It's remarkable that it took 12 years of Joe Pass recording albums as a group leader for someone to finally have the idea to cut a record with just him and his guitar. But leave it to Norman Granz—who featured Pass as one of the first artists signed to his Pablo label, alongside Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, and Duke Ellington—to know that a solo album was the best way to demonstrate Pass's considerable talents. To be sure, up to the point when Virtuoso was released in 1973, his albums as a leader had been impressive, but Pass's unique guitar style—rapid runs, played cleanly and clearly, with complex chordal melodies that come off effortlessly fresh—is best experienced with no distractions. And while the tracks here are technically stunning, they are also emotionally resonant; it's almost a cliche, but his soulful playing makes his electric guitar sound like an entire band. Although the song list feels like Chapter One of Jazz Standards for Beginners, his journey through hoary standbys like "How High the Moon," "Night and Day," and "Stella by Starlight" is invigorated and reimagined. The sole Pass original—"Blues for Alican"—blends in seamlessly, as his take on all this material is absolutely unique, and highly personalized to his own style. Technical proficiency should be unsurprising on an LP entitled—without irony—Virtuoso, but the album's true strengths come from the way Pass fuses his clear mastery of his instrument with a natural musicality. The expressiveness of the wild runs on "Cherokee" gives the song a bristling electricity that not just evokes, but nearly rivals, the intensity of the way Charlie Parker originally reimagined it. Likewise, his version of Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight" captures the unpredictable adventurousness of the original while sounding utterly unlike any version that came before. This is an iconic album that set a new standard for solo jazz guitar, and this new remaster gives it a presentation that emphasizes its warmth, clarity, and, well, virtuosity. by Jason Ferguson

foobar2000 v2.24.2 / DR Meter v0.9
log date: 2025-03-28 13:55:11

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Analyzed: Joe Pass / Virtuoso
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DR Peak RMS Duration Track
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DR12 -0.50 dBFS -15.36 dBFS 3:32 01-Night And Day (Remastered 2025)
DR11 -2.59 dBFS -17.43 dBFS 5:10 02-Stella By Starlight (Remastered 2025)
DR11 -4.58 dBFS -19.10 dBFS 3:37 03-Here's That Rainy Day (Remastered 2025)
DR11 -4.05 dBFS -17.45 dBFS 5:17 04-My Old Flame (Remastered 2025)
DR13 -0.50 dBFS -16.58 dBFS 5:01 05-How High The Moon (Remastered 2025)
DR12 -2.25 dBFS -17.30 dBFS 3:37 06-Cherokee (Remastered 2025)
DR10 -3.18 dBFS -16.94 dBFS 4:09 07-Sweet Lorraine (Remastered 2025)
DR12 -0.50 dBFS -15.96 dBFS 4:43 08-Have You Met Miss Jones? (Remastered 2025)
DR12 -2.49 dBFS -19.21 dBFS 3:38 09-'Round Midnight (Remastered 2025)
DR12 -0.50 dBFS -15.65 dBFS 4:01 10-All The Things You Are (Remastered 2025)
DR12 -0.66 dBFS -16.18 dBFS 5:29 11-Blues For Alican (Remastered 2025)
DR13 -0.50 dBFS -16.44 dBFS 4:33 12-The Song Is You (Remastered 2025)
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Number of tracks: 12
Official DR value: DR12

Samplerate: 192000 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 24
Bitrate: 3995 kbps
Codec: FLAC