Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan, Arthur Russell, Don Cherry and a whole cast of awesome characters. Out today on Omnivore Recordings. Mastered by Michael Graves here at Osiris Studio.
8.9 for Music of Morocco
Dust-to-Digital's Music of Morocco: Recorded by Paul Bowles, 1959 get's some love from Pitchfork:
"If either you’ve lost sight of or continue to lament the disappearance of the physical object in recorded music, you couldn’t dream of a better reminder than this set. Words just don’t do justice to how it feels holding Music of Morocco in your hands, or to its stately elegance sitting on your shelf. And if you’re looking for an entry point into the soul of a people via its music, you simply can’t do better than Music of Morocco. Consider it essential regardless of your musical tastes or background."
Kate & Anna McGarrigle: Pronto Monto
Remastered and sounding fantastic, Kate & Anna McGarrigle's third album, Pronto Monto, has been unavailable since its 1978 release. That changes July 1 thanks to the fine people over at Omnivore Recordings.
Ostinato Records Debut Release: Haiti 1960-1981
Roads and Kingdoms recently posted an adapted excerpt taken from the liner notes of Ostinato Records' outstanding debut release: Tanbou Toujou Lou: Meringue, Kompa Kreyol, Vodou Jazz, and Electric Folklore from Haiti 1960-1981. There are some great photos and sound clips in the article. I'm happy to say that all the tracks were transferred, restored and mastered here at Osiris Studio and I enjoyed every minute of it.
Winfield Parker at Ru-Jac
Ru-Jac Records, one of the nation’s first African-American owned record labels, was formed in Baltimore in the early 1960s by Rufus Mitchell, who booked east coast entertainment venues including Carr’s Beach, a segregated summer resort near Annapolis. Ru-Jac was active through the beginning of the 1970s and featured R&B, jazz and even rock acts. One of the most soulful was Winfield Parker.
Release date: March 25, 2016
Michael Graves in the News
I was recently featured on two Atlanta TV stations. The first one comes from Andi Larner at FOX5 Atlanta and focuses on some of the recent restoration and mastering projects I've worked on.
The second clip is from CBS46 and highlights the GRAMMY nominated Parchman Farm set from Dust-to-Digital, and a recent haircut.
2016 GRAMMY Awards
The 58th GRAMMYs are over with and while we didn't take home any awards this year it's still an amazing honor to be recognized by our peers on this scale and I'm incredibly proud of the work I get to do with Dust-to-Digital on a regular basis. Congrats to all the nominees in the Best Historical Album category and especially everyone involved with Bob Dylan's, The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 that ultimately won this year's GRAMMY.
GRAMMY nominated Parchman Farm in the news
Atlanta's NBC affiliate, 11 Alive, recently aired a segment highlighting the excellent work going on at Dust-to-Digital; specifically the Parchman Farm box set.
Michael Graves receives 6th GRAMMY nomination
Very happy and honored to announce that Dust-to-Digital's Parchman Farm: Photographs And Field Recordings, 1947–1959 has been nominated for a Best Historical Album GRAMMY! Michael Graves (mastering engineer), Steven Lance Ledbetter and Nathan Salsburg (compilation producers) all share the nomination. The 58th GRAMMY Awards will be held at 1:00 PM, February 15, 2016 in Los Angeles, CA. Thank you Recording Academy for recognizing this project!
Before and After #1: Mancini and Mercer - Moon River demo
I've decided to start a new "before and after" series. I get recordings on a regular basis that need help and thought it might be fun to share what some of them sounded like originally.
Let's get right to it.
- TITLE: Moon River (1962 demo)
- PERFORMERS: Henry Mancini (piano) and Johnny Mercer (vocal)
- SOURCE: Aluminum core lacquer grooved disc (or acetate), 45 rpm
- RELEASE: Oxford American Magazine, Georgia Music Issue, Winter 2015
*Earbuds or headphones work best for this.
First off, let's just acknowledge how awesome this is. As far as performers and songs go it doesn't get more iconic than this. In addition to being a beautiful song, Moon River helped put Johnny Mercer back on the map after a long dry spell and ended up earning both Mercer and Mancini an Academy Award in 1962.
This is the unreleased demo for that song!
The recording was sent to me to be restored and mastered for the CD that would accompany the upcoming Oxford American Georgia Music Issue. The audio that I received to work from was the "before" version I posted above; already digitized using a very nice turntable and stylus. I've written about this scenario before; I could hear that the stylus that was used wasn't appropriate for this type of record. Digital restoration is much more effective if you get a good transfer. I asked Chris Mancini, Henry Mancini's son and the owner of the record, if he wouldn't mind sending me the acetate so I could give it a go here. He agreed and the next day it was taking a ride on my turntable with a more suitable stylus.
