Stjernebru (2L Records)
Stjernebru is a new release from Morten Lindberg’s 2L Records, which, as the Norwegian company states, specializes in making recordings in spacious acoustic venues: large concert halls, churches, and cathedrals. You wouldn’t have to read the liner notes to know this after hearing five seconds of the first track – the sense of spaciousness and beautiful reverb is gorgeous. (The header image above was taken at the recording site, courtesy of Morten Lindberg.)
The album features the Norwegian Girls Choir, accompanied by Gjermund Larsen on fiddle and Frode Haltli playing accordion, with Anne Karin Sundal-Ask conducting. Composer Ørjan Matre took Norwegian folk tunes as a starting point for his compositions, and they’re combined with sections of improvisation. The title of the record, Stjernebru, means “Bridge of Stars” and is taken from a word that alludes to a journey to the next world, “from the earthly to the eternal.” This record sounds exactly like that – heavenly, ethereal. The voices blend wonderfully in their melodic lines and captivating harmonies.
Some tech details: it was done in DXD 24-bit/352.8 kHz using DPA microphones and Merging Technologies HORUS converters into a Pyramix workstation, using Ravenna audio-over-IP distribution. It was monitored using Genelec G ONE loudspeakers. It was recorded in Uranienborg Church in Norway. The two-disc set offers standard CD, SACD, MQA, 5.0 DTS-HD MA 24/192, 7.0.4 Dolby Atmos 48 kHz, 2.0 LPCM 24/192, 7.0.4 Auro-3D 96 kHz, and mShuttle MP3 and MQA formats. I did most of my listening in two-channel, but don’t feel shortchanged if you do what I did – even in stereo, the spatiality, depth, soundstage width, and ability to “make” your speakers disappear is remarkable. It’s rare you get this kind of disappearing act in a recording. Close your eyes and be transported.
This album sounds sublime. It has great clarity and what I would call an ideal tonal balance. The sense of “air” is superb, and it’s all-natural – no artificial added reverb was used in the recording. The sound of the girls’ voices is wonderful, and the fiddle and accordion playing perfectly complements the singing. I know, when you think fiddle and accordion you think square dancing and Lawrence Welk, but you may be surprised at how beautiful these instruments can sound. The arrangements give the fiddle and accordion room to stretch out, especially on “Johannes og Ingrid,” and the musicians provide sympathetic accompaniment.
The album has great dynamic range, which sneaks up on the listener about a minute or two into the title track. The accordion and vocals have superb realism in going from soft to loud, which gives them an almost startling sense of being in the room. The ambient decay of the recording space is incredible to hear in and of itself.
I suppose I could mention some highlights, like the incredible soundstage width and depth and hypnotic (yes, hypnotic) accordion on “Liti Kjersti” or the powerful vocal dynamics of “Nu solen går ned” but really, the entire album is a highlight. If there is music for entering into heaven, this is it.
Ola Onabulé and Nicolas Meier: Proof of Life (Rugged Ram Records)
I like musical surprises, and this is one of the best ones I’ve heard all year. Featuring British-Nigerian singer/songwriter Ola Onabulé on vocals and keyboard and Nicolas Meier on guitar and glissentar (an 11-string nylon-string guitar made by the Godin company), the album is a rich blend of African-influenced melodies, world, jazz and pop music, and dazzling polyrhythms. The two musicians, along with Jakub Cywinski on acoustic bass, Chris Nickolls on drums and Will Fry playing congas and percussion, are absolutely locked in to an amazing degree. You will not hear a tighter band than this, and it’s exhilarating.
The first of many musical surprises on the album is hearing Onabulé’s more than three-octave voice, sweet but with a bit of grit. He flies on the often complex melodies and intricate harmonic twists of the music and texture vocal overdubs. The second is the incredible guitar and glissentar prowess of Maier. Well, I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised considering that he was in Jeff Beck’s touring band.
The two musicians were introduced to each other during the pandemic and hit it off, and decided to collaborate once playing in person became an option again. in writing the songs for Proof of Life, Onabulé noted: “We threw sketches of ideas together with ease.” He said: “With ideas that originated with Nicolas, I would hum into a Dictaphone as he played them to me to capture the most organic and instinctive melodic and lyrical responses to the music.” In turn, Nicolas would build accompaniments and arrangements around melodies that I had originated.”
The music positively explodes out of the gate with the title track, “Rio de Janiero” and it’s fast tempo, interlocked drums and percussion, Onabulé’s soaring vocals, Meier’s fantastic solo, and a delightfully unexpected scat vocal breakdown in the middle. The soundspace is wide and deep, with subtle reverb tying everything together. The overall tonality and feel is clear and illuminated. The second track, “Aegean Blue,” is more “audiophile” sounding with outstanding presence on the guitar, and the ¾-time “True Story” is sonically lush, with rich guitar tones and truly amazing vocals.
The title track, “Proof of Life,” features some masterful glissentar playing and an unstoppable groove. “Eternally Yours” makes me ask: is there anything prettier-sounding than a well-recorded nylon string guitar? I don’t understand the African lyrics in “Funmilayo” but you don’t have to in order to get the joyous feeling. “Future Past” features a fine acoustic bass solo, yet another example of the album’s confident virtuosity. Proof of Life ends on a funky groove – the percussionists are masterful throughout the entire record – with “Two Scoops,” taking us home with an absolutely ripping electric guitar solo by Meier, and Onabulé literally ending the album on a high note.
Patricia Barber: Modern Cool (Impex Records)
It took less than five seconds after the needle drop for me to exclaim, “wow!” I was hearing something extraordinary. I knew this album had a history of being something special, in fact, that it was an audiophile classic, and I had heard it in hi-res streaming, but none of that had prepared me for the amazing sound quality of this 2-LP Impex Records reissue. I’m not indulging in hyperbole here – this recording of vocalist/pianist/composer Patricia Barber is extraordinary.
Modern Cool was originally recorded and mixed by Jim Anderson and released in 1998, and it made the jazz world and the audiophile community sit up and take notice for Barber’s alluring voice, economic yet harmonically adventurous playing, unique original songs, and decidedly different takes on covers like “Light My Fire” and “She’s a Lady.” This reissue is remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original David Glasser master, and pressed on Impex’s 1STEP VR900-D2 vinyl, which is astonishingly quiet. Like other Impex releases I’ve encountered, the packaging is first-class, with rare photos, full lyrics, a 16-page booklet and a glossy heavyweight double-album sleeve. (The album is also available on hybrid 5.1 and stereo SACD.)
The album is one of those rare ones where the sense of realism and the presence of being in the room with the musicians is truly startling. It’s the kind of record you want to show off your system with to your friends, but saying that just trivializes how wonderful this album is.
I suppose this is the time in the review to rattle off the audiophile litany – the individual presence and body of Barber’s voice and the instruments is amazing, from the up-front vocals to the density of the piano sound, the weight and harmonic texture of the bass, the beautiful clarity and nuance of the trumpet, and the sheer impact of the drums. Guitarist John McLean shines throughout in his use of overdrive, delay, chorus, and volume pedal to perfectly complement the playing of Barber and the rest of the band – Michael Arnopol on bass, Mark Walker on drums and percussion, and Dave Douglas playing trumpet, augmented by Jeff Stitely on udu (a clay drum) in “Constantinople,” and the “Choral Thunder Vocal Choir” on a couple of tracks.
The sound space is palpable. The dynamic range is wide and powerful. The tonal balance is superb. The imaging is excellent. Patricia Barber’s voice sounds so there that it’s almost eerie. Her piano has a remarkable clarity, from the incredible initial attack of the notes to the singing body of the instrument. The sound of the muted trumpet on “Silent Partner” is a thing of beauty. The cymbals shimmer.
The musical highlights are many. The loping feel of the opener, the wry “Touch of Trash” (“Primitive inspiration/packaged in modern disguise…She smells the gas then lights the match”) immediately draws you in with the album’s big, organic sound. “Constantinople” has a very cool intro with the bass doubling Barber’s scat singing before going into a beautiful bowed solo.
The guitar has an almost singing quality in “Love, put on your faces,” which also features the Choral Thunder Vocal Choir in a big spread of sound across and beyond the speakers. “She’s a Lady” sounds nothing like you think it would, and features some really imaginative guitar voicings by John McLean. “Postmodern Blues” has some crazy ensemble playing by the band, and even the bongos sound incredible here. Barber’s slowed-down version of “Light My Fire” is intoxicating, the slow tempo highlighting the sense of sensual anticipation and irresistible danger.
I asked engineer Jim Anderson: how did he do it? He told me it was recorded at the Chicago Recording Company, where the studio had upgraded from the 32-track Mitsubishi digital recorder to a new-at-the-time Sony 3348 DASH 48-track machine that used 1/2-inch open reel digital tape. The sessions were recorded on the Sony in 44.1 kHz/16-bit, (the best format at the time) and mixed to a Prism Sound bit splitting system to create a 24-bit stereo master.
Here’s Jim’s floor plan for the recording:
Jim told me: “where the acoustic guitar is placed, there are two isolation booths; one contains the acoustic guitar and the other the trumpet. All tracks were recorded “live” using John Hardy M-1 microphone preamplifiers. These mic preamps, I believe, are the key to the quality of sound that we achieved. We bypassed the studio’s recording console and the microphones were connected directly to the Sony 3348 for tracking, perhaps the most direct path for the microphone signal (the straightest piece of wire, possible) available. The reverb on the stereo mix is “analog” as it is a live chamber made out of a stairwell at the studio (with two speakers and two microphones [employed]). What fun!”
Oh yeah, right, it’s digital, and it’s not high-res digital. If you have preconceptions about digital sound, and I know I did for a very long time, prepare to have them shattered.
