Avid Group to Release Remastered JUDY at CARNEGIE HALL Album in 2022

To commemorate Judy Garland's centenary in June 2022, Avid Entertainment Ltd just announced the release of the double-CD set, Judy at Carnegie Hall, on February 4, 2022. Based on the best-selling and Grammy Award-winning LP of the same name, the set presents her historic concert at Carnegie Hall, New York on April 23, 1961, remastered by audio engineer, Nick Dellow. For the first time, Garland's concert performance has been properly pitched across the entire recording (the original LP runs slightly sharp), giving her voice - and the orchestra under the direction of Mort Lindsey - greater depth, intimacy and "pow," as Garland put it in a 1961 Life Magazine profile. The show takes on a whole new life as a result of this remastering, allowing listeners to experience the concert as if for the first time. Garland's voice is richer, the brass is crisper, and the bass is fuller.

In addition to the original liner notes, the set includes new notes by award-winning Garland historian Lawrence Schulman, recent remarks by Jim Silke, winner of the Grammy Award for Best Album Cover for Judy at Carnegie Hall, and rare photos from the concert. No stone has been left unturned to make this new set the go-to Garland Carnegie Hall.

AVID previously released two Judy Garland CD sets, both remastered by Dellow: the 2017 Judy Garland: Four Classic Albums Plus (A Star Is Born / Miss Show Business / Judy / Alone), and the 2019 Judy Garland: Four Classic Albums Plus (Judy In Love / Judy Garland At The Grove / That's Entertainment / The Garland Touch). The ARSC Journal called the 2017 AVID release a "a welcome addition to the Garland discography." It goes on to compare the remastering by Dellow to other engineers who have worked on Garland sets: "... Dellow has stiff competition from other distinguished restorers, but can rightfully claim a well-deserved place in this rarified club of audio engineers."

Concerning the 2019 AVID Garland CD set, TheJudyRoom.com stated: "...audio restoration and remastering technology has advanced to the point that new remasters of these recordings are light years ahead of what's been accomplished in the past." Interviewed in 2019 at TheJudyRoom.com, when asked about changing the pitch on a recording, Dellow stated:

"Lawrence Schulman and I established that most of Garland's Capitol recordings were mastered sharp...even if they weren't actually recorded sharp. I don't think there is anything particularly unusual about this. Many times I have come across tracks on 1950s and early 1960s LPs that are out of pitch. Sometimes the problem is due to a technical issue with the tape machines or acetate master cutting machine at the mastering stage. But the fact that some tracks were mastered sharp was often the result of a deliberate policy carried out by record companies in order to 'brighten' the sound, and that is especially true when it came recordings of popular music singers. Judy Garland's voice was very natural and unforced, so restoring it to the correct pitch has been an important aspect and has certainly helped to reveal the true beauty of her singing, whatever the track might be."

AVID's Judy at Carnegie Hall can be pre-ordered at www.avidgroup.co.uk in early 2022, or by going to the usual outlets. You can find the tracklist here.

Photo Credit: TheJudyRoom.com

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