July 2, 2012

Volume III, Lincoln Mayorga And Distinguished Colleagues.



Here's another one of those hard to get LP/CD out of print treasures for the audiophile world. It was first released in 1973 by Sheffield Lab as an LP, then remastered for the CD format sometime in the 1980's. If you can find a mint pre-owned copy this on either format, it's surely gonna cost an arm or nearly a leg at least!

I first came across a track called Camarillo(track 4 on the CD, the track's available on You Tube too, just search) during my IASCA car audio competition days. I was captured by the layers of instruments in the music, starting with a healthy dose of blues influenced bass line as foundation, piano/keyboard and harmonica providing the main rhythm and topped by a healthy horn section, including a big fat mama tuba! And that tuba goes really low too. Camarillo was one of the judging tracks used in the IASCA competition. I knew this song by heart, but never had the faintest idea about the artist behind it. Well now I know.

The recording quality is one of best I've heard, yes even amongst others coming from the famous Doug Sax and the Sheffield Lab catalogue! The result of a live studio, direct to disc recording format, all the artist and musicians rose to the occasion. Remember, these were the days when they were recording a whole side of 26 minutes or so of an LP, all in one continuous un-edited take, no filters, no auto tune and certainly minimal equalisation, if any was used. Any musician with lesser grain of salt would've break out in cold sweat on the thought of this.

The music is a raw instrumental fusion of Jazz, Funk and Blues, in dynamic US of A style. There are a total of 8 tracks on the LP, the CD getting an extra bonus track in the form of a B take of an instrumental version of Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay, which is one of my favorite tracks. The track is relatively noisy, which was probably why it was left out from the original LP release, but that's what exactly why I like this track so much! The un-filtered and un-edited raw track, with studio chatter and microphone clipping noise, sounds just like a group of live band jamming in your hifi room, it's like the whole studio event captured "alive". The other outstanding dynamic percussion track is called America, which never gives you a dull moment. In fact the whole album is musically very enjoyable too.  Come to think of it, this is an album recorded nearly 40 years ago, yet it's musical integrity and recording quality still stands the test of time.

Now, this is the probably the best way to make an audiophile recording, which only Doug Sax of Sheffield Lab fame knows how. It's an art slowly fading in to obscurity, fast giving way to commercialism. Ahh........ the good ol' days!

6 comments:

  1. You don't have to sacrifice your arm and leg to own the CD;) Sheffield Lab has issued a 2 CDs pack containing their three Lincoln Mayorca and Distinguished Colleagues albums. Only about RM100.

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  2. HS,

    Thanks for the update!

    Available from local music stores, or online?

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  3. First time listen to Camarillo from youtube, using an earphone... Wow! I don't it was produce in the 70s. And not in the millenium era too. Brilliant music. I can put aside Dave Brubeck for a while.

    But, where to get the CD. LP? (for sure it's hard to find one!)

    Thanks Big E.

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  4. Big E,
    The 2 CDs pack is available online from Sheffield Lab and other online stores.
    I have the Vol III CD, like you said track 4 is very well recorded.

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  5. Guys,

    An update on the availability of Lincoln Mayorga & Distinguished Colleagues CD.

    There was a recent 2 CD re-issue for Vol I, II & III on the 40th Anniversary of the recording.

    Available online from Amazon.com

    Yes, it's rather affordable too!

    However, some buyers commented they weren't too impressed with the SQ of the new re-mastering! However at that price, for the value of music, who cares?

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  6. Yo tengo el LP (o sea, el "vinilo") original de "Lincoln Mayorga y sus distinguidos colegas" Vol.3. (o sea,
    el que incluye "Caramillo", "América"
    o la inconmensurable versión del "My
    Love",de McCartney -de la que no habláis nadie, y para mí, es uno de los arreglos más impresionantes que jamás escuché-, aparte de que, como bien decís todos,el albúm entero es una auténtica joya.
    Pues bien, lo vendo por 100 euros
    (como veis, no hace falta "cortarse" ningún brazo para conseguirlo). El disco esta absolutamente impecable (funda incluída). Lo compré en FEYMAR PIANÍSIMO - ALTA FIDELIDAD, establecimiento que tenía tres tiendas en Madrid (en las calles Serran0,96, Glorieta de Bilbao,5 y Pza.San Juan de la Cruz,1). Esto fue en el año 1.968. y el disco
    lo trajeron de importación, porque nunca fue editado en España.
    Creo que tengo algún par más de LPs del sello Sheffield Records(Lab Series) y por tanto, grabados también por el sistema de Direct Disc. En todo caso os informo que soy un viejo melómano coleccionista (tengo ya 71 años) y por eso cuido los antiguos discos (no digo,"viejos", porque ni lo están por su estado -que en todos es impecable- ni por su calidad musical -aún vigente-).
    En total, he puesto a la venta más de 1.500
    LPs, pero prefiero venderlos,poco a poco, a verdderos aficionados que, como yo, sepan apreciarlos, antes que "regalárselos" por cuatro euros a las tiendas especuladoras que pululan por internet y que te los compran por lotes y casi "al peso".
    A todo esto y por si alguien se pregunta, que cómo es posible que venda algo que amo tanto, responderé que es por motivos económicos personales y, por supuesto, tras haberme ocupado, en los últimos tres años, de pasar toda la música que tenía en vinilo formato
    MP3 (¡Puedo renunciar a tener "físicamente" mis vinilos,. . . pero jamás a su contenido, mientras viva!).
    En fin, aquí os dejo mi correo, para quien se
    interese por el disco de Lincoln Mayorga, o por cualquier otro que yo tenga:

    antoniohierro5@gmail.com

    Un saludo atento, a todo el que lea esto.

    Antonio Hierro Hormigós

    ReplyDelete