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.

Format : Vinyl Record

1 Lp