few bars reveal where we’re going with this. João’s vocal which opens the album is significantly more present. It’s clearer, more dynamic and far more resolved. He’s more three dimensional, he has more body. He feels like a real solid image within the soundstage, perhaps just to the left of centre. His guitar is also much more dynamic and whilst it still retains the softness of this exquisite Phil Ramone production, it’s immediately obvious that there’s a world of difference between the tape and either of the vinyl copies. The bass, which cuts in next, is bigger, deeper, tighter and more resolved. You can hear that it’s an upright bass, and you can hear each and every note played. Whist it’s still soft and blooming, now it also has shape, texture and – most important – rhythm.
The cymbals here are perhaps the other most significant change. Going back to the vinyl you have to listen out for them, but on the tape they’re clearly there, ever-present. What’s so special about that, you may ask. Well, they’re playing out that Latin tempo and as such they’re intrinsically linked to the flow, timing and energetic feel of the song and the overall performance. The pacing of the music feels so much more pleasing. In essence, it feels ‘right’. As we progress towards the soloists (starting with the opening track ‘The Girl from Ipanema’), Astrid’s vocal, the piano and the sax are each hewn into the soundstage with phenomenal presence and reality. All three are stunningly defined, dynamic and real, but without losing any of the critical ‘softness’ that the whole album requires and exudes.
As we move through the album track by track, it becomes clearly apparent that the presence is in an altogether different league to the vinyl. The overall signature of the album is retained: its smooth silky softness, yet the whole thing is so very much more clear, defined and dynamic. The main benefit is perhaps an order of magnitude of improvement in what I’d call ‘presence and pacing’.
Going back to the vinyl is not a happy feeling. It seems slow, vague and sleepy in comparison. In fact I’d even go as far as to say that when going back to the vinyl, it sounds awful! Now, I don’t have any of the super-audiophile cuts of this album such as the Analogue Productions 2x45rpm, MOFI or Speakers Corner, but now that I have this utterly wonderful tape from Hemiolia, I really can’t see myself searching out any other version to be honest.
Overall verdict: if you can play 15ips 2-track ¼” tape, then this tape copy is the ultimate. The only thing could possibly eclipse it would be if Verve themselves dug out the original master and served up that.
New titles coming from Hemiolia
Drum roll… the next three tapes have now been announced by Hemiolia. Chet Baker Sings – It Could Happen To You, Miles Davis – Ascenseur Pour L’Echafaud and Bill Evans – Waltz For Debby. Oh brother, my mortgage is in real trouble as I don’t see me being able to pass on any of these releases any time soon…
Here’s the link to find out more www.hemioliarecords.com/en
And if you have an appetite for a bit more rambling, here I am doing just that on the Getz / Gilberto.
Dave Denyer: The Reel-to-Reel Rambler 