All of the audio linked on this site either came from the Archive.org Jambay show pages, or directly from the original CDRs that some of those filesets came from (I uploaded the WOW Hall shows that are on the Archive). All of them are various breeds of "matrix" recordings, meaning that a direct soundboard feed has been combined with an audience recording to create a mix that has both soundboard clarity and real-life ambiance. Some of the recordings are flawed in various (mostly minor) ways, but for the most part they range in quality from "pretty good" to "absofuckinglutely fantastic."
The biggest reason all these sweet recordings are available is due to the efforts of Todd Kushnir. Todd was Jambay's sound engineer for some large portion of their career. If Todd or anyone else wants to set the record straight, let me know. In any case, Todd recorded most if not all of the shows from the latter half of the band's career, and has been very generous with sharing the results with the Team Friendly community.
So Todd, great job, and thanks for all your work over the years. If there's anything I can do to expedite the delivery of more shows to the Archive, let me know.
Below are my top recommended whole-show downloads from the Archive. These are great shows with clean recordings.
10-20-95 WOW Hall - my single favorite show and recording. The recording levels are a little low, but the clarity is amazing. The most intense and beautiful crowd/band "energy"/interaction I have ever experienced at ANY show by any band was this night. It's amazing when a peak life experience actually holds up on tape!
6-4-93 Bellingham - a nice but not spectacular audio mix of a cool, relatively early show with some songs that were rarities or absent in the following years.
1-13-94 Seattle - a great recording of a very hot show. Punchy and clear, this one's a pleasure to listen to, and there are many performance highlights.
3-19-94 San Francisco - a cool mid-era hometown show. However the "special guests" mid second set subtract rather than add to the total, I think. But they're not on for long.
7-30-92 Santa Clara, CA - This show isn't a good "introductory" one because the recording quality is relatively poor compared to the above. But it's a must-hear for serious Jambay fans, an early show with a unique setlist (among the circulating shows) and very high energy performance.
The following shows on the Archive have sound quality issues:
8-31-93 Telluride - just kind of a muddy, uneven mix. Good show though!
5-26-94 Fillmore - the Porch Dogs set has a wicked buzz in it. A little annoying between songs, but not absolutely terrible since it's not as noticeable when they're actually playing. It's much less prominent in the electric Jambay set.
8-27-96 Great American - a big fat layer of hiss on this one, presumably from the cassette gen. A clear enough recording under the hiss though.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
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re: the shows with poor quality, we'll have to make the effort to add that many more top quality shows, and more.
ReplyDeleteThere were many other tapers along the way. Todd had a full time gig at the W.O.W. Hall in Eugene for much of the time the band was together. Dan Brandon should be noted for his extensive work with the band, both live and especially in the studio.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the notes!
ReplyDelete