Chesky Records: SACD327 
http://www.chesky.com/core/details.cfm?productcode=SACD327

* Jimmy Cobb: drums
* Roy Hargrove: trumpet, flugelhorn
* Ronnie Mathews: piano
* Peter Washington: bass

Homepage
~~~~~~~~ 
http://www.jimmycobb.net/

About
~~~~~ 
http://www.jimmycobb.net/solowork.html

Review
~~~~~~ 
http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=3166

By John Henry

It's a kick to receive a great jazz hi-res disc; the classical genre sort of has
the 4000+ SACD releases so far covered. I've been listening to a lot of the RVG
remasters recently, and while they sound the best they ever have, they're not
hi-res. Many are just mono - deep, rich mono but still mono. So hearing the
almost holographic realism of Chesky's DSD recordings is a real pleasure.

And when the playing is at this Olympian level it's even better (and contradicts
that old audiophile dictum of "best sound, worst music"). If you haven't heard
of Jimmy Cobb you should know that he's had a six-decade career and played on
both Miles Davis' classic Kind of Blue as well as Sketches of Spain. He was
recently the drummer on Chesky's SACDs New York Time and West of 5th.

The Grammy-winning trumpeter has been described as one of the most versatile
brass players in the mold of Wynton Marsalis. Hargrove has a wonderfully rich
tone and is able to stretch out some very creative solos during the generally
laid-back tempi of many of the tracks. Pianist Mathews played with Art Blakey
and Johnny Griffin and is a mainstay of the NYC mainstream modern jazz piano
style. Three of my favorite tunes are here: Weill's My Ship, Monk's Ruby My
Dear, and Billy Strayhorn's surpassingly lovely Lotus Blossom - done in waltz
time. Book's Bossa takes a bouncy uptempo pace; it honors the late bassist
Walter Booker.

Chesky records in natural halls and churches rather than studios, similar to
Opus 3 Records. The acoustic ambiance of the venue is the real thing - not
digital reverb. The venue was a NYC church frequently used by Chesky. They
employ a Soundfield Ambisonic mic and convert the Ambisonic output to 5.0
channel DSD. (I gather Chesky - along with DMP and Telarc - has given up on
their alternate use of the center and sub channels to provide surround coverage
more appropriate to music than movies.) None of the instruments are therefore
recorded with close-up mics, not even the drums as nearly everyone else seems to
do. Hargrove's trumpet is on the left and the piano about the center. There's
not even a hint of an electronic sheen to the trumpet sound, and the piano too
has more natural overtones audible. It doesn't sound the least bit "off mic."
The drums also don't overpower the other players as heard on so many jazz
recordings - of course at least part of that has to be blamed on the artfulness
of Cobb's drumming.