Bobby Hutcherson

Oblique Bobby Hutcherson Japan Import edition

Vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson made his debut for Blue Note with “Dialogue” in 1965. Hutcherson had already made a name for himself as a versatile accompanist on Blue Note albums ranging from Grant Green's “Idle Moments” to Jackie McLean's “Destination Out” and Eric Dolphy's “Out To Lunch.” In fact, Blue Note boss Alfred Lion had brought Hutcherson into the studio in 1963 as the leader for a session of straightforward hard bop, but he didn't want to release it at the time (it was finally released in 1999 under the name “The Kicker”). A similar fate befell “Oblique”, one of only two quartet sessions by the great artist: the album was recorded in 1967 but didn't appear until 1979! One wonders why, since it became one of the best albums in Hutcherson's long career. “Oblique” features pioneering pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Albert Stinson, and drummer Joe Chambers. Hutcherson's airy opener “'Til Then”, Hancock's grandiose “Theme From Blow Up” and Chambers' adventurous “Oblique” are highlights of a session that is an incredible journey from hard bop grooves to experimental sound poems.

As part of the extremely popular “Blue Note 85th Anniversary Reissue Series” Universal Music Japan presents the sonically impressive remastering of this jazz classic by the legendary Kevin Gray, who is also responsible for Blue Note US's analog reissues such as “Tone Poet” and “Classic Vinyl” – as a limited Japan only UHQCD with OBI stripe. The original recording session for “Oblique” took place on July 21, 1967, at Rudy Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

UHQCD stands for Ultimate High Quality Compact Disc and is a joint development of the Japanese CD replication company Memory-Tech and the Audio Quality CD Company from Hong Kong. Unlike conventional CDs, UHQCDs are not pressed from polycarbonate, but cast from a photopolymer and cured with UV light. Another layer of high-purity polycarbonate is applied to the softer photopolymer for scratch protection. The combination results in significantly reduced reflection of laser light inside the CD and an unmatched precise edge transition between pits and lands of the CD. UHQCDs are 100% compatible with standard CD players. Musically, the result is a sound image strongly reminiscent of analog master tapes.

While Universal Music Japan's first UHQCD series relied on the DSD data of previous SHM-SACD releases, with increasing popularity, albums that had not previously been released as SHM-SACD are now appearing. Typically, the Universal Archive master tapes are re-converted to DSD for this purpose. UHQCDs are ideal for music lovers who want to get as close as possible to the sound of the recording, but do not own an SACD player.