Audiophiles and music lovers alike have a special place in their hearts for classic jazz and standards, and Octave Records’ latest, Jazz Classics: 1950s from pianist/organist Tom Amend will be sure to delight with its inviting arrangements and stunning DSD sound quality. The album offers some of the most well-known jazz classics and standards of the 1950s, including “Easy Living,” “Take Five,” “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To,” “Round Midnight,” and six others.
Jazz Classics: 1950s features Tom Amend on piano and Hammond B3 organ, vocalist Louisa Amend, Seth Lewis on upright bass, Braxton Kahn on drums, Gabriel Mervine playing trumpet, and Daryl Gott on alto saxophone. The playing is at turns passionate, relaxed, and always swinging. The sound is warm yet dynamic and detailed with extraordinary clarity, thanks to Octave Records’ Pyramix-based Pure DSD 256 high-resolution recording process, used with Neumann and Gefell condenser microphones and vacuum-tube Manley Labs mic preamps. The album was recorded, mixed and produced by Paul McGowan, with Terri McGowan and Jessica Carson assisting in the recording, mixing and production duties, and mastered by Gus Skinas.
Jazz Classics: 1950s opens with “You Go to My Head,” with Louisa Amend’s vocals sounding silky-smooth and inviting, a sound that hearkens back to a golden era of jazz recording, yet offers depth, texture and tonal character made possible by the remarkable fidelity of the Pure DSD 256 recording system. The instrumentalists on the track, Tom on piano, Seth on bass and Braxton on drums are in perfect balance with Louisa’s vocals and provide sympathetic accompaniment at every turn.
Tom Amend.
Next, the four perform a heartfelt version of “Easy Living,” then Louisa lays out and alto saxophonist Daryl Gott joins in for “Along Came Betty,” a gorgeous version of Thelonious Monk’s classic ballad “Round Midnight,” followed by a medium-tempo take on John Coltrane’s “Lazy Bird.”
Louisa returns to sing “Old Devil Moon,” with Tom switching to the deep tones of a Hammond B3. Tom keeps the jazz-organ groove going with Richard Rodgers’ upbeat “The Sweetest Sounds,” joined by Louisa, Daryl, Braxton and trumpeter Gabriel Mervine. Jazz Classics: 1950s concludes with instrumental versions of the legendary “Take Five,” featuring Gabriel and Daryl harmonizing on the melody and the quartet stretching out, followed by Thelonious Monk’s “We See,” and an easygoing version of Cole Porter’s “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To.”
Jazz Classics: 1950s features Octave’s premium gold disc formulation, and the disc is playable on any SACD, CD, DVD, or Blu-ray player. It also has a high-resolution DSD layer that is accessible by using any SACD player or a PS Audio SACD transport. In addition, the master DSD and PCM files are available for purchase and download, including DSD 256, DSD 128, DSD 64, and DSDDirect Mastered 352.8 kHz/24-bit, 176.2 kHz/24-bit, 88.2 kHz/24-bit, and 44.1 kHz/24-bit PCM. (SRP: $19 – $39, depending on format.)
