New York Standards Quartet - Unstandard (2011)
EAC rip | FLAC + CUE + LOG | Full Scans | 390 Mb (Incl. Recovery)
Genre ~ Jazz | Label ~ Challenge Records
EAC rip | FLAC + CUE + LOG | Full Scans | 390 Mb (Incl. Recovery)
Genre ~ Jazz | Label ~ Challenge Records
Having recently reviewed a lot of progressive jazz and new music, I was excited to check out The New York Standards Quartet’s Unstandard (Challenge Records, 2011) this month. Familiar with pianist David Berkman through his work as a leader and pedagogue, and with Gene Jackson’s impressive pedigree with such seminal leaders as Herbie Hancock and Dave Holland, the personnel of Unstandard piqued my interest.
The album’s concept is simple: performance of jazz standards that emphasizes interpretation and playfulness. “How High the Moon” gets a modal hook and a reharmonization, as does “All the Things You Are,” but both familiar melodies remain intact. Other tunes get a more adventurous approach. “Lunar” is a contrafact of Miles Davis’ “Solar,” whose changes only become recognizable three minutes into the tune, when Berkman’s comping provides context for Tim Armacost’s high-energy solo. “Stablemates” shows a great sense of dramatic arc, Jackson’s drum solo giving way to a modulation into the last bars of the melody. I was less taken with the trickling, out-of-time interpretation of “But Beautiful,” which felt homogeneous, though a nice stylistic counterpoint to the rest of the album.
Throughout the album, I was mesmerized by Berkman’s piano solos, which employed repetition and sequences to great effect. Extremely refreshing are his three vignettes on “Polka Dots and Moonbeams” sprinkled throughout the album. Each is a rubato solo, no longer than a minute, providing depth and context for the surrounding material. The “Beamlets” tie the album together, and show that NYSQ is interested in creating something more than a mere collection of tunes.
Attending jam sessions around the city, I’m usually impressed with the quality of soloing, but disappointed with the wham-bang aesthetic so often applied to standards. Unstandard is an answer to this dilemma: a collection of standards not only beautifully interpreted, but carefully assembled. Here’s hoping that NYSQ’s approach to the jazz canon serves as inspiration for jazz musicians worldwide.
Tracklist
01. How High The Moon - 8:19
02. Polka Beamlet #1 - 1:01
03. All The Things You Are - 5:02
04. Polka Beamlet #2 - 0:49
05. Stablemates - 7:10
06. But Beautiful - 4:20
07. Lunar - 6:51
08. Interplay - 5:51
09. Two Meetings - 2:10
10. They Ballet Girl Stirs (by Starlight) - 6:26
11. After Thought - 0:37
12. Summer Night - 6:25
13. Polka Beamlet #3 - 0:54
Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 2 from 29. April 2011
EAC extraction logfile from 11. September 2011, 2:17
New York Standards Quartet / UnStandard
Used drive : HL-DT-STDVD-RAM GSA-H55N Adapter: 0 ID: 2
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 102
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : Yes
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface
Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 128 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : G:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\Encoder\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "Genre=%genre%" -T "Artist=%artist%" -T "Title=%title%" -T "Album=%albumtitle%" -T "Date=%year%" -T "Tracknumber=%tracknr%" -T "Comment=%comment%" %source%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 8:19.34 | 0 | 37458
2 | 8:19.34 | 1:00.47 | 37459 | 42005
3 | 9:20.06 | 5:01.38 | 42006 | 64618
4 | 14:21.44 | 0:49.03 | 64619 | 68296
5 | 15:10.47 | 7:09.41 | 68297 | 100512
6 | 22:20.13 | 4:20.14 | 100513 | 120026
7 | 26:40.27 | 6:50.42 | 120027 | 150818
8 | 33:30.69 | 5:51.16 | 150819 | 177159
9 | 39:22.10 | 2:09.52 | 177160 | 186886
10 | 41:31.62 | 6:25.52 | 186887 | 215813
11 | 47:57.39 | 0:36.62 | 215814 | 218575
12 | 48:34.26 | 6:25.21 | 218576 | 247471
13 | 54:59.47 | 0:54.28 | 247472 | 251549
Track 1
Filename F:\WAV\01 - How High The Moon.wav
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Peak level 98.8 %
Extraction speed 4.9 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 2
Filename F:\WAV\02 - Polka Beamlet #1.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:00.55
Peak level 68.3 %
Extraction speed 3.5 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 3
Filename F:\WAV\03 - All The Things You Are.wav
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Peak level 98.8 %
Extraction speed 5.4 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 4
Filename F:\WAV\04 - Polka Beamlet #2.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.50
Peak level 98.8 %
Extraction speed 3.5 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 5
Filename F:\WAV\05 - Stablemates.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.10
Peak level 98.9 %
Extraction speed 6.2 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 6
Filename F:\WAV\06 - But Beautiful.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:00.35
Peak level 95.5 %
Extraction speed 6.3 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 7
Filename F:\WAV\07 - Lunar.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.25
Peak level 98.9 %
Extraction speed 7.0 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 8
Filename F:\WAV\08 - Interplay.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.10
Peak level 98.8 %
Extraction speed 7.3 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 9
Filename F:\WAV\09 - Two Meetings.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:00.50
Peak level 98.8 %
Extraction speed 6.3 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 10
Filename F:\WAV\10 - They Ballet Girl Stirs (by Starlight).wav
Peak level 98.8 %
Extraction speed 7.6 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 11
Filename F:\WAV\11 - After Thought.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.30
Peak level 45.2 %
Extraction speed 2.7 X
Track quality 99.7 %
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Track 12
Filename F:\WAV\12 - Summer Night.wav
Peak level 98.9 %
Extraction speed 8.0 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 13
Filename F:\WAV\13 - Polka Beamlet #3.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.20
Peak level 98.8 %
Extraction speed 3.1 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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None of the tracks are present in the AccurateRip database
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End of status report
==== Log checksum 51E6A3142D18F1D0A0EDC836881E9B471F644C727186C9DF218C4D6F4CA36ABA ====
EAC extraction logfile from 11. September 2011, 2:17
New York Standards Quartet / UnStandard
Used drive : HL-DT-STDVD-RAM GSA-H55N Adapter: 0 ID: 2
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 102
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : Yes
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface
Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 128 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : G:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\Encoder\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "Genre=%genre%" -T "Artist=%artist%" -T "Title=%title%" -T "Album=%albumtitle%" -T "Date=%year%" -T "Tracknumber=%tracknr%" -T "Comment=%comment%" %source%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 8:19.34 | 0 | 37458
2 | 8:19.34 | 1:00.47 | 37459 | 42005
3 | 9:20.06 | 5:01.38 | 42006 | 64618
4 | 14:21.44 | 0:49.03 | 64619 | 68296
5 | 15:10.47 | 7:09.41 | 68297 | 100512
6 | 22:20.13 | 4:20.14 | 100513 | 120026
7 | 26:40.27 | 6:50.42 | 120027 | 150818
8 | 33:30.69 | 5:51.16 | 150819 | 177159
9 | 39:22.10 | 2:09.52 | 177160 | 186886
10 | 41:31.62 | 6:25.52 | 186887 | 215813
11 | 47:57.39 | 0:36.62 | 215814 | 218575
12 | 48:34.26 | 6:25.21 | 218576 | 247471
13 | 54:59.47 | 0:54.28 | 247472 | 251549
Track 1
Filename F:\WAV\01 - How High The Moon.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00
Peak level 98.8 %
Extraction speed 4.9 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 0E8F4DAA
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Track not present in AccurateRip database
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Track 2
Filename F:\WAV\02 - Polka Beamlet #1.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:00.55
Peak level 68.3 %
Extraction speed 3.5 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 3
Filename F:\WAV\03 - All The Things You Are.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:00.50
Peak level 98.8 %
Extraction speed 5.4 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 4
Filename F:\WAV\04 - Polka Beamlet #2.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.50
Peak level 98.8 %
Extraction speed 3.5 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 5
Filename F:\WAV\05 - Stablemates.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.10
Peak level 98.9 %
Extraction speed 6.2 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 6
Filename F:\WAV\06 - But Beautiful.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:00.35
Peak level 95.5 %
Extraction speed 6.3 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 7
Filename F:\WAV\07 - Lunar.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.25
Peak level 98.9 %
Extraction speed 7.0 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 8
Filename F:\WAV\08 - Interplay.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.10
Peak level 98.8 %
Extraction speed 7.3 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 9
Filename F:\WAV\09 - Two Meetings.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:00.50
Peak level 98.8 %
Extraction speed 6.3 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 10
Filename F:\WAV\10 - They Ballet Girl Stirs (by Starlight).wav
Peak level 98.8 %
Extraction speed 7.6 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 11
Filename F:\WAV\11 - After Thought.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.30
Peak level 45.2 %
Extraction speed 2.7 X
Track quality 99.7 %
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Track 12
Filename F:\WAV\12 - Summer Night.wav
Peak level 98.9 %
Extraction speed 8.0 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 13
Filename F:\WAV\13 - Polka Beamlet #3.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.20
Peak level 98.8 %
Extraction speed 3.1 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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None of the tracks are present in the AccurateRip database
No errors occurred
End of status report
==== Log checksum 51E6A3142D18F1D0A0EDC836881E9B471F644C727186C9DF218C4D6F4CA36ABA ====
Special thanks to the original ripper!