I love discovering great new music even if that music was recorded 55 years ago. Well, it’s still new to me. Such is the case with Doc Severinsen’s album “Tempestuous Trumpet” RS 33-819 on Command Records.

I grew up watching Johnny Carson on the “Tonight Show”, and occasionally I’d get to hear the “Tonight Show Band”, led by Doc Severinsen finish up a song after a commercial break. So it peaked my interest when I stopped by my favorite used Vinyl and CD store the other day http://secondeditionbooks.com/ and found this album sitting in the $1 bin. The album was sitting in the album jacket without a sleeve. It didn’t seem to have a lot of scratches on it, however it did have a lot of dust all over it, and the album cover stunk like mold. At the risk of breathing in some toxic germs, I bought the album and headed home. I immediately did a four step cleaning (see my services page for more information) and placed the record on my Pro-Ject RPM-5.1 turntable.

The cleaning seemed to do the job. I heard a few pops on “Tenderly”, and some loud pops on both “I Can’t Get Started” and “Sleepy Lagoon”, but overall the background noise was non existent. The sound of the recording was, in a word, incredible. Reading the technical data on the back of the album I could understand why. The recording studio boasted “This record is an example of the finest quality sound fidelity that can be achieved with a multiple microphone pickup. From the origin of the sound in a large acoustically perfect studio to the the editing and re-recording to the final pressing of the record only the finest equipment is used- Some of the microphones used, representing the best of all manufactures available are the RCA-44BX, Telefunken U-47, Telefunken KM 56, Telefunken 201, Western Electric 1142A, Altec 639B, RCA-770….The edited tape is re-recorded onto a master disc from a Fairchild tape machine through Pultec equalizers, and a McIntosh 200 watt amplifier to a specially built cutting head mounted on a Scully automatic lathe.”

My favorite tracks on the album include “After You’re Gone”, “Night in Tunisia”, and “Baubles, Bangles, and Beads”. I love the Bongos on all three songs, and the dynamics on Doc’s trumpet are just incredible. The sound just jumped out of my Kef 107s.

I also enjoyed Doc’s high energy take on the classic song “Mack the Knife”.

In case you can’t find this record at your local record store, you’re in luck if you have a Rhapsody account. They have this, and many other Doc Severinsen albums available for your instant enjoyment.

Feel free to send me your comments, and also your recommendations on other music that I should be checking out.

Until next time, Happy Listening-

Russ