Gloria Steward - Jazz For Dancing

Publisher: Horch House

Playing time: 42 min

Specifications: half track ¼", stereo, RTM SM900, 2 metal reels, CCIR, 510 nWb/m, 38 cm/s

Homepage: https://www.horchhouse.com/

Translation of the German review

The Manfred Burzlaff Quartet played daily from 1963-1971 at the legendary Old Eden Saloon in Berlin's Charlottenburg district (Germany). In 1965, US singer Gloria Steward joined the club's house band.  For years, the band played daily from 10 p.m. to three in the morning. Burzlaff's band during this time included Bob Degen (piano), Michael Dennert (drums) and Michael Bahner (bass).

Manfred Burzlaff (1932-2015) was a German jazz musician (vibraphone and composition). In the 1950s he met jazz greats such as Chet Baker and Stan Getz, first in Paris and later in Berlin. The list of names can be prominently continued: Art Farmer, Albert Mangelsdorff, Jim Hall, Lionel Hampton, Dexter Gordon and many more. He wrote soundtracks for over 40 films and also for commercials. He was a lecturer at the "Hochschule der Künste Berlin" (HdK) and worked as a music teacher at the Neukölln Music School.

The album "Jazz For Dancing" was produced in 1965 in a 500 LP edition. The freelance producer Heino Gaze organized the recording in the Audio Tonstudio in Berlin-Lichterfelde, which was released under license from the Swiss record company Elite Records. This production with the songs of Old Eden is the only recording of Gloria Steward and thus an important sound document for the Berlin period of that time. The U.S. forces maintained their occupation sector in southwest Berlin from 1945 to 1994. The jazz concerts meant a piece of home culture for many US-Americans, which is why many tables at Old Eden were reserved exclusively for them. A look at the song list and the origin shows the American Songbook with danceable standards from the popular jazz scene. The perfectly produced double gatefold box comes with an insert sheet with all the important information about the production as well as photos around the original tapes.

I was able to ask the publisher Jürg Schopper questions about the master tape copy:

Claus: How was this tape discovered, or rather, how did Gloria Steward's only recording come to "stand out"?

Jürg: Through good relations with the only Swiss record pressing plant Turicaphon, many master and production tapes came into my collection. Among others the Gloria Steward master tape. With the transfer of these tapes I also received the full rights for free disposal. Therefore I decided to release some of these trouvailles as a tape release on my label "Triston Master Recordings". Gloria Steward is now the first. Why this recording? I have to elaborate a bit on that. I'm a trained electronics engineer myself, was a successful musician, and was a producer for EMI Records Switzerland for a short time. I was still lucky enough to be around in the final analog phase of the recording industry. Among other things, I also recorded and produced in the USA. I know how a master tape has to sound. When the tape revival started, I listened through a few tapes intensively and that's when the Gloria Steward tape stood out pleasantly.

Claus: Where did the original tape come from, was it located in Switzerland?

Jürg: The tapes were actually supposed to be given to the Swiss State Archives of Audio Recordings (Fonoteca Lugano). However, the owner of Turicaphon AG decided that his legacy should live on and therefore it is in better hands with me. The original tape is in my possession.

Claus: Did the original recording or tape have to be reworked before the master tape copy?

Jürg: Simply answered: No. They are PER 525 tapes, which are absolutely perfectly preserved, because they were professionally stored in the Turicaphon archive. I have restored a great many tapes. PER 525 and PER 528 are the best tapes ever produced. I have practically never had a problem with these, unlike Pyral, Ampex and later BASF and AGFA.

Claus: How are the tape copies produced at "Triston Master Recordings"?

Jürg: The original master tape was recorded in Berlin on behalf of Elite Special. Special are still the four outtakes, which were not used on the original record. [Author's note: The four "bonus tracks" are only available on this master tape copy]. I am in possession of several very rare tape machines, e.g. Studer C 37, Telefunken M10 and M10A with tube amps. I use the original master tape for the copies I sell. Playback unit is a Telefunken M10A with V86 & V87 tube amps, recording unit is a Telefunken M15 with V396 and V397 amps. So practically no difference to the original can be heard.

Claus: Thank you very much for these explanatory words.

For this review, the master tape copy was played on a Telefunken M15 equipped with V396 and V397 amplifiers. The vocals and instruments were very well miked in 1965 and recorded very clearly and accurately. The reproduction in the listening room follows a very high fidelity to the original and presence. Anyone looking for a reference in terms of tape recording from the 1965s will be able to play this unadulterated, in the very best quality and very close to the original version.

[Author's Note, August 31, 2023: This review was written before it was announced that TRISTON tapes will be released by the publisher Horch House from September 2023.]

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)