“My grandson. His birth, in early 2023, had an overwhelming emotional impact on me. I experienced an unspeakable feeling of sheer joy and happiness, but there was also an almost unavoidable underlying sense of worry. What challenges await him and his generation? I had no choice but to start looking for songs of love, hope, comfort, life, and childhood, and perform them in the most intimate and vulnerable setting.

How lucky I was to run into pianist Jeroen van Vliet again. We had played as a duo before (at the closing weekend of the old Bimhuis in 2005), and he was part of my semi-acoustic quartet, Executive Lounge. His strong sense of form, sensibility, creativity, and musical intuition would make a perfect match for my intentions for this album.”

– Angelo Verploegen

Angelo Verploegen, Flugelhorn
Jeroen van Vliet, Piano

The post Little Dancer: Songs of Love, Hope & Comfort appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

The manuscripts may be found in the Gunnerus Library’s special collections and probably belonged to the town musician and polymath Johan Daniel Berlin and his circle of musicians. They provide a unique insight into how European instrumental music found fertile ground in one of Denmark and Norway’s largest provincial towns in the decades preceding the union’s dissolution in 1814.

As the eighteenth century progressed, Trondheim experienced strong economic growth. The Great Nordic War was over, and merchants set about exporting timber, stockfish, and copper from the mines of Trøndelag. They maintained close contact with their networks in the main cities of Northern Europe, and Trondheim’s luxury and extravagance characterized its social milieu. Thus, the latest fashions, literature and music from the Continent found their way to Trondheim.

This album is available at NativeDSD in Stereo and 5.1 Channel Surround Sound DSD 256, DSD 128, DSD 64 and DXD plus Stereo DSD 512.

Produced with support from Norsk kulturfond, Kulturdirektoratet, Torstein Erbos gavefond, Trondheim Kommune, Fond for Utøvede Kunstnere, Fond for Lyd og Bilde

Featured in blog post Notes on Recent Finds, No. 9 – Endless Bounty from NativeDSD by music reviewer Rushton Paul.

Baroque Ensemble of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra
Sigurd Imsen, Solo Violin
Renata Kubala, Violin
Cecilia Wåhlberg, Violin
Verona Rapp, Viola
Torleif Holm, Cello
Fredrik Blikeng, Violone
Thomas C. Boysen, Lute & Theorbo
Gunnhild Tønder, Cembalo & Organ
Christina Kobb, Fortepiano

NOTICE: For the time being, Dolby Atmos MKV dowloads are provided as direct download dropbox links and are not available for download through the downloader app. The download link will be supplied at checkout.

The post The Trondheim Concertos appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

PapaJazz says “By now we’re having less arrangements, less preparation so that we can be more spontaneous, our focus is more on improvisation. The songs on this current album is mainly music from the 20s and 30s of America. This album is a time travel with dancing – a real ‘old school’ jazz with the most popular songs from the ‘20s, ’30s and ’40s.”

Sax Player Arpad Dennert, a member of PapaJazz and the Jazz band ArpiTalk tells us “PapaJazz regularly plays for Lindy Hoppers for many years. On this album we present a bunch of the most popular songs among dancers. Enjoy and let’s dance!”

PapaJazz
Attila Korb – Cornet, Trombone, Bass Sax, Piano & Vocals
Árpád Dennert – Clarinet, Tenor Sax
Attila Sidoo – Guitar
Péter Kovács – Tuba
Balázs Cseh – Drums

The post Let’s Dance (One Microphone Recording) appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

Michael Moore – Clarinet
Paul Berner – Double Bass

The post The Gift (One Microphone Recording) appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

On this album, Tettero and his ensemble explore some of the best-known Pop and Jazz songs of our time.  Including Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds by John Lennon, Make Sure You’re Sure by Stevie Wonder, I Want To Be Happy by Vincent Youmans and Irving Caesar, Softly As In A Morning Sunrise by Oscar Hammerstein II and Sigmund Romberg, Hackensack by Thelonious Monk, Three Views Of A Secret by Jaco Pastorius, Good Bait by Tadd Dameron, Don’t Explain by Billie Holiday and Arthur Hertzog Jr and How Deep Is The Ocean by Irving Berlin.

Don’t Explain is available from NativeDSD in Stereo DSD 512, DSD 256, DSD 128, DSD 64 and DXD. The DSD 512 edition is exclusively available at NativeDSD Music.

Guitarist Folker Tettero tells us “These songs have been part of my life for a long time. Some go back to my early childhood, while others came later as I started to explore my own taste in music. Somehow these songs also came to represent a significant memory of a person or an event in my life.

The Tettero Band goes way back. We played many nights in the legendary Jazz Café Alto at the start of this century: exhausting 5 hour long sets that gave us the opportunity to really play and develop our sound both as individuals and as a group. On those nights we would mix our sets with prearranged music as well as with completely open jams. It could be a drum or bass groove getting the music going or Charlie or I would play a set of changes and we would all jump on it.

Slowly but surely the jam parts started to invade our rehearsed repertoire and we came to realize that by mixing up freedom and structure within an arrangement it was possible to get the best of both worlds. Furthermore, we saw that the Saturday night crowd, which could be hard to please, responded to the new direction the music was taking with enthusiasm. So when the crux of this recording started to take shape in my mind, freedom within structure became the adage. I got hold of the members of the Tettero band, asked Peter Bjørnild to produce and Frans de Rond to record.

Listening to the recording as I am writing these words, I realize that this album is probably the most personal album I have made so far. It is puzzling to me since all the songs are standards and not my own originals. But that’s music, it never ceases to astonish. It has been a most fulfilling experience making this album together with a group of people I really trust on a professional level and furthermore really like a lot on a personal level.

I am very proud of the result and am so very grateful to everyone involved in making this new Tettero album.”

Folker Tettero – Guitars
Charly Zastrau – Piano
Dave Breidenbach – Bass
Klaas van Donkersgoed – Drums

The post Don’t Explain appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

This album brings together takes from two recordings from Vache made in 1976 (First Time Out) and 1993 (Encore ’93).  The 1976 session with Vache and Pizzarelli are featured on tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 while the 1993 session which adds four more Jazz stars are available on tracks 1, 7, 8 and 9.

In the 1976 recording, Vaché teams up with Bucky Pizzarelli, master of the Jazz guitar, known for his uncommonly sweet and delicate tone and disarmingly straightforward approach to melodic line. Pizzarelli was among the few guitarists to play an instrument with seven strings rather than the customary six, thus covering the bass line. With these two fabulous musicians one does not miss the traditional rhythm section.

Warren Vache – Trumpet
Bucky Pizzarelli – Guitar
Kenny Davern – Soprano Saxophone (Tracks 1,7,8,9)
Wayne Wright – Guitar (Tracks 1,7,8,9)
Michael Moore – Bass (Tracks 1,7,8,9)
Connie Kay – Drums (Tracks 1,7,8,9)

The post First Time Out appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

It starts with Darktown Strutters’ Ball by Shelton Brooks. A happy song from the early 20th Century. Catchy and easily remembered. It sounds just like the ideal album opener. Girl Of My Dreams, the title track was a popular waltz song of the Twenties and in more recent years had an important role in the movie Angel Heart. The New Orleans style musicians of the Fone Jazz Makers transformed it into a fox-trot.

The recording was produced and recorded by Giulio Cesare Ricci at the Teatro Comunale dei Concordi in Campiglia Marittima (LI). He used Neumann U47 and M49 tube microphones, advanced microphone pre-amplifiers Nagra Audio, Nagra 4s Analog Tape Recorders and line, microphone and supply cables designed by Signor Ricci.

The Original Analog Master Tapes were transferred from the Nagra 4s directly to Stereo DSD.

With this recording, Giulio Cesare Ricci wanted to give the listener a unique experience. It is as if the listener was sitting on an armchair positioned in the ideal position of the theater listening to this fine live recording of New Orleans Style Jazz. In this position, the depth, width, and height of the sound can be highly appreciated.

Fone Jazz Makers
Vittorio Castelli – Clarinet & Vocal
Andrea Sirna – Tenor Sax & Vocal
Giacomo Marson – Trumpet
Nino Frasio – Sousaphone
Giorgio Alderighi – Banjo

The post Girl Of My Dreams appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

This is a Pure DSD 256 Stereo & 5 Channel recording from Just Listen Records; the in-house label of NativeDSD.  No equalization, mixing, compression or editing is used on this album. All DSD bit rates were created in the DSD Domain using Signalyst HQ Player 4 Pro mastering tools. Recording engineer Jared Sacks, produced by Jonas Sacks

Angelo Verploegen says “Over the last decade or so I find myself leaving the tempting and obvious juvenile trumpeting bravura more behind me and returning to my musical starting point: the flugelhorn. Although the instrument is a trumpet with a ’softer’ sound, and all too often treated like that by many trumpeters, the flugelhorn stands firmly by itself with all its own characteristics and specifications.

Literally being brought up with the flugelhorn, I feel at ease with the way the horn requires its own approach of phrasing and articulation. This enables me to reach the level of lyricism and intimacy I’m looking for in my playing.

So when Just Listen Records invited me to do a recording for the label at their specific terms (play live, in balance, no mixing, no editing, just capturing the live music as it is with the best possible equipment at the best suitable venue) it was obvious for me to return once more to my first love – the flugelhorn.

Having done numerous (sometimes over-organized) recording sessions with mostly originally composed and arranged repertoire I now felt the need for a lusher approach. More like a gathering of old friends, sharing each other’s life stories and experiences. That led me automatically to my old-time soulmate’s guitar player Ed Verhoeff and bassist Eric van der Westen. 17 years ago, we started off as Verploegen, Verhoeff & van der Westen, performing a lot and recording our critically acclaimed debut album The Night And The Daydreamer. Later, we changed the name into Amsterdam Jazz Trio for a Japan tour and released another album For The Time Being. And then, what often happens after several years of extensive work, we went our own ways… To be reunited for this unique recording project!

As for the repertoire, I simply picked ‘standard’ tunes I grew fond of over the years, looking for a certain degree of variety in melody, harmony, formal structure, keeping the drum-less trio sound in mind, allowing it to flourish, creating a casual, lush and intimate atmosphere.”

Hope you enjoy!

Angelo Verploegen – Flugelhorn
Ed Verhoeff – Guitar
Eric Van Der Western – Double Bass

The post The Sweetest Sound [Pure DSD] appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

On Waves, Atwood is accompanied by a group of like-minded musicians including pianist, arranger and Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition winner Bill Cunliffe (whose 2001 Groove Note recording Live At Bernie’s received unanimous praise), guitarist, bandleader and award-winning arranger Anthony Wilson, first-call bassist Darek Oles and drummer Joe LaBarbara, whose touch and superb rhythmic facility graced the trio of the late Bill Evans among many others. Saxophonist-flutist Pete Christlieb, for years the leading reed player in Los Angeles’ highly competitive studio scene, rounds out the gifted combo.

Atwood came to international attention with a string of acclaimed recordings for the Concord Jazz label and live performances across America and Asia. Daughter of noted composer-arranger Hub Atwood, whose works were performed by Frank Sinatra, Nat Cole, Stan Kenton and others, she began singing at the age of three. Her varied career includes modeling in Paris and television acting in New York but her first love, jazz singing, is what has taken her across the globe.

Waves finds Atwood exploring bossa nova standards including “Girl From Ipanema,” “Brazil” and “Meditation” with unmistakable passion and verve. Thanks to Cunliffe’s attractive arrangements, she puts Brazilian touches to such favorites as “Fool On the Hill” and “How Deep Is the Ocean.” The purity and unique quality of her voice is complimented by the natural, audiophile-quality sound that Groove Note brings to all its recordings. In a world filled with come-lately singers of questionable quality, Eden Atwood stands apart with craft, confidence and conviction. Proof of her talent is abundant throughout Waves. Listen.

* NativeDSD makes this recording available for the first time as a DSD Download to a wider audience, outside the US and Canada.
* NativeDSD exclusively offers this recording as DSD 128 and DSD 256 Downloads (see Tech Specs for more info).

The post Waves: The Bossa Nova Session appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

You will be aware of three striking elements on this album, from the minute you press play. The first is the quality of the performances. These are top-level musicians bringing their same superlative artistry to Christmas favorites that they do to a Schubert quartet or Taverner score. The second is the sterling quality of the recording. If there is a sonic equivalent to sipping a hot toddy while curled up before a roaring fire, it is Sono Luminus’ peerless mixes and captures. Third – and in every way as essential as the previous two – this is a kaleidoscopic collection of styles and interpretations of beloved songs and carols that keeps the listener eager for the next number. With such a fetching variety of artists and approaches, you will go top-to-tail on this one.

Simplicity is an underrated avenue when it comes to holiday releases, so the entries by Irina Muresanu & Matei Varga, Bruce Levingston, Kathryn Bates, and Skylark Vocal Ensemble are a breath of proverbial fresh air. Muresanu’s seductive playing is a glimpse into the golden age of violin technique – lush vibrato and delicious sentimentality, which infuses “White Christmas” with every bit of nostalgia one could hope for.

One can imagine twirling 19th-century gowns in Levingston’s solo piano rendition of Tchaikovsky’s “Christmas,” with frictionless phrasing that plays like freshly sharpened skates on virgin ice. Heading over to cellist Kathryn Bates’s reimagining of “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town,” we are tucked into a bed of extravagant resonance, spinning arpeggios, and all the anticipation and delightful impatience of a child for whom morning cannot arrive soon enough.

And of course, Skylark. With “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” this chamber choir presents an intoxicating wistfulness that will find the listener awaking to find herself gazing out an ice-encrusted window when the final notes fade.

American Contemporary Music Ensemble
Bruce Levingston
Caleb Nei
Cory Hills
Cuarteto Latinoamericano & Lydia Lewis
Ensemble Galilei
Irina Muresanu & Matei Varga
Jasper String Quartet
Kathryn Bates
Ronn McFarlane
Skylark Vocal Ensemble
Stewart Goodyear

The post Imagine Christmas appeared first on NativeDSD Music.