Review Thousand Shades of Blue,Sale 25% of.

24bit

Well-Known Member
Jun 14, 2013
172
30
333
I saw on the Sound Liaison site,http://www.soundliaison.com/,that they are having a sale this month on full albums (15€ - 20$) and that the Carmen Gomes album also is available as a Flac file now(12€ - 15$).
1000 Shades.jpg
I am a big fan of this little Amsterdam Label.
Their albums, which they claim to be ''True Studio Master one to one Wav file Copy of the original Master File'' ( phew... long word) are truly exceptional.
Andre200v7.jpg BatikHoes300shad.jpg Tornv2200shadow.jpg FREESAMPLES-200shadowv5.jpg

Here is the 'famous' SoundStage! review that made me notice the label.
I've been among the prophets saying that high-resolution downloads are the future of audiophile music sales. Surely it will benefit the majors to make high-quality downloads a first choice rather than an MP3 extra, but I believe that individual artists can benefit as well. Most new-to-the-scene performers have little money for middlemen and disc manufacture, yet can get things together for the Internet.

Frans de Rond and Peter Bjørnild have taken this approach with Sound Liaison, producing recordings available only in 24-bit/96kHz downloads that mirror the master recording. And man, are they ever sweet. I've seldom heard recordings that were so successful in both performance and sound aspects.

De Rond hails from the Netherlands, where he studied double bass at The Royal Conservatory in The Hague while concurrently studying recording techniques. Bjørnild also studied double bass, moving to the Netherlands to continue studies at The Hague. Since graduating, he has played almost every type of music, from classical to jazz. Together de Rond and Bjørnild bring two pairs of golden ears to their label. Bjørnild claims that, "a recording should be as realistic and beautiful sounding as possible. As if, when closing your eyes, you find yourself in the best seat in the hall."

The partners discovered a fine recording hall (Studio-Eleven, Hilversum) and set out to record amazing musicians in this great acoustic place in front of live audiences. It's a daring feat; one take and no place to hide, but the abilities of the musicians involved make it seem easy. I chose to talk about the first album by Carmen Gomes Inc. It was a tough choice because all of the three current albums were worthy of review.

Carmen Gomes has won many awards in the Netherlands and surrounding areas. Like so many new European singers, she sings in English -- excellent English, I might add. She's formed a group called Carmen Gomes Inc., with Folker Tettero on guitar, Peter Bjørnild on double bass, and Marcel van Engelen on drums. Her style is bluesy and intimate with a sexy voice that's sweet as dark tupelo honey, and her interpretations are unerring. The musicians play to her and to each other, and the ensemble is so tight that the four musicians breathe and move as one.

There are some standards on the set that knocked me over with their fresh approach. Any singer can misplace a few accents and rhythms and come up with something that's original, but perhaps also uneasy and a little strange. Not Gomes, who has taken the songs to their bones and then restructured them to suit her style. Thus "Fever" doesn't sound like a cover of Peggy Lee; it sounds like a brand new take on a familiar song. You emerge from hearing it not thinking it's better or lesser than Lee's version, but that it's a valid new interpretation that could have come first.

The same approach works on "Angel Eyes," "You Don't Know What Love Is," and "I'm on Fire." Most of the rest, including the title song, "Oblivion," "Time Will Tell," "Gasoa Blue," and "The Sea," are Gomes originals that fit right in with the standards. The recording achieves exactly what Bjørnild set out as his goal. It can provide the best seat in your listening room. Go to the Sound Liaison site, listen to a few samples, download an album, and see if you don't agree that this intimate effort is one of the best and best-sounding jazz vocal albums to come along in many a day. By the way, the small audience applauds enthusiastically enough after the last chords of a song die away, but the attendees never interrupt or make themselves known while a song is going on. No doubt they were completely mesmerized into silence, as was I.

Be sure to listen to: On "Dock of the Bay," Gomes creates a languid, bluesy version that is a little bit reminiscent of Bobbie Gentry while still coming across as quite original. It'll cast a spell over you.

. . . Rad Bennett
 
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24bit

Well-Known Member
Jun 14, 2013
172
30
333
review, Road to Memphis

and here is a little thing I found on the Paul Berner album Road To Memphis. The reviewer describes the essential qualities of this album very well;


The Paul Berner album/download ''Road to Memphis''(Sound Liaison) is my go to album at the moment,for soundstage depth and cable,preamp etc. comparisons.
The album is sublimely well recorded (and well played too).
For speaker placement it is perfect because of the very clear placement of the instruments.
Guitarists, Pieter Teehuis and Ed Verhoef, are placed one left and one right,reed player Michael Moore,
placed slightly off center to the left and Paul Berners bass slightly to the right.
The download has no compression, to my ears, and is covering the whole range from a whisper(Moore)to a roar(Teehuis).
The recording has been done live in front of a small studio audience,and because of that,one can occasionally hear a cough or a sniff, but that all adds to the very realistic experience one gets from this album.
The deep but well defined bass of Paul Berner really shines on my Sennheiser HD800,makes me wonder why people call these headphones too analytical,this album just sound gorgeous on the HD800.
(but on the other hand when listening to the Hi-res version of ''Layla'' from Derek and the Dominos,Eric Clapton and Duane Allman, I did find myself being a bit analytical and hurried to put the old L.P.version on.)
There is no drums on this album,and because of that , one can really hear how much air( treble) there is hidden in the sound of a well recorded upright bass,my old Phillips hp 8900,and Sennheiser hd 520 which are decent headphones, all things considered,does show their shortcomings here.
The album is true studio master,direct one to one copy of the studio mix,24bit,96khz,download and only available straight from the Sound Liaison web site.
Christian U, Head Fi
 
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24bit

Well-Known Member
Jun 14, 2013
172
30
333
Batik; The Old Man and the Sea

the new album ''The Old Man and the Sea"' is maybe their best effort so far.
Highly recommended.


http://www.soundliaison.com/


And my new reference music now definitely includes the music from the Sound Liaison label.
I believe it was on the Naim forum I saw a member describe the music as´´like buying milk from a farmer,straight non pasteurized´´
Sound Liaison are selling their own recordings,and is all done in house,recording,mixing,and even selling the music.
the files are one to one copies of the Studio Master straight from the desk,and you can listen to the music before you buy which I find a big plus.
I have got the beautiful ´Thousand Shades of Blue´ from Carmen Gomes inc.
and ´Road to Memphis from Paul Berner Band.
Audio Stream forum
 
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APP

Well-Known Member
Oct 1, 2014
454
107
273
There is also a good review for the EnAzul album with the Witmer trio;
http://www.soundliaison.com/
Their newest program is titled En Azul and features the Witmer Trio, Cajan Witmer – piano,
Han Slinger – double bass, and Maarten Kruijswijk – drums. The trio has been together for 20 years and all the players sound very comfortable in their skins. Their emphasis is on melody with ornamentation and variation that heightens a sense of melody rather than distracting from it. And they’ve picked some terrific tunes to work with – Carioca, TheGentle Rain, Moon River, Moonglow, Rhapsody in Blue, Recado, and St. Louis Blues, to mention a few. The playing is delightfully impeccable and the recorded sound nearly so. The trio sounds like it’s playing in a real space and is nicely spread between speakers with no exaggeration. The piano sound is perfect as is the sound of the many percussion instruments that are so imaginatively employed. The bass is solid; I could use just a tiny bit more focus on the attacks. Sound Liaison recordings are only available as high quality downloads. Many download formats are available including DSD and PCM 24bit/96kHz stereo. If you’re searching for real sounding intimate jazz, give the work of these folks a try. You’ll not be disappointed and it’s so good-natured, I’ll bet it will put a smile on your face.
Rad Bennett
 

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