In 2008, Michael Brackston Lee, a close friend and former colleague, agreed to lend a hand to try to upgrade the quality of two original tracks by Hap Snow’s Whirlwinds. The first was “Banshee,” an instrumental by Snow, Art Bearon, and Stefano Torossi featuring Harry Lewis on saxophone, Bearon on piano, Snow on lead guitar, and Torossi on drums. The second was “(Let’s Have) A Party Tonight,” a demo written by Snow showcasing Len Arnold (aka Leonard Hochman) on sax, as well as Bearon and Snow.

an early, hand-crafted prototype of one of Michael Lee’s five speaker solutions

Lee, an engineer by trade and temperament, was also an avid music fan and musician in his own right (it is rumored he sat in with the Allman Brothers Band on more than one occasion in the early Seventies). He quickly found sound editing software online and noticeably improved the quality of each recording.

As I currently grapple with making new digital rips from the original Whirlwinds’ vinyl 78s, and then using editing software to enhance the sound, appreciation grows for Michael’s earlier successful efforts with the following two tracks: