New Jazz SACDs Star Matt Bianco featuring Basia and Till Brцnner [HFR]

Universal Music International has added two new jazz Surround Sound Super Audio CDs to their catalog. The new SACDs feature Polish jazz singer Basia returning to her former group called Matt Bianco with an album entitled Matt’s Mood as well as the latest album by European jazz trumpet star Till Brцnner entitled That Summer. Here’s more information about these two new SACD releases that are now available in Europe.

Matt’s Mood
Matt Bianco featuring Basia
SACD Surround Sound/SACD Stereo/CD Stereo

(Emarcy 6024-982001-1)

Matt Bianco is not a person but rather a musical group originally formed in 1984 that features Polish singer Basia along with keyboard player Danny White and singer Mark Reilly. In the mid 1980s, Basia and Danny White teamed to produce a series of albums under Basia’s name on the Epic Records label that were popular in both the U.S. and Europe. Just recently, Basia and White teamed with Reilly to reactivate the Matt Bianco group.

Matt’s Mood features ten songs, all of which were written and produced by the three members of the group. The album also features performances by guest musicians including guitarist Peter White (who turns out to be group member Danny White’s brother), trumpeter Kevin Robinson and Ronnie Ross who is best known for his work with Lou Reed. The music is an interesting mix of jazz, latin and bossa nova styles. The SACD was made by Viva SACD in Hong Kong.

The SACD’s Surround Sound mix makes good use of all 5 channels and creates some very nice atmospheric soundscapes here. We get Basia’s vocals in the front channels and in some cases mixed mostly to the Center channel while percussion and background vocals appear in the surround channels. Fans of Basia and jazz, latin and samba styles will like this one.

Album Performers
Basia – Vocals
Mark Reilly – Vocals
Danny White – Keyboards

Guest Musicians
Kevin Robinson – Trumpet & Flugelhorn
Peter White – Acoustic Guitar & Accordian
Andrew Ross – Flute & Saxophone
Julian Crampton – Bass
Ronnie Ross – Baritone Sax Solos
Andres Lafone – Bass
Tony Mason – Brushes
Tim Cansfield – Guitar
Tony Remy – Guitar & Vocoder

Album Tracks
1. Ordinary Day
2. I Never Meant To
3. Wrong Side Of The Street
4. La Luna
5. Say The Words
6. Golden Days
7. Ronnie’s Samba
8. Kaleidoscope
9. Slip & Sliding
10. Matt’s Mood III

That Summer
Till Brцnner
SACD Surround Sound/SACD Stereo/CD Stereo

(Verve 6024-981866-9)

That Summer is the latest album by jazz trumpeter Till Brцnner. Brцnner will be familiar to Super Audio CD fans in Europe through several recent SACD releases. These include his guest musician role on the Surround Sound SACD Get Well Soon by Bob Brookmeyer and the New Art Orchestra (Challenge SACHR 70111) and his work as arranger, musical director and trumpet soloist on the Surround Sound SACD entitled When The Angels Swing by female swing group No Angels (Cheyenne 0440-076167-2).

On That Summer, Brцnner handles the lead vocals on the songs on the album as well as playing the trumpet and flugelhorn. The album features eleven smooth jazz tunes plus a bonus track. The bonus track features Eleanor Rigby followed by a false ending and then a brief tune called Takin’ A Break.

That Summer was produced by Till Brцnner and Jens Kuphal and recorded by Arne Schumann and Jens Kuphal at Nucleus Tonstudio in Berlin. The DSD Stereo and DSD Multichannel mix was done by Jens Kuphal at Nucleus Tonstudio with the DSD Stereo and DSD Multichannel Mastering done by Mark Wilder at Sony Music Studios in New York City, New York. The SACD was made by Viva SACD in Hong Kong. The SACD Surround Sound mix features Brцnner’s vocals and trumpet in the front channels with the surround channels featuring percussion and guitar. It’s a nice surround mix and an enjoyable smooth jazz SACD.

Album Tracks
1. Your Way To Say Goodbye
2. Bein’ Green
3. High Falls
4. When Your Lover Has Gone
5. Estrada Branca
6. Antonio’s Song
7. Ready Or Not
8. After Hours
9. So Right, So Wrong
10. Wishing Well
11. Rising Star
12. Eleanor Rigby/Takin’ A Break (Bonus Track)

Availability
The new Matt’s Mood and That Summer albums in Surround Sound SACD are now available in music stores in Europe. Both SACDs are also available from the Amazon.de and jpc.de web sites in Germany. As for the Matt’s Mood SACD, it’s also available on several more web sites as an import including Amazon.Com, CD Universe, Amazon.Ca (Canada) and Amazon.co.jp (Japan). According to the Matt Bianco web site, the Matt’s Moods album is planned for release in the U.S. and Canadian markets in the Spring of 2005.