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The question is which one is more "accurate" to the sound you heard live?
I'm not really sure.
Like you, I hear little to no difference at all between the samples in the high frequencies. While I would describe their character as close, I definitely prefer the PSP3 samples better as well. The PSP3 sample has more air and soundstage.
In spite of the better air of the PSP3 samples, in some ways the non-PSP3 sample sounds more like what it sounded live. As I was recording, my main concern for the recording was that the drums would dominate the recording and not let anything else through. I know that my ears weren't hearing much else because the acoustic volume of Poogies playing was very loud. On both recordings, the drums definitely dominate but less so on the PSP3 recording.
One thing for sure - this band is definitely awesome. Never heard of them before - maybe they'll make it out to my side of the state sometime.
Unfortunately that's probably not very likely. Jazzam has been a band for I think 15 years or so and they've always been based in Pittsburgh. They traveled in the early years when the guys were young, but now they all have families. I've always LOVED them and felt they deserved more recognition...alot more. Their biggest gigs were All Good two years in a row...I think 2007 and 2008. The band just never caught on real big, other than with a rabid group here in Pittsburgh. I think when it didn't happen for them in the afterglow of All Good, a couple of the guys that were looking to make a life in music decided they needed to move on. So, they announced and played their last gig with their best line-up on NYE of 2009. Sniff...I still haven't recovered. The drummer, keyboard player and singer have either moved away or are in different bands. But the core of the band was two guys that now play in different projects, but those two guys, when they play together, will always consider themselves to be Jazzam.
Jazzam made a comeback in 2012 as Jazzam 2.0 and they played around Pittsburgh somewhat irregularly through perhaps the end of 2013, but Marc the bass player was offered a full time gig in No Bad Juju (a popular Pittsburgh band that plays mostly covers and some originals). With three sons and a wife, that gig paid the bills so Jazzam was once again put on the shelf.
So, this recording was the first Jazzam set that's been played since I think October or November of 2013.
Please do me a favor...and do yourself a favor...go onto archive and choose one of my recordings from...oh 2008 and find a song named 'Time Flies'. It's one of my favorite instrumental songs of all time...by any band.
Then once you're finished listening to that, check out a 2013 era song named 'Prime Time (lost my shit)'.
Love these guys.
EDITED:
Check Track 1:
https://archive.org/details/jazzam2008-01-26.km140Check Track 9:
https://archive.org/details/jazzam2013-08-02.m934b_24bitEDIT 2:
If you like the above, some of the other really strong songs from the 2008 time frame; That Jazz, Bafangool, Seben, and Opus One.