The George Shearing Quintet And Orchestra - Black Satin mp3 album

I think this is the first stereo release of this album. The 'stereo' is pretty weird on this one, but hey, it's 1957.

One may expect to hear bland easy-listening music that was typical of Shearing's 1950's LPs containing some kind of cloth (satin, lace, velvet, etc) in the title. Instead one hears the quintet's usual relaxed performance, accompanied by an orchestra that Billy May co-arranged and presumably conducted. (Always a good thing when Billy May contributes.) In addition, the hardy thick Capitol discs of yore seem to track better than the thinner successors. Some say that Capitol's monophonic recordings of the 1950s are their best-sounding ones. This one certainly sounds very natural and gives an excellent sense of the acoustic space of the studio. Listening via two speakers, one might well think they are stereophonic. In my experience, monophonic LPs also are less bothered by scuffs and needle swipes. In conclusion, his is 1950s make-out music extraordinaire - though the tactic might backfire because a musically inclined date might well be tempted to listen rather than bill and coo.