The Paul Sawtelle Big Band - Live at Pacific Audio Fest

The Paul Sawtelle Big Band — Live at Pacific Audio Fest 

180-gram 45 RPM 2LP limited to 3,000 copies

Recorded and mixed direct to 2-track tape! Mastered by Bernie Grundman 

One-Step plating at Paramount Plating and pressing by Fidelity Record Pressing on 180-gram high-definition vinyl

Recorded at the 2022 and 2023 Pacific Audio Fests

Stoughton Printing Old Style Tip-On jacket with included 36-page book

TAS rated 4/5 Music, 4.5/5 Sonics in the December 2025 issue of The Absolute Sound!

2025 Positve Feedback Writer's Choice Award Winner!

"Sonically, the album feels very energetic and has a good feel for the recording venue and instrument locations. Dynamics are well represented, and one feels the power and essence of this live big band performance." — Music = 4/5, Sonics = 4.5/5 — Andre Jennings, The Absolute Sound, December 2025

"I was there for this concert and observed Gary Koh and pals recording the performance, and they looked like they were having a ball. This is one of those albums that will go down in audiophile history." — Jeff Day, Positive Feedback 

The joy of the band getting back together after the enforced break of the COVID pandemic was palpable in their performance. The performances at the Pacific Audio Fest 2022 and 2023 were universally acclaimed by the audiences of audiophiles. Led by the Spelleman and Academia Award-winning saxophonist Paul Sawtelle, the Big Band knocked it out of the park that Friday night in 2022. So they invited Paul back to do it all over again in 2023.

The enthusiastic audience channeled that joy right back at the musicians and energized them to greater heights, and it was all captured direct-to-tape on a Nagra IV-S with a pair vintage Neumann TLM50 microphones on SM900 at 15 ips. The recording was so good, they decided it had to be shared. They commissioned Bernie Grundman to master the recording, and cut lacquers direct from the 2-track tape. Then, they worked with Fidelity Record Pressing and Paramount Plating for the production. The ultra-premium Old Style Tip-On jacket with included 36-page book was printed by Stoughton Printing.

The Paul Sawtelle Big Band Live at the Pacific Audiofest brings you one step closer to the performance than even a Direct-to-Disc album.

With Direct-to-Disc, there are four intermediate steps between you and the Musicians: Lacquer → Father → Mother → Stamper → Album

With a Direct-to-Tape One-Step pressing, you get one step closer to the Musicians: Tape → Lacquer → Convert → Album

As a One-Step, this album will be limited to 3,000 copies with no re-press or re-issue possible and available as a 45-RPM 180-gram 2LP set.

Now, Hyper Analogue Production, Brilliance Music and Genesis Advanced Technologies bring the performance to you for your listening pleasure and as a musical reference standard.