Fans of the DSD releases from Groove Note Records will recognize Darek Oles and Charlie Bisharat as studio musicians who have been a key part of albums by artists including Vanessa Fernandez and Jacintha. The Groove Note DSD albums are also available from NativeDSD Music.

David Manley was a famed recording engineer and designer of audiophile amps and preamps sold under the name Vacuum Tube Logic (VTL). Manley designed his own recording studio and used it to record a series of Jazz albums with tube-based equipment using an Analog Tape Recorder. Several of these recordings initially appeared on the VTL label and have since been transferred to DSD and released by Fone.

This album – David Manley Recordings – along with two earlier Jazz samplers at NativeDSD Music from Fone – More Best of the Best and Percorsi Sonori No. 2 (Sound Paths No. 2) – provide an overview of the Manley Jazz recordings. You will also find it at NativeDSD Music along with some of the VTL Jazz recordings by artists including Karen Knowles, Kate McGarry, and Sekou Bunch.

Doc Powell – Guitar (Tracks 1,2)
Sekou Bunch – Tenor Bass (Tracks 1,3)
Munyungo Jackson – Percussion (Track 3)
Todd Cochran – Piano (Tracks 3,4,5)
James Leary – Bass (Track 4)
John Clayton – Unknown French Rarity (Track 4)
Karen Knowles – Vocals (Track 6)
Darek Oles – Bass (Track 6)
Josh Sklair – Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar (Tracks 6,7,9,10)
Sam Sklair – Arranger (Tracks 6,7) & Clarinet (Track 7), Percussion (Track 9)
Vickie Leigh – Vocals (Tracks 6,9,10)
Karen Briggs – Violin (Track 8)
Charlie Bisharat – Violin (Track 8)
Brown Burnett – Vocals, Mississippi Sax (Track 9)

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The centerpiece of this album is Portland-based composer Kenji Bunch’s Aspects of an Elephant, inspired by the timeless parable of six men who try to discern the traits of an elephant in a pitchdark room, eventually discovering that only the sum of their perceptions encompasses the full truth. In a similar way, the pieces featured on this album constitute a rich panorama of the dynamism and diversity of contemporary American composition.

Bunch’s piece is dedicated to the members of the Oregon Symphony, who release their 4th album at the NativeDSD Music store.  Earlier DSD Stereo & DSD Multichannel recordings of Music for a Time of War (2011), This England (2012), Spirit of the American Range (2015) and Haydn Symphonies 53, 64 & 96 (2017) are linked below for your consideration and enjoyment.

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Karen Knowles – Vocals (Track 1)
Josh Sklair – Electric & Acoustic Guitars (Tracks 1, 3)
Sekou Bunch – Electric Bass, Double Bass, Clarinet, Guitar and Piano (Track 2)
Vickie Leigh – Vocals (Track 4)
James Leary – Vocals (Track 5)
Kate McGarry – Vocals (Track 6)
Toolbox (Track 7)
Munyungo Jackson – Drums (Track 8)

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“My dream has always been to record the sound of silence, and in silence to find the breath of life. To record the feelings and the emotions of people, as nearly as I can. The problem is not how to capture the space or the depth or the source of the sound, all this of course is fine and provides emotions, but is not in itself moving. To portray the smell of the concert hall, or the concentration of both performers and listeners, that is what is moving. If we believe that recording means portraying truth by following objective, absolute criteria, then we have completely missed the point.

When I record, I follow all my senses, which means not only what I hear, but more importantly the feelings that come into the soul and to the heart. For me, placing the microphones is something of a sacred ritual, almost a mystic art. I have to find, and I know that it exist and is waiting to be found, that pocket-handkerchief sized space of air where the whole atmosphere can be felt. I measure the dimension with eyes and ears, I evaluate the materials, and, as an instrument-maker would, I ‘tune’ some gigantic structure like a church, a theatre or a music salon. And if the public are present, so much the better! Like an extraordinary acoustic trap, the bodies and the faces of hundreds of people make the sound more linear. If I could, I would record the bodies! And after, two, three, four microphones higher, lower, to the right, no, to the left… each time the conditions change and everything has to be discovered again, even the “emotion center”.

The microphones are eventually exactly there where they should be; I must be aware of everything, the beautiful women, the musicians, their state of mind, and remind myself of the flavor of the occasion… and then, draw everything together at that “center”. Reality on its own does not exist, it only exists in our own feelings. In truth, I record my own feelings, Fonè is my gift to music and to all music lovers.” 

Alan Yoshida – Guitar
Bennie Maupin – Flute & Saxophones
Bill Summers – Percussion
Bob Summers – Trumpet & Flugelhorn
Bobby Rodriguez – Trumpet
Bruce Bishop – Guitar, Acoustic Guitar & Backing Vocals
David Garfield – Piano
Efrain Toro – Drums & Percussion
EveAnna Manley – Baritone Saxophone
Felicidad – Background Vocals
Frank Crawford – Piano, Organ & Keyboards
Jack Le Compte – Drums
Josh Sklair – Electric & Acoustic Guitars
Karen Briggs – Violin
Karen Knowles – Vocals
Kate McGarry – Vocals
Larry Klimas – Tenor Sax, Soprano Sax & Flute
Louis Verdieu – Vocals & Percussion
Luis Conte – Percussion
Marina Bambino – Percussion & Background Vocals
Mike Turre – Saxophone & Flute
Munyungo Jackson – Percussion
Nengue Hernandez – Vocals & Percussion
Nick Smith – Piano
Oscar Brashear – Trumpet
Ron Ross – Bass
Russ Henry – Drums
Sam Sklar – Clarinet, Arranger & Musical Director
Sekou Bunch – Tenor Bass
Vickie Leigh – Vocals & Backing Vocals

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Note particularly on “Catano”, “As A Matter Of Fact”, “Night On The Town” and “Pastels” that Sekou plays the Tenor-Bass melody with the pyrotechnical skill that will be admired by the most accomplished guitarists! Further yet the man writes some lovely tunes; and further still he is a cool, calm and collected musical director who never loses his head, even under the most musically trying circumstances. It is getting late at night (read early morning), some of the best are battling… but Sekou never misses a beat (or a solo-trick), never loses his smile of sheer musical enjoyment: he uplift and inspired everybody to give of their best and they respond… You hold the results of their collective talents in your hands now.

Sekou molded his repertoire around some of the most interesting (and diverse) players around California and demonstrated a whole palette of sound-colors in his arrangements. So those are my impressions and experiences with Sekou Bunch. Trumpeter Tom Browne chose Sekou for his gold album “Funkin’ for Jamaica” (and as co-writer on the hit single “Thighs High”). Anita Baker selected Sekou for her Platinum album “Givin’ You The Best That I Got”. He has toured the world with Melba Moore, Tom Browne, Phyllis Hyman, Dave Grusin, Jocylyn Brown, Freddie Hubbard, Dayton, Randy Crawford, Bernard Wright, George Duke, Anita Baker and Sheena Easton… All in all we’re in pretty good company in choosing Sekou Bunch for our Vital label.

David Manley California, 1991

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