Hi-Res Downloads

Kurt Elling & Christian Sands
Wildflowers, Vol.3 (96kHz/24-bit, WAV)
www.bigshouldersrecords.bandcamp.com; Big Shoulders Records

This is the third outing for Elling and Sands' Wildflowers series, which started as an EP and has grown over time, and it's not hard to sense the easy rapport between the two, which has been honed in live performance as well as recording. This five-track set is, I guess, also more of an EP than a full-length album, but it's sufficiently joyous to have this listener wanting more, so infectious and spontaneous is the sense of listening in to a live performance. It opens with 'The Glow Worm', Elling's voice set against Sands' masterful piano accompaniment with real swing, then changes gear down to 'Song For The Rainbow People' and the tender, touching 'My Son', the voice hushed and atmospheric. An effective scat version of 'Blue Monk' follows, the set closing with the downbeat 'Emotion' – and then, all too soon, it's over. And yes, you really will be left wanting more, so scroll back and enjoy the first two volumes. AE

Sound Quality: 90%

Lab Report

The spectra for this file might be misinterpreted as an upsampled 48kHz file but, in practice, it's more likely to be a 96kHz digitisation of an analogue recording. The full set is normalised to –1dB and dynamic range is 'average'. PM

Jerome Sabbagh
Stand Up! (192kHz/24-bit, WAV)
www.analogtonefactory.com; Analog Tone Factory ATF 003

Parisian-born saxophonist Sabbagh, based in New York since the mid-'90s, presents his fourth quartet album, and the first for over a decade. He's joined by guitarist Ben Monder, bassist Joe Martin and recent arrival, drummer Nasheet Waits, all showcasing his warm-toned, controlled playing. This release is on Sabbagh's own label, Analog Tone Factory, which he founded with pianist and engineer Pete Rende. The recordings, which are made live with all the musicians in the studio, are exclusively to analogue tape, and are released on vinyl and reel-to-reel tape as well as digital formats. All of that explains the immediacy and the real presence in the performances here, but this is much more than just a recording to delight audiophiles: those who buy it for the musicianship – not always the same customers – are going to find much to appreciate. AE

Sound Quality: 90%

Lab Report

Recording/mastering is 'all analogue' so vinyl offerings are labelled 'AAA'. This file is a 192kHz copy – a lot 'hotter' on the R ch (sax, orange) and while dynamic range is good, four trks hit the 0.0dB digital clip. Pity about the 84kHz spuriae. PM

Joe Lovano, et al
Homage (96kHz/24-bit, WAV)
www.ecmrecords.com; ECM 2845

This third album by the quartet of sax player Joe Lovano, pianist Marcin Wasilewski, bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz, and Michal Miskiewicz on drums, was recorded at New Jersey's Van Gelder Studio during a 2023 residency at New York's Village Vanguard, and shows the benefit of a tight-knit group going straight from stage to recording. With the exception of the opening 'Love In The Garden', all six tracks are Lovano compositions, and they're treated to a typically insightful, glowing ECM sound. That gentle opener, with its resonant sax, gives way to the pacier 'Golden Horn', its subtle percussion building into an epic ten-minute track. 'This Side – Catville', later in the set, is even more exploratory, and runs to a full 12 minutes of fascinating playing. Something of a revelation, this album is well worth a listen – or three or four, to appreciate all its nuances. AE

Sound Quality: 85%

Lab Report

Recorded in the US, mixed in Germany, this 96kHz digital set's peak data varies between –1dB and a very 'safe' –7.4dB (trk 6). Overall dynamic range is wider than average despite background noise being very slightly elevated. PM

Trond Kallevåg
Minnesota (48kHz/24-bit, WAV)
www.hubromusic.bandcamp.com; Hubro HUBROCD2671

Music from the West Coast – well, Norway, fused with the wide-open landscapes of America, in a set the performer's Bandcamp page says will summon up an image of 'Ry Cooder, Daniel Lanois, and David Lynch sharing a rowboat on a misty West Norwegian morning'. Kallevåg plays guitar and pedal steel, electronics and overdubs of synths, bells and piano, and is joined by Tuva Halse on violin, bassist Mats Eilertsen and Gard Nilssen on drums and vibraphone. Inspiration ranges from trad. music, jazz, ambient folk, emigration stories, and rare photos unearthed during an artist residency on the remote island of Træna... The result is a series of near-cinematic, atmospheric pieces blending country, Nordic and Americana styles, all immaculately recorded with fine detailing. It's an esoteric project, but the end result is entertaining and intriguing, not to mention a lot of fun. AE

Sound Quality: 85%

Lab Report

This 48kHz rendering is densely packed, its bandwidth cut short at the 24kHz Nyquist limit and showing a hint of stopband. Dynamic range is below average (peak-to-RMS is just ~10dB) but peaks are all very high at –0.2dB. PM

Various
Strata-East: The Legacy Begins (192kHz/24-bit, WAV)*
www.mackavenue.com/collections/strata-east; n/a cat. no.

'Various artists' compilations can mean 'variable sound quality', and so it is with this document of the beginnings of the Strata-East label. Ostensibly a 192kHz/24-bit release, the very nature of the recordings means it's something of an audio hotchpotch [see PM's Lab Report]. Fortunately the music, drawn from the catalogue of this artist-owned jazz label, is compelling enough to hold the attention, from familiar names such as Stanley Cowell and Charles Tolliver – who also produced this 33-track set – to The New York Bass Violin Choir. And that's without mentioning some of the really obscure stuff here! But sit back, suspend those audio-critical faculties, and you'll have a blast discovering the fabulous musicianship and great performances on a set that doesn't have a duff track, even if there's little that's familiar, however deep your jazz knowledge. Enjoy! AE

Sound Quality: 75%

Lab Report

There are a selection of mixed sample rates here: trks 5, 11, 17, 19, 21-23, 26 & 30 are at 44.1kHz [black]; trks 1-4, 7-8, 10, 13, 15 & 18 are all 96kHz [green]; all others are at 192kHz. Peak levels are high; dynamic range sl. above ave. PM