Chet Baker/Jim Hall - Studio Trieste

When Cti became bankrupt, Creed Taylor saw himself forced to sell almost all (130) mastertapes to CBS (now Sony). The CBS folks sifted through the catalog and noticed a couple gems (and some other odd tapes) that were not released before and decided to launch the 9000 series, including this highlight.

It starts with "Malaguena" which (together with "All Blues" and "Django" also appeared as similar takes on the Jim Hall album (same recording session) below. Hubert Laws' flute is beautiful in this setting but he should've gotten more room (as opposed to the keyboard solo at the beginning which doesn't really fit well to the other instruments). Baker itself has just a minor role here.

"All Blues" is what the title suggests. This version is IMO far superior as it doesn't sound as "mixed" as the one on "Youkali" (this issue is maybe simply the "Youkali" recording without the overdubs). Very relaxed soli by Baker, Hall and Laws. Just beautiful.

"Django" mixes both slow and uptempo parts. Again beautiful soli by the major players (I wish Laws would've focused more on this style).

All in all a must have. Sadly just available as an expensive japanese import.

Jim Hall - (Youkali+All Blues) from "Youkali"

This one just landed in my mailbox. I originally thought that it might be a japanese import, due to the japanese characters on the booklet. I didn't bother to check the whereabouts as it was a bargain but it seems unclear wether the reissuing company actually had the rights, at least it appears to be slightly bogus.

Released in 1992, long after CTI's Heydays, Creed Taylor took (among others) recordings from the 1982 Studio Trieste sessions and overdubbed them (You can hear Chet Baker who died 4 years earlier) over the new ones, resulting in probably the last recording of the original Cti sound.

The title track, "Youkali" has a light reggae feeling and includes very nice soli by Grover Washington, Hall and guest guitarist Chuck Loeb (with an interesting distorted guitar).

On "Django", Hall and Baker really shine, the sound is in the same mood as on Halls recording that I posted earlier. This is (I haven't checked it yet) the same Django that appears on "Studio Trieste" or another take with the overdubbs. Beautiful.

Skylark, an old Mercer/Charmichael standard that stems originally from a Roland Hanna session and is the only standard on the album. I have my difficulties to review standards, due to them being well..., standard. The recording itself is stellar though and if you're into it, then it'll certainly be a delight.

The Miles Davis tune "All Blues" takes a while to get into the mood but turns eventually into a tune with both slightly funky and relaxing moods. A lengthy tune that is never tiring.

"Malagueña" is an old, spanish (classical), uptempo tune that has been adopted many times by jazz musicians. It's difficult to put in any Cti drawer as it incorporates so many different aspects.

"All across the city" is the slowest (and with 6:14 the shortest) song on the album. It's not spectacular but Hall's soli are again fantastic, every note fits perfectly.

All in all a great album that deserves the same attention as the other well-known Cti Hits. Downside is that the overdubbs not just add more material, some musicians were edited out (most notably Hubert Laws and Stebe Gadd). I wonder what it sounds without the overdubbs.