Guitarist Thomas Baggerman returns to NativeDSD with his trio in a new One Microphone Recording of Live At MCO. It follows his first NativeDSD appearance on the sampler album 8 Ensembles in One Bit from Just Listen.

Live At MCO was recorded Live Stereo DXD 24 Bit at MCO Studio 2 using a single Josephson C700 microphone. It was mixed in the Analog domain to a Stereo PCM 768k Edit Master. The Edit Master Source files were used by NativeDSD to create the Stereo DSD 512, DSD 256, DSD 128, DSD 64 and DXD music downloads. This is a DSD Exclusive, Not Available on SACD album.

When the band Eva sur Seine (a.k.a. Thomas Baggerman Trio featuring Eva Scholten) arrived at the studio on Saturday to set up for Sunday’s ‘One Mic’ live recording, it quickly became clear that the day would be far from routine. The band’s star attraction, the extraordinary vocalist Eva Scholten, was not in top form. Fighting off an infection, Eva was feeling drained and feverish.

We decided on a quick run-through of the set, allowing engineer Frans de Rond to fine-tune the sound balance and get the levels right before sending Eva home to recover. By Sunday, Eva’s condition had worsened and it was clear she wouldn’t be able to sing.

Our usual backup plan, recording the “dress rehearsal” as a safety net to patch any rough spots in the live recording, was no longer an option. This meant that the concert performance would have to stand on its own. What you hear on this recording is the raw, unfiltered magic of first takes.

We were able to fall back on our experience as a trio, Max and I are brothers and have been playing together since 2008. Perhaps it was precisely this pressure and the unexpected turn of events that sharpened our focus and had a favorable impact. It was a make-or-break moment, and everything was on the line.

In the end, it turned into a great success. We recorded pieces in the spirit of Django, like ‘Dream of You’ and ‘Djangology’, as well as our own interpretations of compositions by contemporary musicians in the same style. The recording of Henry Mancini’s ‘Two for the Road’ became a beautiful, intimate interlude on the album. We closed the set with an original composition accompanied by the enthusiastic reaction of the fantastic audience.

Jazz, at its core, thrives on spontaneity. It’s in those unrehearsed moments, created on the spot, that a special, raw energy emerges, one that can’t be replicated through endless takes and edits. This recording adheres to our credo for ‘One Mic’ recordings: One hall, One band, One mic, One take, One source. And perhaps even more so than usual.

Thomas Baggerman Trio 
Thomas Baggerman – Guitar (right channel)
Max Baggerman – Guitar (left channel)
Jort Terwijn – Double Bass