Listening to Kenny Burrell Midnight Blue

Myles,

I think your point is well taken that in the early days of stereo recording there was a steep learning curve and a whole lot of ping pong nonsense from one channel to the other and a void in the center. On the other hand, maybe this problem was more pronounced at some studios than others. On the 1959 recording, Kind of Blue (Columbia), we hear Miles Davis in the middle, John Coltrane in the left channel, and Cannonball Adderley in the right channel. The piano, bass and drums spread across the back stage from left to right. Several Brubeck records (Columbia) from that era have similar spacing with Desmond generally front and center. MJQ (Atlantic) generally had natural spacing too with Jackson front right, and Lewis front left most of the time. You have me thinking of re-listening to a lot of records now, as though I needed an excuse ;-). Thanks!

Difference Bill is that KOB was a three-track recording mixed down to two-track. So there was already a middle channel, though how the middle track is handled can affect the center image.

Ah that makes sense. I suppose all of the Miles Davis/Gil Evans collaborations were 3 track as well? I can hear Miles turning his back on the set, just like he did live, which had the effect of making him sound like he was behind the other musicians. That level of detail always impressed me about the Columbia recordings. I need to listen to some Norman Granz recordings from that era too, as his recording technique always impressed me. This is a great discussion, thanks again.