1 2

The Album

Bishop's Lair

Bishop's Lair

The Artist

Tom Amend Octet

Live in-studio jazz!
Bishop's Lair is the brainchild of keyboardist and composer, Tom Amend. The album eases the listener into the soundscape created by Tom's Octet with Yellow Bench. Just as a point of comfort is reached, Mountain Fish takes us into a new groove and elevates the music with new expansions. Track 3, It's The Little Things, introduces the smooth vocals of Tom's wife, Louisa Amend and leaves you wanting more. Her vocal is a familiar and welcome sound when re-introduced later in the album on jazz standard, September in The Rain. Bishop's Lair, the title track, shakes it up with a controlled mania that only a tight jazz band can wrangle. The feeling invoked by the beautiful chaos is resolved back into peace and pleasure with Concatenate. Each track has something unique and dynamic to offer. This album will take you on a musical and emotional ride that you will want to experience over and over. Recorded in DSD256 at Octave Studios with an all-star band and top-level compositions, Bishop's Lair will be a prized album in your collection. The recording quality and musicianship are on par with the best you'll find anywhere in the world. Available as an SACD, or download, this is a limited edition classic

$29.00 USD
$0.00 USD $29.00 USD
On Sale Sold out
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Choose your format
call
TALK TO A HI-FI SPECIALIST
1-800-PSAUDIO
View full details

About

Tom Amend Octet

Tom Amend is an organist, pianist, composer, and arranger from Denver, Colorado. Tom performs throughout the Rocky Mountain Region in various settings as both a leader and a sideman. He has performed and or recorded with Colorado based artists: Gabriel Mervine, Taylor Scott, The Burroughs, Paul Romaine, Greg Gisbert, Steve Kovalcheck, among many others. Amend has also shared the stage with, Jeff Hamilton, Chris Potter, Christian McBride, Julia Dollison, Joey DeFrancesco, Groove For Thought, Deborah Brown, John Fedchock, Louis Hayes, Dave Liebman, Sheila Jordan and others.

Tom’s compositions and arrangements have been performed by the Downbeat award winning UNC Jazz Lab Band One, Vocal Lab, Chris Potter, John Fedchock, and Joey DeFrancesco. His writing is featured on the April 2019 release, “Frontier Justice” featuring Steve Kovalcheck and Jeff Hamilton as well as his March 2021 Octet release, “Heliotrope” that features a host of Colorado’s finest.

Amend received a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies and a Masters of Music in Jazz Composition at the University of Northern Colorado. Through his association with UNC, Tom has performed with nationally recognized UNC Lab I, UNC Vanguard Combo, and Vocal Lab. Tom is currently an Adjunct Professor of Jazz Piano at the University of Northern Colorado and performs extensively as both a leader and a sideman.

The Music

01 - Yellow Bench
02 - Mountain Fish
03 - It's the Little Things
04 - Bishop's Lair
05 - Concatenate Intro
06 - Concatenate
07 - September In the Rain
08 - Through the Walls and Over the Fence
09 - Light Price
10 - One Entry

Recording

Bishop's Lair was recorded using Octave's new state-of-the-art DSD studio in pure DSD256. It is playable on any SACD, CD, DVD, or Blu-ray player. It also has a high-resolution DSD layer that is accessible using any SACD player, using the PS Audio SACD transport. In addition, the master DSD and PCM files are available for purchase and download. Bishop's Lair was recorded and mixed by Jay Elliott and mastered by Gus Skinas. Octave Records’ Jessica Carson was the executive producer.

Album Features

  • One pressing Austrian gold-pressed dual-layer SACD
  • Pure DSD + PROMastered CD layers
  • DVD data disc containing DSD64, DSDDirect Mastered 192kHz 24 bit, 96kHz 24 bit, 44.1kHz 16 bit PCM
  • Pure DSD recorded on the Sonoma DSD system
  • DSD64, DSDDirect Mastered 192kHz 24 bit, 96kHz 24 bit, 44.1kHz 16-bit PCM download
  • CD layer of SACD playable on any CD player
  • Mastering monitored through the PS Audio DirectStream DAC
  • All tracks hand-curated on the PS Audio FR 30 reference loudspeaker in PS Audio's Music Room Two
  • Limited edition one-pressing physical media

Recent Releases

Vinyl Releases

All Releases

View all

Questions?