Gidon Nunes returns to NativeDSD with his third album Dream Dancer: The Music of Cole Porter. It follows the earlier albums Ebb Tide and Embrace Me – the 2020 NativeDSD Album of the Year for Jazz Ensemble with Vocals. The album is also the latest One Microphone Recording from Sound Liaison.

Cole Porter’s music depicts brilliant melodies, harmony, rhythm, and form. Simultaneously, his lyrics exhibit a sense of humorous poetry, featuring wordplay and layers of meaning that invite the listener to discover their own interpretation.

In contrast with the light and joyous side, there is also tremendous melancholy in Porter’s music. This contrast speaks to me. Looking back on a year of sleep deprivation and challenges, the titles on this album somehow reflect the melancholy, challenge, joy and growth of this period. This is what great songs do, they become personal, allowing each composition to resonate uniquely with your emotions and experiences.

So ‘Dream Dancer: The Music of Cole Porter’ is more than just an album; it’s a reflection of life’s diverse experiences through music. It’s about finding your meaning in these songs and connecting with the stories they tell.

For this high resolution Stereo DXD recording of this great jazz trio, I chose the technique of recording with only a single stereo microphone. The advantages of the One Microphone approach to recording are obvious; phase coherence, perfect imaging, great sense of depth, and superior realism. Traditional mixing is no longer an option. Instead, we must construct the entire sound stage in real time by meticulously adjusting the distance of each instrument to the microphone. The benefits of this way of working are that the result is completely free of phase errors and the sound is very natural with a wide deep soundstage. Another advantage is that it forces the band being recorded to play!

There is nowhere to hide, no fixing it in the mix. It gives the music a realness that one does not often encounter in these modern A.I. times. All musicians have been struck by the incredible authenticity of the recordings and commented that they never heard their instrument sound so real and lively.”

Gidon Nunes Vaz Trio
Gidon Nunes Vaz – Trumpet & Flugelhorn
Davor Stehlik – Guitar
Tomek van Leeuwen – Double Bass