Jerome Sabbagh - Vintage

New from saxophonist Jerome Sabbagh — Vintage

Featuring piano legend Kenny Barron and his all-star jazz quartet!

AAA all-analog lacquer cut by Bernie Grundman

180-gram vinyl pressed at Gotta Groove

Includes a high-res 24-bit/192kHz download

"'As much as I care about the sound — and I really try hard to make the best sounding records I can — I care about the music more' (Jerome Sabbagh). Which is what makes this a Recording of the Month instead of just another audiophile LP. Vintage is a proper jazz record, with talented musicians playing well, listening to and following each other. It's a mix of covers (Tadd Dameron's 'On a Misty Night'; Billy Strayhorn's 'A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing,'; two Monk tunes — 'We See' and 'Ask Me Now' — and original Sabbagh compositions. ... (Sound is) excellent but laid-back. Easy to listen to. ... Sabbagh's tone is mellow; it's a tenor (saxophone) but it sometimes has a timbre close to an alto. ... the recording has good depth, and the more you turn it up — up to a point of course — the clearer the window into the studio becomes." — Performance = 4 Stars; Sonics = 4.5 Stars — Jim Austin, Stereophile (Recording of the Month February 2024). Read Austin's full review here.

"Backed by the all-star rhythm section of drummer Johnathan Blake, bassist Joe Martin and veteran pianist Kenny Barron, saxophonist Jerome Sabbagh steps up to the microphone and puts to analog tape his finest, most fully realized recorded musical performances. The quartet meshes as if it's been touring all year. ... And oh boy, the sound. Hi-fi by 50's standards and that's meant as a serious compliment. The tonal character is warm, the spatial perspective wide and deep... The tech details: recorded to multitrack analog tape at Oktaven Audio on a Studer A800 MKIII at 30 IPS, mixed on a custom 1/2" tube Ampex 351 at 30 IPS and cut '...direct from the analog tape using an all-tube system.'" — Music = 10/11; Sound = 11/11 - Michael Fremer, TrackingAngle.com. Read Fremer's full review here.

"With Vintage, Sabbagh is le son. The beauty, breadth and clarity of his tone is just stunning (...) This is an important album by four masters of this American art form." — Keith Hoffman, The New York City Jazz Record

"Jerome brings sensitivity and intelligence to his playing and composing, and with Barron, Vintage has enormous maturity and grace. Spring for the vinyl if you can. Jerome is an audiophile, and meticulously oversaw the mastering and production." — Marc Myers, Jazzwax

Saxophonist Jerome Sabbagh is an old soul. He favors spontaneity between performers on the bandstand, prefers the feel of a swinging band to heady, over-wrought music, and likes the sound of analog over digital. When it came time to work on a new project, Sabbagh wanted to record an album that would sound like a set in a club, and felt ready to look back to early influences. On Vintage, his first album as a leader featuring piano, Sabbagh enlists the piano legend Kenny Barron in his all-star quartet to help make a recording that connects generations and makes tradition vital once again.

Sabbagh has become well known for his original music and genre spanning ensembles, including those featuring electric guitarists Ben Monder and Greg Tuohey. Sabbagh also has an ear for the tradition. One of his seminal early jazz experiences came when he was a teenager and got to hear Stan Getz in Paris. Kenny Barron was Getz's accompanist that evening and Sabbagh was taken immediately, standing outside the back door to get Getz and Barron's autographs after the show.

Thirty years later, Sabbagh found himself at Barron's house, where the two of them played standards and a number of Sabbagh's originals. They each enjoyed the encounter, the older musician complimenting the younger on his compositions. In turn, Sabbagh loved Barron's touch, clairvoyant comping and ease with the music. Knowing how rare it is to record with a legend, Sabbagh knew that he needed to get the project together.

Sabbagh enlisted favored bassist Joe Martin and Barron's regular drummer Johnathan Blake, also a regular collaborator. He wrote a number of pieces with Barron in mind and compiled a large list of standards on which to call upon in the studio, hoping that the spontaneous, gig-like performance would spark some magic for the recording.

The quartet convened at Oktaven Audio in November of 2020, where they played all together in the main room of the studio. Sabbagh called tunes and aimed for the organic looseness of a live performance. The music was recorded to multitrack analog tape by Ryan Streber, and mixed to ½-inch tape at 30 ips on a custom Ampex 351 tube tape recorder by Pete Rende. Finally, the recording was mastered by industry legend Bernie Grundman and will be pressed to high quality 180-gram all analog vinyl in addition to digital.

The moment was captured beautifully, as the players surrendered to the music and provided uncontrived performances, superbly recorded to analog tape.

The recording begins with the title track, a piece of Sabbagh's that captures that swinging feel that feels so right, and features some of Barron's most fiery work on the record. Tadd Dameron's "On a Misty Night" happens to be a favorite of Sabbagh and Barron's. They effortlessly sing on this easy, medium tempo piece. Billy Strayhorn's "A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing" was picked specially for the session, as Sabbagh had heard Barron play a solo version at the Village Vanguard. They play it as a gorgeously intimate duo.

Sabbagh's "Elson's Energy" is inspired by a childhood friend from Brazil with whom Sabbagh had recently reconnected; the piece is joyous with the kind of percussive groove that Barron, no stranger to Brazilian music, has always had an affinity for. Slowing the pace, Sabbagh's "Slay the Giant" provides a perfect vehicle for Sabbagh and Barron to showcase their unique lyricism.

The recording concludes with two Monk tunes, a nod to Sabbagh and Barron's shared love for Monk's music, "We See" and "Ask Me Now," performed in duet at drummer Blake's suggestion. The former is a spirited take with Barron showing his rhythmic ease and harmonic suppleness, while the latter is a loose, enchanting ballad, that showcases Sabbagh's warm, glowing sound.

Most musicians try to compose and record things that will stand the test of time. With Vintage, Jerome Sabbagh set out to allow the music to flow in this unique encounter with Kenny Barron: to capture a fleeting, beautiful moment, forever.

Music

Sound

Ratings from Michael Fremer @ trackingangle.com/