CLARE TEAL – A TRIBUTE TO ELLA FITZGERALD REEL-TO-REEL

Clare Teal performs a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald (Chasing the Dragon), ¼”, 15ips, CCIR and Alan McIntosh takes a listen.

As more and more people are embracing (many never left of course) the wonders, labours and sonic delights of open reel tape, the market for pre-recorded master copy tapes (the naming convention can mean many things of course) is, from what I can see, receiving a new breath of air with established companies such as Horsch House, The Tape Project, 2xHD and Analogue Productions continuing to extend their catalogues to feed the appetite of audiophiles.

Chasing the Dragon Audiophile recordings, produced by the unquestionably talented and larger-than-life Mike Valentine and his wife Francoise, are well known to many for their Direct Cut to vinyl recordings (where the recording desk is fed live and direct to a lathe to produce some of the most dynamic and vivid recordings around) and also their well regarded open reel tape recordings. Mike himself is an incredible orator, demonstrator, and raconteur and I highly recommend you check out his seminars at shows like the UK’s North West Audio Show or the upcoming Audio Show Deluxe (March 25^th & 26^th in Whittlebury, UK,  where his trademark Hawaiian shirts are likely to be almost as vivid as his presentations! Mike’s career also spans many years in cinematic camera work for some very well-known movie titles – he’s somewhat of a creative polymath it seems.

Having enjoyed some of the Direct Cut vinyl catalogue and with a passion for open reel that has only grown in the last few years since acquiring (and subsequently investing in servicing/repairing) a good condition Tascam 32, I have both enjoyed recording for my own pleasure and also building, albeit slowly, a collection of pre-recorded audiophile master copy tapes from various recording houses who have acquired the necessary licenses (that said there are suppliers who’s licensing is less transparent it seems – caveat emptor!). This has led me to finally get around to acquiring one of Chasing the Dragon’s recordings – in this case Clare Teal’s “A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald”.

Clare Teal is a phenomenal talent, with an incredible jazz vocalist who is recognised globally, with many British and Boisdale Jazz singer of the year awards to her name, as well as a raft of highly regarded jazz, swing, and big band albums. She has received numerous critical reviews and has worked with the likes of Gregory Porter and Van Morrison. Here she is partnering with the Syd Lawrence Orchestra led by Chris Dunn to deliver a big band jazz album of some of Ella’s greats.

The music (according to Chasing the Dragon) is recorded directly from the Neve desk to a Studer A820 at 30ips (inches per second) onto 1/2” studio master tape, before then being copied down to a “running master”. It’s from this that the production tapes are made in your chosen format, in my case the preferred  10.15” reel, 2 track, 15ips (the equalization is the usual European CCIR). Playing at 15ip and 2 track provides the best dynamic range achievable in semi-pro/consumer decks and tends to reduce unwanted noise floor.

The media itself is a blue aluminium ATR Magnetics 10’5” reel (the exact formulation is not listed) and is packaged in their usual plastic transport cases decorated with a large front sticker of the album cover and tracklist (8 tracks in all). The reel has a nice Dragon sticker on it reminding you that it is shipped (and should be stored) tails out, meaning of course you rewind first before playing. This is the norm for me anyway, so after splicing leader tape to both ends, I was ready to sit down and listen.

Threading of the tape done, I sit back, put my feet (and volume) up, hit play on the Teac remote, and after a few moments of lead in tape I’m transported back in time. From the first few bars, it’s obvious why Clare (and the band) is so highly regarded. Mike’s clever use of microphones (both type and positioning) and that combination of Neve desk and Studer recorder is clear in just how wonderful the sound produced is. There is a dreamy, otherworldly nostalgia to this as and I sit in my dark green speakeasy-inspired listening room I’m quite rapt. That is not to say sonically this is some Vaseline-smeared lens of a production – far from it!  Clare’s voice doesn’t attempt to parody Ella’s, this is no pastiche, but instead her own stamp on incredible classics.

The whole band is there in front of me, horns, brush on drums, bass… It’s less a musical recording, rather almost a cinematic big band feel – it’s like you can almost picture each player, in their seat and around the space. Dynamically, when the Hegel 190 is given some volume, it is broad and weighty. Bass is deep, textured, and natural and has great “oomph”! The drums, rather than being hidden back or off to one side are provided their own dedicated middle-stage space and the result is every stroke, hit, and kick is fully expressed and it’s evident how tightly timed these folks are playing together as a big band – tight as a drum (pun intended!). The mic’ing is genius work. As we move through classics like “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, “I Get a Kick Out Of You” and the whimsical and energetic “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead” it dawns on you just how good Clare (and the recording) is.

Her voice grabs you by the gut and doesn’t pull any punches. It is powerful, emphatic, vibrant, controlled, and yet somehow effortless (I’m sure it’s not to Clare but to the listener it’s a delight!). Watching the VU meters on reel to reel is great fun and when you see the dynamic range from near whisper to BOOM drums bangs register across the dial it’s another nail in compressions coffin, this is music as it should sound – open, free, unrestrained, and just wonderfully alive! The clarity and resolution is fantastic.  Between songs, I crank the volume – but nope, no hint of hiss, the noise floor is incredibly low. I, of course, was not present at the recording, but it feels like little if anything, beyond temporal separation, is between me and the band! Clare is mic’d close and is vivid in the mind’s eye, the centre point of a musical extravaganza.

In this, the real world and its increasing pressures, many people grind teeth and tut at the price of audiophile recordings – especially on tape. For myself as well this is far from a cheap, everyday offering, but as I stopped chasing constant tweaks and upgrades to my system and instead tried to pivot that investment into great music, be it high-quality vinyl or in this case great tape, I reckon I’m spending a little less but getting a lot more for it. As we close out of “Old Black Magic” with its call-and-answer swing horn work” and then finally “Too Damn Hot” sees us come to the curtain fall, I am left thinking I will be looking at more of Chasing the Dragons tape catalogue in future – until then I’m on my 4^th straight listen through in 24 hours.

A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald by Clare Teal (with the Syd Lawrence orchestra) is available in the UK for £400 via MCRU, or Direct from Chasing the Dragon in the UK.

Associated review equipment; Tascam 32, Hegel 190 Amplifier, Amphion Argon 3s speakers, Graham Slee cabling from r2r to Amp, Tellurium Q Black II speaker cabling. Power by Titan Audio, Room treatment by GIK Acoustics, all equipment stands/racks by SolidSteel.

Alan McIntosh