Anthony Newman and The Graham Ashton Ensemble - Music for Organ, Brass and Timpani

…From HP's SUPER SACD list:
"…Hold on to your molars when the lowest notes of the organ provide the foundation for all the activity alone." – Harry Pearson, The Absolute Sound, March 2007

A pure DSD recording from Sonoma Records. Produced by 12-time Grammy award winner Steven Epstein and engineered by Richard King, Music for Organ, Brass and Timpani was recorded and post-produced entirely in the DSD domain on a Sonoma Workstation.

"The music on this disc is a series of arrangements for the aforementioned instruments, cleverly crafted by Graham Ashton, who heads his epononymous Brass Ensemble. The music ranges from a knockout of a piece by Richard Strauss, to Bach, Rachmaninoff, and even the 'Great Gate of Kiev' from Pictures at an Exhibition...The entire process, from recording to editing to production stayed within the DSD encoding, instead of, as so often happened in the past, being taken out of DSD for editing purposes...I can tell you that this really is going to be a 'super' disc sonically; but, to me, perhaps every bit as impressive are its musical values. The Ashton ensemble is sensational, and so is the celebrated Newman. Just wait till you hear the lowest notes on the Strauss. Or the brass seated (on some cuts) in a semi-circle stretching out into your listening room." - Harry Pearson, The Absolute Sound, February/March 2005

"For the recording venue, I knew I wanted to use the sanctuary of St. Ignatius Loyola which houses the grand N.P. Mander Organ, the largest mechanical pipe organ in New York City. The acoustics are perfectly suited for this repertoire. For organist, the clear choice was Anthony Newman, the internationally celebrated artist, who has made many critically acclaimed recordings for CBS Masterworks/Sony Classical. For brass, we were most fortunate to have the Graham Ashton Brass Ensemble which is comprised of some of the finest brass players in the world, led by virtuoso trumpeter, Graham Ashton. On this record, Graham's ensemble was joined by timpanist Duncan Patton." - Steven Epstein, producer

"This record is a great example of what the Sonoma Workstation and the SACD format can deliver." - David Kawakami, Director of the Super Audio CD Project at Sony Corporation of America

"This audio spectacular – easily one of the half-dozen best-engineered multichannel recordings I've heard – is the first release from Sonoma Records, a label started specifically to demonstrate the potential of the SACD medium…The recording achieves the seemingly impossible, delivering the impact of the organ and brasses, plus giving a marvelous sense of the large space's five-to-six-second reverberation time. There's a feeling of majesty and power, even when the dynamic level isn't loud. And when the volume does increase, the effect is always one of grandeur." – Andrew Quint, The Absolute Sound, February 2006, Issue 159