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Mike Bloomfield-Al Kooper-Steve Stills: Super Session

Mike Bloomfield-Al Kooper-Steve Stills: Super Session

Audio Fidelity  AFZ5 186

Stereo/Multichannel Hybrid

Pop/Rock


Mike Bloomfield
Al Kooper
Steve Stills


Al Kooper was an A&R executive with Columbia Records in the early 1960's after leaving the group Blood, Sweat & Tears. The Super Session album was conceived as a jam session with Kooper on keyboards and former Paul Butterfield Blues Band member Mike Bloomfield on lead guitar along with veteran studio musician and Wrecking Crew member "Fast" Eddie Hoh on Drums and Barry Goldberg, also on keyboards. Bloomfield was available during the first day of recording for Side 1 (Tracks 1-5) of the LP. For the second day of recording, Kooper brought in former Buffalo Springfield guitarist Stephen Stills to perform on the music that became Side 2 (Tracks 6-9) of the LP. Recorded on a shoestring budget over a 2-day period in Los Angeles, Super Session went on to become a rock classic and earned the trio a gold record for sales of over one million copies.

The package includes new liner notes written by Al Kooper that tells the story of the Super Session album and the new 5.1 Multichannel mix. The 5.1 mix by Al Kooper with mastering by Bob Ludwig was never released and yet it has acquired some fame from industry insiders familiar with the Multichannel mix with comments like "excellent" and "it deserves to be heard."The new mastering of the Stereo tracks for new SACD Stereo and CD Stereo audio are by mastering engineer Steve Hoffman.

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Recording
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Produced by Al Kooper

Multichannel SACD 5.1 mix: Al Kooper
Multichannel SACD 5.1 mastering: Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios
Stereo CD and SACD mastering: Steve Hoffman at Stephen Marsh Mastering
Tracks
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1. Albert's Shuffle
2. Stop
3. Man's Temptation
4. His Holy Modal Majesty
5. Really
6. It Takes A Lot to Laugh, It Takes A Train to Cry
7. Season of the Witch
8. You Don't Love Me
9. Harvey's Tune
Reviews (1)
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Review by Rick Kosmick - November 13, 2014

The main attraction for me on this SACD version of "Super Session" was the availability of the 5.1 Surround mix by Al Kooper. I was aware that a 5.1 mix had been prepared by Mr. Kooper in 2004 but it was never released. When Audio Fidelity announced a 2014 release of this multi-channel mix plus a Stereo hybrid, I decided to make my first purchase of "Super Session".

I certainly knew about the reputation of this album originally released in 1968. The main reason I never owned a copy of "Super Session" was my lack of interest in jam session recordings. But my interest changed upon the opportunity to hear this record in a 5.1 format. What I can say is, after listening to the 5.1 version of the album , Al Kooper has created a marvelous surround venue to hear some superb recordings performed by some fine artists.

My initial comments focus on Al Kooper's decisions for a 5.1 remixing of the original tapes. In the liner notes he states that the listener should be centrally located and CLEARLY hear the instruments. As such, he took an aggressive approach particularly in his use of the rear channels: for example, you hear Steven Stills employing the wa wa bar on his guitar which emanates from the rear on "Seasons of the Witch". Keep in mind, Kooper is the original producer and unquestionably has my respect for his choices in 5.1. In other words, you have a variety of instruments coming from different channels but these choices in the mix are made judiciously and with taste.

Al Kooper does all the vocals for 4 tracks; the remaining 5 tracks are basically jam sessions. These crisp vocals are kept to the centre of this 5.1 mix allowing the musicians to show their improvisational skills on various instruments in a virtual circle of sound. The star on this record, and the 5 tracks he appears on, is Mike Bloomfield as he gives a dazzling performance on guitar that is captured in clear and scintillating tones.

I do have one issue to point out with this album: the heavy bass sound. I had to switch off my subwoofer. Normally, I do not care much for this type of bass sound in a recording. But I had to keep everything in perspective, as these recording sessions were initially set up for artists to jam together in a musical event. So, the bass player, Harvey Brooks was pushed up in the original mix. Rightfully, the result should be as intended with a prominent bass on this SACD. In this 5.1 mix, the bass is strong but well defined and very clean just as you would likely hear in the studio.

In listening to "Super Session" in surround sound, I felt totally immersed in the music with concise and transparent detail to the instruments reflecting from different points in the soundfield. It is a very engaging aural experience.

I previously referenced the exceptional guitar playing by Mike Bloomfield. Steve Stills appears on the last 4 tracks and also displayed his excellent skills on guitar. In fact, I personally preferred these cuts with Stills as 3 of these tracks were more structured with lyrics. This is the fundamental nature of Super Session: two separate and distinct sets of recordings on an album. So when I look to Performance, I rate the first set with Bloomfield (mainly instrumental jams) as 4 stars; the second set with Stills (mainly songs with instrumental workouts) as 4 1/2 stars. The rating for the fabulous 5.1 mix by Al Kooper, and mastering by Bob Ludwig, is absolutely 5 stars.

Finally, a special acknowledgement to Audio Fidelity for releasing this audio treasure left buried for ten years on the shelf of a record company's music storage vault.

Without reservation, "Super Session" is highly recommended.

Copyright © 2014 Rick Kosmick and HRAudio.net

Performance:

Sonics (Multichannel):

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Comment by Steven Overkill - November 21, 2015 (1 of 1)

My favourite so far of Audio Fidelity's recent multichannel releases. Beautifully done, with excellent attention to detail.