How did I miss this post until now. Hi Jerome, I caught you and Greg back in the day. I had no idea you were an audiophile...condolances : ) During the pandemic, one north star moment was when Kenny came to Rockport and performed at the Shalin Liu. The engineers are buddies of mine and came to hear the recording in our room...of course there was no audience. He's still killing it...so beautiful. I'll check out your kickstarter.Hello everyone,
Happy New Year!
I wanted to let you all know about a new all analog project I am involved in: a quartet record with jazz legend Kenny Barron, Joe Martin and Johnathan Blake.
This new album is a mix of compositions of mine and standards. There are some duets between Kenny Barron and I, and some quartet tracks. The album was recorded to multitrack tape by Ryan Streber at Oktaven Audio, and mixed at Brooklyn Recording by Pete Rende on a custom all tube 1/2 inch Ampex 351 tape machine. Both tape machines were at 30 ips. The Ampex was converted to 1/2 inch 15/30 ips operation with the help of some of the best technicians in the US (Dave Dintenfass, John Chester, John French), has new heads from Flux, and sounds stunning, in my opinion. Members of this board were very helpful in the process, in the Ampex 351 thread and the Ampex electronics for best sound thread, which is a fascinating trove of information for anyone interested, and I am grateful for the knowledge I got on this board. The process of converting the Ampex lasted over two years. Bernie Grundman will do the mastering and cut the record, all analog.
I am currently fundraising to help finance the mastering and pressing and recoup some of the recording costs. The Kickstarter page is here, in case anyone is interested:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...l-analog-vinyl
There are many rewards, starting with the vinyl itself, in regular or limited, numbered edition, but also including test pressings, R2R tapes, as well as high resolution downloads and CDs. The R2R tapes are sold out on the Kickstarter but if anyone on this board is interested, I will make it happen for you.
I really went all out to make this record sound great. I am very pleased with the results, musically as well as sonically, and I hope you will consider supporting this project. The Kickstarter is technically funded, which ensures the project will go forward. However, my actual budget is a lot higher than what I asked for, and that doesn't even count the cost of the Ampex, so I would very much welcome some support if you are into it.
I am happy to send a couple of songs at 192/24 to anyone here who wants to check out the music and the sound. Just let me know.
Here is a video from the mix session, in case you are curious:
The Ampex is portable! That was a factor in choosing it, as we can take it to a studio or a space to record if we want to.
I am happy to answer any and all questions. Thank you for your support!
Jerome Sabbagh
Thanks Fred! Playing with Kenny was fantastic, he's amazing in every way. The duets we did, in particular, were a treat for me, and might be my favorite thing on the record. I just replied to your PM. Thanks for your support!
There's great precedent for that formula...sax and piano. I think of Art Pepper and George Cables and later Frank Morgan and George. Of course Getz and Kenny Barron were landmark. I'm sure there are many others not coming to my mind. Leaves a lot of room for interplay but it must be exhausting. Sonny with bass and drums comes to mind as a tribute to stamina and great music. blah blah blah. Thanks for the music.
Yes, I have the Art Pepper/George Cables album (Art Pepper was one of my early influences when I was learning how to play) and I love the Stan Getz/Kenny Barron "People Time" duets (there is now a 7 CDs boxset available with all the gigs that week at Montmartre). I also love the less well know Stan Getz/Albert Dailey album "Poetry", which I think has some stunning playing from both. And there's also a nice Joel Frahm/Brad Mehldau duet album "Don't Explain" ... Many more, I'm sure, but there's something special about piano and sax.
Thank you! I will ship both CD and LP at the same time, when I get the LPs. I have a file with all addresses, so everything should be fine. Thank you for your support!
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