UPDATED! These are my currently most-listened-to recordings:
1.
Renaud Garcia-Fons - The Marcevol Concert (2012), Enja Records (CD + DVD)
Not exactly a stumble on recording, since I have his entire discography. If you like acoustic bass, this is THE bass player you have to check out. Along with Bruno Chevillon, I have yet to hear anyone stretch the boundaries of the instrument any further. Great recording as well.
A couple of YouTube previews of the DVD:
2.
Ola Kvernberg - Liarbird (2011), Jazzland Records. Available in 24Bit/96kHz at Gubemusic.
http://www.jazzlandrec.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=304:liarbird-ola-kvernberg&catid=1My first album from Ola. Got there through the tremendous Norwegian instrumentalists that are featured, like Ingebrigt Håker-Flaten, Håkon Kornstad, Matthias Eick and Erik Nylander. A beautiful album that never stops surprising me. And a great recording of course. The violin has been in Jazz for a long time now, and Ola is the most mature and versatile player I've heard so far, despite his young age.
3.
Tone Åse & Thomas Stronen - Voxpheria (2012), Gigafon Records. Available in 24Bit/96kHz at Gubemusic.
https://vimeo.com/18423184This was a stumble-on, regarding the label and the duo. I have been listening to Thomas work for years and in several formations, mainly from norwegian label Rune Grammofon, and this is another one of his interesting incursions. Somewhat laid back in the drumming due to the vocal work of Tone, but a lot of great and clever electronics in compensation.
4.
Michel Godard - Monteverdi; a Trace of Grace (2011), CarpeDiem Records. Available in 24Bit/96kHz at HIGHRES Audio, Linn Records and HDTracks.
http://www.carpediem-records.de/de/MONTEVERDI-a-trace-of-grace?xd97e2=k2c9ba957r15i5r5p6bbosouu5Another great musician I've been listening to over the years. His solo work on the German Label Enja Records, with Rabih Abou-Khalil, Gabriele Mirabassi and Renaud Garcia-Fons; his legendary collaboration with Mark Nauseef on MA Recordings; his work on the great Italian label CAMJAZZ, the German label Intuition and more recently on German label Carpe Diem Records, directed by sound en
gineer Jonas Niederstadt, have left a trail of fabulous music and recordings.
This recording is particularly interesting, as it not only features the artists but also registers and beautifully renders the acoustics of the 12th century Cistercian Noirlac Abbey in central France, in which the recording took place. The space of the Abbey, as well as all some of it's environment are revealed. At the end of the "Soyeusement" one can clearly hear the singing of birds outside the Abbey, and at the beginning of Doppio il Lamento, which I suspect was recorded during the night, one can hear the song of crickets. Unlike Michel Godard's "Castel del Monte" (Enja Records), recorded at the Castel del Monte in Ruvo di Puglia, Italy, the relation between the instruments and the building is gloriously palpable.
Michel has another two recordings at the Noirlac Abbey, of which I have only heard one: "Ivresses", with the German YellowBird label, which is a subdivision of Enja Records. "Ivresses" does not manage to capture the space of the Abbey, but clearly insinuates it, as the instruments sound much more natural and less in your face or yuxtaposed than with average studio recordings. The other recording, "Le Concert des Parfums", also with Carpe Diem, dates to 2009, one year after Niederstadt took over the direction of Carpe Diem, and for which I suspect it is as musically and sonically accomplished as "Monteverdi".
The immense sense of space of "Monteverdi" is reminiscent of Todd Garfinkel's work (MA Recordings), but with the instruments and voices having a much closer presence, and yet without failing to render the space and acoustics of the Noirlac Abbey.
Armed with my Violectric V100 with 24/96 USD DAC, Q701s, HFI-2400s and HD800s, hiss is virtually inexistent and only the distant singing of birds, nightly crickets and movements of the musicians are audible. The recording is as immersive as the music moving, and the experience is a satisfying and realistic as it gets with a pair of headphones.
The voices are absolutely fabulous. The mind boggling singing of Gavino Murgia is incredible, and his voice renders the stone walls palpable and the width of the space clearly perceptible. The voice of Guillemette Laurens is also fabulously nuanced, present and natural. I have yet to hear voices sound as gorgeous as in this recording.
Jonas Niederstadt, Carpe Diem RecordsMichel's Serpent sounds incredible, and it manages to become much livelier than in previous recordings I have heard. All the instruments sound incredibly real, palpable and above all, natural. It is clearly an accomplishment of Jonas Niederstadt's recording philosophy, in the sense of rendering only what is there, honestly and transparently.
5.
Nguyên Lê - Songs of Freedom (2011) ACT
Nguyên never seizes to amaze; for this project he gathered some serious cats from all corners of the world. He takes on classic rock and pop tunes from the 60's and the 70's, with arrangements that rival the very best of Zappa.
Hope there wasn't a 1 album limit to the posts. Anyhow, this is my first post here, so I guess it accounts for the newcomer enthusiasm.
Cheers!
P.S.: I think I got carried away with my post, as I have now read part of the previous posts of the thread. Besides the fact that most of these recordings are way beyond decent and have been released by labels known to do a good job, the only one I would distin
guish as a particularly interesting recording, is Michel Godard's "Monteverdi, a Trace of Grace".
I gave privilege to the exceptional quality of the music over the quality of the recording, so I'll compensate with some notes on the one recording that truly stands out as such. Meanwhile, give the other above mentioned albums a fair chance, as they are certainly well worth it.
