Description
Explosive Jazz-Rock Fusion from Virtuosos Who Love Playing Together: Jeff Beck with the Jan Hammer Group Live Documents High-Wire Musicality and Superb Chemistry of 1976-77 Tour
Available in Audiophile Sound for the First Time and Limited to 3,000 Numbered Copies: Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 33RPM LP Presents
Collaborative Effort with Generous Soundstaging and Accurate Imaging
1/4" / 15 IPS Dolby A analog master to DSD 256 to analog console to lathe
Jeff Beck with the Jan Hammer Group Live seldom appears on lists of the greatest live albums of all time. Amid an age where it seems every hidden or overlooked gem has already been rediscovered, this 1977 set remains a well-kept secret — a record filled with virtuoso performances, tremendous chemistry, high-wire improvisations, and explosive jazz-rock combinations. No wonder many listeners who came upon the effort in the late ‘70s admit to wearing out multiple copies and standing in awe of its powers. Wait 'til they hear this version.
Sourced from the original master tapes, housed in a Stoughton jacket, and strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity’s 180g LP of Jeff Beck with the Jan Hammer Group Live presents this collaborative tour de force in audiophile quality for the first time. Clear, detailed, and dynamic, the collectible reissue places each of the five fabled instrumentalists — Beck, Hammer, drummer Tony “Thunder” Smith, bassist Fernando Saunders, violinist Steve Kindler — in the positions that mirror where they played onstage during the 1976-77 tour.
Benefitting from the resultant three-dimensional soundstaging and black backgrounds, you’ll not only hear but nearly see Beck center right; Hammer center left; Kindler right; and Smith and Saunders anchoring the middle. The quiet vinyl surfaces further contribute to the sonic realism, immediacy, and energy. Paramount to Beck and Hammer, tonalities are natural and balanced. MoFi’s edition also restores and increases the emotionalism at hand. Concentrate on any passage, and you’ll sense the camaraderie, spirit, and joyfulness shared by the quintet — and communicated to the crowds. These guys love playing together, and it shows.
It’s one reason why Beck and company took great pains to ensure Jeff Beck with the Jan Hammer Group Live wasn’t just another souvenir live recording. Along with producer/A&R icon Tom Werman, Beck auditioned tunes from multiple dates at Allen Toussaint’s New Orleans studio. They selected what they believed met their elevated expectations of standout musicality and fidelity. A majority of the album stems from a particularly exceptional concert in Reading, Pennsylvania. Hammer then got involved with the project by mixing the record.
