Nagel Heyer Records, a well respected jazz label based in Hamberg, Germany has released its first Surround Sound Super Audio CD. Entitled Tomorrow’s Jazz Classics 2005, the new album includes 14 cuts on a sampler of recordings from the label’s extensive jazz catalog.
Nagel Heyer describes their Jazz catalog by noting that “Each recording is a product of warmth, precision and meticulous attention to detail. Sound is mastered to perfection. Track selection and editing is a delicate and diligent collaboration of artist, engineer and producer. Both live and studio discs are available. That’s why the German label has achieved a near legendary status amongst the critics and the International jazz public at large.”
The label describes the new SACD as containing “more than 78 minutes of outstanding jazz music with greats like Marc Copland and Greg Osby, Donald Harrison, Claudio Roditi, Twana Rhodes, Wycliffe Gordon, Brian Lynch and Miguel Zenon, Ken Peplowski and Paradigm Shift”. They add that the new Super Audio CD allows the listener to “enjoy Nagel Heyer music in a sound quality never heard before”.
Album Tracks
1. Glass House – Twana Rhodes
2. Night Call – Marc Copland with Greg Osby
3. Light In The Dark – Claudio Roditi
4. So What – Donald Harrison
5. Dans Mon Ile – Zona Sul
6. Drop In Meditation – String Zone
7. Allright! – Stephan Noлl Lang
8. The Island Boy – Wycliffe Gordon
9. With Every Breath I Take – Ken Peplowski
10. Changes – Chinaza
11. West End Blues – Brian Lynch
12. Sanibel Breeze – Paradigm Shift
13. Over The Rainbow – Martin Sasse featuring Vincent Herring
14. Victor – Frode Berg
Album Credits and Sonics
The new SACD was Produced by Frank Nagel-Heyer with DSD Mastering by Bashar Shammout. The SACD was made by Sonopress at their replication plant in Germany.
The album’s Surround Sound SACD track does a fine job of capturing the vocals on track 5 (Dans Mon Ile) and track 10 (Changes). Also worth noting are the performances of Miles Davis’ So What (track 4), Wycliffe Gordon’s Trombone on Island Boy (track 8) and the startling realism of Brian Lynch’s Trumpet on West End Blues (track 11). The new SACD should prove an enjoyable introduction to the Nagel Heyer label’s jazz catalog which is certainly the record company’s intent here.
No SACD Stereo Tracks
I should note that like the recent Ray Charles at the Olympia Live Surround Sound SACD, Tomorrow’s Jazz Classics 2005 has Surround Sound SACD and CD Stereo versions of the songs on the album but no Stereo SACD tracks. I’m a bit puzzled why we’re seeing releases without SACD Stereo since some SACD fans still have yet to add Surround Sound SACD playback to their systems.
Availability
The Nagel Heyer Jazz SACD Sampler titled Tomorrow’s Jazz Classics 2005 is now available for purchase in music stores in Europe and the U.S. It is also available on web sites including the Qualiton web site (Qualiton handles the disc’s U.S. distribution) as well as the Acoustic Sounds, Elusive Disc, Music Direct, CD Universe and Amazon.Com web sites, among others.