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Favorite Live Albums


tne

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A couple of beauties that have been missed, not the last words on audiophile quality but these babies can rock out for sure!

 

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Sources are: Mac Mini 2010 / Nottingham Analogue Hyperspace c/w Jelco 750 D and Denon DL 103 MC cartridge. Phono Stage: EAR 834P. Power Amp: Audio Note Empress Silver into a Hattor passive pre. DAC: Lampizator Atlantic and Humming Board NAA Speakers: Horns.pl Mummys. Cables: Duelund DC 16 GA  - Audionote AN-SPX 27 Strand RCA and Albedo Silver RCA and Western Electric WE 16 GA. All digital music played through a Mac Mini using Roon and HQP. Power Supply: Gigawat PC2-EVO

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Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Body&Soul.

This album also known as Live in Europe is one of the lesser known Thad Jones/Mel Lewis albums.Unjustly so.The band is playing marvelously, the Danish Bass player,Jesper Lundgaard, who had just joined the band, recommended by tenor saxophonist Bob Rockwell, is doing a fantastic job next to Mel Lewis.

The recording quality of this album is also recommendable,good wide soundstage, clear placement,and very well balanced, unusual for a jazz album of the 70'.

Body and Soul, Live in Berlin is a big band jazz album recorded by the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, recorded in Berlin in October 1978 and released on the West Wind Jazz label. West Wind also issued the two discs individually as The Orchestra (WW 2044) and Body and Soul (WW 2048). All tracks except "ABC Blues" are also included in the 2007 compilation album, Thad Jones Mel Lewis Orchestra In Europe
source wikipedia

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I have several live albums I really enjoy, but I think these are my four favorites. And I can't pick an order; love them all.

 

Alison Krauss & Union Station -- Live

Allman Brothers Band -- Live At Fillmore East

Keith Jarrett -- The Koln Concert

Little Feat -- Waiting On Columbus

Jeff

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I have a couple that (I think, may have missed one) haven't been mentioned that I really, really love:

 

Van Morrison "It's Too Late To Stop Now"

Talking Heads "The Name of This Band is Talking Heads"

Tom Petty "Anthology" (not really a live concert but a lot of nice live recordings)

 

These are great albums to grab if you don't have them already!

 

Best,

John

Positive emotions enhance our musical experiences.

 

Synology DS213+ NAS -> Auralic Vega w/Linear Power Supply -> Auralic Vega DAC (Symposium Jr rollerball isolation) -> XLR -> Auralic Taurus Pre -> XLR -> Pass Labs XA-30.5 power amplifier (on 4" maple and 4 Stillpoints) -> Hawthorne Audio Reference K2 Speakers in MTM configuration (Symposium Jr HD rollerball isolation) and Hawthorne Audio Bass Augmentation Baffles (Symposium Jr rollerball isolation) -> Bi-amped w/ two Rythmic OB plate amps) -> Extensive Room Treatments (x2 SRL Acoustics Prime 37 diffusion plus key absorption and extensive bass trapping) and Pi Audio Uberbuss' for the front end and amplification

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A couple of beauties that have been missed, not the last words on audiophile quality but these babies can rock out for sure!

 

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Heck yes, especially How the West Was Won - one of the greatest live rock albums, period. Not a sonic marvel, but the OOP DVD-A version's 2.0 mix does provide a little more dynamism and "air" than the standard CD (though the CD is quite listenable as well).

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All my faves are on the list here somewhere.

 

The Who, Talking Heads, Little Feat amongst many others.

 

I've still got my thrashed copy of 4 Way Street from high school.

 

Alison Krauss and Union Station - live they are one of the tightest bands on the planet

 

Bruce at Hyde Park - not strictly a live album, but the Blu-ray of that event is the closest you'll get to being there out of all his live vids

 

And for more strange opening act/headliner combo trivia - how about Heart opening for April Wine? April Wine were also the draw to sell tickets to the El Mocambo for the Stones Live album recorded there

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This is the live album/ download version;

 

and this one is from a Jazz tv recording (no audience), The first one sounds the best.

 

The Carmen Gomes download/album was recorded in front of a small audience present in the studio, and is one of the best sounding vocal recordings that I own. However the question is if it is studio or live or somewhere in between?

The 12 pieces of music were performed live in the studio in front of a studio audience. The musicians were placed in front of a stereo pair of microphones with additional spot microphones on each instrument. The musicians were playing without headphones, the reason being that we believe that when we get the musicians to play together in the same room,with out headphones, it creates a number of musical and technical benefits:

As they are not ''separated'' by the headphones, the musicians, in order to hear each other are forced to create a natural and musical balance, a balance which is then easily captured by the main stereo pair of microphones. Because of the natural and musical balance the need for compression to control levels is no longer necessary, and since everybody is in the same room,the boxed sound which is so common in many modern recordings is absent, and the sound of the room helps ''glue'' the sound of the recording.

from the album liner notes ;Thousand Shades of Blue (FLAC)
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Wow, great list. A couple more that I didn't see:

Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense

Count Basie - Live at the Sands

Analog: Koetsu Rosewood > VPI Aries 3 w/SDS > EAR 834P > EAR 834L: Audiodesk cleaner

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Digital Serious: DAS > CAPS v3 w/LPS (HQPlayer) Ethernet > SMS-100 NAA > Lampi DSD L4 G5 > EAR 834L

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I am typically not a big fan of live albums, since they are frequently sloppy versions of the band's standard hits. However it would be interesting to hear about others' favourite live albums, ones where the live versions elevate the music above what the studio versions achieve. I will start with some of mine, likely overlooking many good ones:

 

 

Diana Krall - Live in Paris

Sarah Vaughan - Live in Japan

Alison Krauss and Union Station - Live

Miles Davis - My Funny Valentine (and its more uptempo twin, Four and More)

Delaney and Bonnie and Friends - On Tour with Eric Clapton

Big Brother and the Holding Company - Cheap Thrills

Arne Domnerus, et al. - Jazz at the Pawnshop

Frank Sinatra - Live at the Sands

Allman Brothers - Live at Fillmore East

Quicksilver Messenger Service - Happy Trails

Hot Tuna - Bearsville Theater

Van Morrison - It's Too Late to Stop Now

This is a great list!

CAPS v2 with SOTM USB powered by Red Wine Lightning. Stello U3 usb -> spdif converter, Bel Canto 3.5 LNS, Ayre K-5xe mp preamplifier, Conrad Johnson Classic 60 power amp, Harbeth c7es3, Acoustic Zen cables

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So very many great albums have been listed! Pretty much all of my favorites - that I can think of - are already in thread except Bela Fleck and Flecktones Live Art

 

PS - this is FAR more fun and productive than debating DSD!

Roon ROCK (Roon 1.7; NUC7i3) > Ayre QB-9 Twenty > Ayre AX-5 Twenty > Thiel CS2.4SE (crossovers rebuilt with Clarity CSA and Multicap RTX caps, Mills MRA-12 resistors; ERSE and Jantzen coils; Cardas binding posts and hookup wire); Cardas and OEM power cables, interconnects, and speaker cables

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This made me think of another album: Elvis Costello "Live at Hollywood High" which is INCREDIBLE in many ways, mostly because of the amazing sound of Elvis Costello in 1978, but also because of the sound quality which isn't so bad, actually, for such a location. Really cool if you haven't heard it before and are a fan of EC...

Positive emotions enhance our musical experiences.

 

Synology DS213+ NAS -> Auralic Vega w/Linear Power Supply -> Auralic Vega DAC (Symposium Jr rollerball isolation) -> XLR -> Auralic Taurus Pre -> XLR -> Pass Labs XA-30.5 power amplifier (on 4" maple and 4 Stillpoints) -> Hawthorne Audio Reference K2 Speakers in MTM configuration (Symposium Jr HD rollerball isolation) and Hawthorne Audio Bass Augmentation Baffles (Symposium Jr rollerball isolation) -> Bi-amped w/ two Rythmic OB plate amps) -> Extensive Room Treatments (x2 SRL Acoustics Prime 37 diffusion plus key absorption and extensive bass trapping) and Pi Audio Uberbuss' for the front end and amplification

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Warren Zevon - Stand in the Fire, not many live albums more high energy than this.

 

Thanks for this!

 

I'll add Cowboy Junkies "Long Journey Home (Live in Liverpool)" Great sound quality for a live album.

Positive emotions enhance our musical experiences.

 

Synology DS213+ NAS -> Auralic Vega w/Linear Power Supply -> Auralic Vega DAC (Symposium Jr rollerball isolation) -> XLR -> Auralic Taurus Pre -> XLR -> Pass Labs XA-30.5 power amplifier (on 4" maple and 4 Stillpoints) -> Hawthorne Audio Reference K2 Speakers in MTM configuration (Symposium Jr HD rollerball isolation) and Hawthorne Audio Bass Augmentation Baffles (Symposium Jr rollerball isolation) -> Bi-amped w/ two Rythmic OB plate amps) -> Extensive Room Treatments (x2 SRL Acoustics Prime 37 diffusion plus key absorption and extensive bass trapping) and Pi Audio Uberbuss' for the front end and amplification

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Others:

- so many recordings from the John Peel show on the BBC - "Fiddler and the Drum" by June Tabor, the CD from PJ Harvey are two that come to mind

- Hendrix "Live at Winterland" - better, to my mind, than the one from Monterey

- Captain Beefheart "Live in Liverpool" - not a great recording but I was at his concert at Loughborough during this tour, the only time I saw the Good Captain live: fantastic

- there are also DVD's from "The Old Grey Whistle Test" from the BBC which are worthwhile looking at,,,,

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Just got Hendrix "Live at Winterland" - fantastic performances, okay recordings. Totally enjoyable examples of Jimi's genius.

Main listening (small home office):

Main setup: Surge protectors +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Protection>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three BXT (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments.

Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three BXT

Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup.
Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. 

All absolute statements about audio are false :)

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One of my favorites that I haven't seen mentioned is Carmen McRae - Betty Carter Duets - Live at the Great American Music Hall. Their interaction on this album is very engaging and immensely enjoyable. I can listen to it over and over, and the recording quality is better than most live recordings. I have it on both vinyl and CD, but since it's originally recorded as a digital master the vinyl doesn't really have any advantage over the CD. It can be a bit difficult to find now, but if you enjoy jazz vocals it is well worth the effort!

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[h=1]The Allman Brothers Band - The 1971 Fillmore East Recordings - 2014 HD TRACKS ... This recording is absolutely incredible![/h]

HQ Player (#1) & Audrivana (#2) (wow! love the Apple w/music!!) .. these two software make my system "Amazing!", Purist USB- Benchmark DAC2 HGC (love it!), Purist Audio XLR , ATC SCM25A's (To Die For!) & Focal sub6 . Triode Power Cables with Uber Buss (Yes!) Also enjoy Audeze LCD3 w/"fat pipe cardas."

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