High Note Records has released the new album by veteran jazz bass player Buster Williams as their latest Super Audio CD disc. Entitled Griot Liberte, the new disc is a Single Inventory Surround Sound SACD which arrived in stores yesterday. It features SACD Surround Sound, SACD Stereo and CD Stereo versions of the music on the album and is playable on SACD, CD and SACD compatible DVD Video players.
A Full Price Release
High Fidelity Review readers will recall that High Note entered the SACD market earlier this year with two Hybrid Stereo SACD collection albums from their bargain price series. The two albums entitled Kinda Jazzy Kinda Funky (High Note HCD 6011) and Jazz In An R&B Groove (High Note HCD 6012) featured a number of jazz singers and musicians at the bargain price of $9.98 each. Both albums received high marks from SACD fans – both for their low price and their sonics.
High Note is now including their regular priced line in the Super Audio CD series. In the case of Griot Liberte, the disc carries a suggested list price of $17.99.
Griot Liberte
Buster Williams
SACD Surround Sound/SACD Stereo/CD Stereo
(High Note HCD 7123)
Griot Liberte is the latest album from jazz bass player Buster Williams. The title of the new album means “storyteller liberator” and Williams says the album demonstrates how he is a storyteller through his music. It features 6 original compositions by Williams along with two well known standards. Over the years, Williams has played with a seemingly endless list of jazz stars including Nancy Wilson, Sarah Vaughan, Dakota Staton, Betty Carter, Miles Davis, the Jazz Crusaders, Herbie Mann, Art Blakey, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Kenny Barron and many more.
Album Musicians
Buster Williams – Bass & Piccolo Bass
Stefon Harris – Vibes & Marimba
George Colligan – Piano
Lenny White – Drums
Album Tracks
1. Nomads
2. Related to One
3. The Triumphant Dance of the Butterfly
4. The Wind of an Immortal Soul
5. Every Time We Say Goodbye
6. Joined At The Hip
7. Concierto De Aranjuez
8. After The Ninth Wave
Album Credits
Griot Liberte was produced by Buster Williams with engineering, mixing and mastering done by Rudy Van Gelder at the Van Gelder Recording Studio in February. Van Gelder is also responsible for the 5.0 Surround Sound mix on the album. The SACD was made by Sony DADC in Terre Haute, Indiana.
The liner notes of the SACD note that “for the best results, this disc should be played on an SA-CD player with 5 Full Range Speakers”. Listening to the SACD Surround Sound mix, Van Gelder does indeed use all 5 channels in his mix. But he uses it for the most part to fill the room with the sounds of the musicians rather than isolating instruments in one channel or another. It gives the album a nice feel.
Availability
The new Surround Sound SACD of Griote Liberte is now available in record stores that carry jazz albums including Tower Records. I suspect we will see it in some of the web sites that carry SACD discs shortly.