SUPERSENSE Getz/Gilberto Mastercut


In this handpicked, I take a closer look at SUPERSENSE Archival Tape Edition No. 4 Getz/Gilberto (USA Edition), a hand-cut 12" Mastercut record cut directly from a completely unedited 1:1 copy of the original tape provided by Universal Music. 

Mastercut Editions


This exclusive collaboration with Universal Music Austria, SUPERSENSE was envisioned as seldom opportunity to put music lovers in the engineer's chair.

In conventional record production, the term "mastercut" refers to a template disc from which the pressing stamper is derived and which is destroyed during production. But with the SUPERSENSE editions, every single record is the original mastercut, cut directly into a lacquer disc. 

There are two different series of MASTERCUT EDITIONS:
The Archival Tape Editions and the Live Recording Editions. In this review, I take a closer look at the Archival Tape Edition NO. 4 Getz/Gilberto.

Archival Tape Editons


For this project, Universal Music Group, the world leader in music-based entertainment, provided access to its archives containing the greatest recordings from over a century of music history. SUPERSENSE Mastercut Records are cut directly from completely unedited 1:1 copies of carefully selected original tapes of carefully selected sound recordings.

Supersense founder Florian "Doc" Kaps says:

"The Archival Tape Edition is a deep dive into Universal Music Group's vaults, into some of the most celebrated recordings on this planet. We selected quintessential tapes for super limited, all analog one-to-one copies of the world's most beloved sound recordings, revealing and celebrating their true, unaltered soul for the most authentic listening experience."

Getz/Gilberto


The Getz/Gilberto USA Edition album was developed in close collaboration with Impulse and differs from the Premiere Cut in several design elements including a blue-tinted tones screen print on the inner sleeve and a blue Getz/Gilberto cyanotype.

Recorded in March 1963 at A&R Studios, New York, NY, USA. The multi-Grammy-winning album "Getz/Gilberto" by Stanz Getz, João Gilberto, and Astrud Gilberto was one of the best-selling albums of all time and marked a high point in the bossa nova wave.

Cut directly from a completely unedited 1:1 copy of the original tape provided by Universal Music, one has never been so close to the artist, the original sound waves, and music history.

Highlights

  • Hand-cut 12" mastercut record
  • Hand-Printed Letterpress Cover Artwork
  • Limited* and numbered
In addition to the high-quality record, this edition includes valuable accompanying documents, some of which are historical:

3 carefully selected design elements distinguish this USA Mastercut Edition: 
  • A special spine imprint in blue-tone ink
  • A blue-toned screen print
  • A special booklet band with the Impulse logo stamp
In addition to the high-quality sound carrier, this edition contains valuable accompanying documents, some of which are historical:
  • Side A / Side B notes "from the original tape as stated", a Minolta EP 410z copy
  • Cyanotype by Stan Getz and João Gilberto from an original photograph by Earl Steinbicker and James Houghton.
  • A Minolta EP 410z copy from an original SUPERSENSE living room studio photograph. Photographer: Ákos Burg, 2021.
  • Polaroid of the microscopic view of the real groove. Side B Track #2 "So Danco Samba"
  • How to stroke, by Florian "Doc" Kaps. An information sheet about SUPERSENSE Master Records and how to care for them.
  • Project MASTERCUT, by Florian "Doc" Kaps. An introduction to the editions.
  • Cutting engineer notes, SUPERSENSE, Vienna.
Each edition is handmade in the SUPERSENSE factory in Vienna by a small team of experts in the fields of record cutting, traditional printing methods, and packaging design.

The music 


This SUPERSENSE release is very special and one of my and my wife's absolute favorite records. It was a real treat to experience Getz/Gilberto in such a special, pure, and unedited form.

I own several versions of this album, including the 33 RPM Verve and the Analog Productions 45 RPM version of the double album mastered by George Marino of Sterling Sound, but SUPERSENSE offers a very different kind of aural encounter 

Featuring of the album:
  • Stan Getz, tenor saxophone
  • Joao Gilberto, guitar, vocals
  • Astrud Gilberto, vocals
  • Antonio Carlos Jobim, guitar, piano
  • Milton Banana, drums
  • Tommy Williams, bass
And the timeless selection of the most famous songs 
  1. The Girl from Ipanema 
  2. Doralice 
  3. P'ra Muchucar 
  4. Desafinado 
  5. Corcovado 
  6. So Dance Samba 
  7. O Grande Amor 
  8. Vivio Sonhando
This kind of record deserves first-class analog front-end catering, and as soon as the needle hit the groove via the Kronos Audio PRO turntable, the RS Kronoscopic tonearm and the Gold Note Tuscany Gold MC cartridge, an unexpectedly crystal-clear vista presented itself. 

Swapping left and right channels, as with Analog Production, is the opposite of Verve's original and what most people are used to listen. SUPERSENSE Mastercut reflects what and how it was captured on the original master tape.

I was thrilled with the newfound three-dimensional sound fairness and horizontal and vertical extension of SUPERSENSE Getz/Gilberto.

The absence of an equalizer in the signal chain and the lack of artifice created gallant energy in the mids that further propelled the compulsory metallic grit of Getz's sax even further into the believable realms and projected the ghastly real voices of Joao Gilberto and Astrud Gilberto with an extraordinarily natural sense of presence in a lifelike holographic space.

This sonic evenness is also reflected in the absence of exaggerated bass, which is something of a leitmotif on all versions. In the SUPERSENSE edition, the bass is vested in a much more tangible way, without draining most of the music's energy and demanding constant attention in the sonic sphere attention.

There is also something special about the density of the acoustic cues and nodes that also allow the guitar, bass, and cymbals to sound more real, more focused, and fixed with a sparkling but natural feathery lightness.

The fact there was no fiddling with the mixing board allows one to tune into the essence of timbre, tone and color, and the gist of time, like no other medium, save for some master tapes (and copies) that I either own or have had the pleasure of listening to.

Conclusion 


The initial tactile hands-on experience with SUPERSENSE analog gem starts with superb packaging feel. From the very first encounter you know that something extraordinary is hidden below all these premium packaging. 

SUPERSENSE Mastercut one of the kind experience puts one on the journey, a travel back in time, way back to 1963. Mastercut represent a one-of-the-kind time capsule.

SUPERSENSE Getz/Gilberto also deliver a different kind of goose bumps, (and that some) with its almost eerie (in a good sense) aural experience.

Gilberto, but especially Jobim Joao vocal radiates with intimacy, directness, palpable presence and a cementing real size human sculpturing. 

Despite Getz/Gilberto Mastercut's ultra transparency that is most closely reflecting some of the master tape playback qualities, didn't fall short of emotional bond. 
 
There is zero noise cracks or pops, due to the its nature and intrinsic flatness I didn't need to use AFI flat.2 Record Flattener/Relaxer that almost all records call for. 

Yes SUPERSENSE Mastercut is not cheap by any means, but compared with the prices of some first pressings the premium pricing comes with the equally matched paraphernalia. 

If the analog front end and the system system permits, the listening transports into one mesmerising realms where history was written. 

SUPERSENSE Getz/Gilberto delivers a different kind of pure intake, in absence of the mastering sweetness of EQs that creates somehow larger than life projection. 

SUPERSENSE Getz/Gilberto propound conduct intimate knowledge of the past. This is no temporary fashion, but quietly magnificent triumph of the music. 

Populating those black grooves in no usual glimpse into the groove, no remedy of the blur, smearing lenses or saturation to please the senses, but reality re-checked.

SUPERSENSE Getz/Gilberto Mastercut delivers diametrical experience in spades, propelling sonic scenery into the what appeared to be known realms. 

The best way to sum it up about SUPERSENSE Mastercut reflects the "The Girl from Ipanema" lyrics...

But a slightly altered, With each one of the SUPERSENSE passes goes, "Ah"... ❖


Price 


  • €444

Technical 


Getz/Gilberto: USA Edition: 01-500

The total circulation of this Mastercut release is strictly limited to a maximum total of 999 records. Currently, the following different editions are available, varying in design and booklet content.

Due to the fact that our MASTERCUTS are no stock items but cut piece by piece in real time by a small team here in Vienna, we kindly ask for your understanding that based on the overwhelming global demand for our editions production, assembly and delivery of your very personal MASTERCUT treasures can currently take up to 4 weeks. All orders are processed in the order received without any exceptions. 

Contact


Supersense GmbH
Praterstraße 70/6 
1020 Vienna
Austria