Description:
Newvelle Presents : The New Orleans Collection limited edition vinyl bundle !
Four 180 gram LPs on clear vinyl featuring four new recordings by New Orleans music legends !
Featuring Irma Thomas, Ellis Marsalis, Little Freddie King, and Jon Cleary !
Recorded in New Orleans in 2020 by Misha Kachkachishvili at Esplanade Studio !
Mixed by Marc Urselli, mastered by Alex DeTurk !
Plated and pressed at Quality Record Pressings !
"Yes, this was digitally recorded but if you still insist that means it can't sound great and can't produce three dimensional images, well after hearing this if you're still in that camp, you've got some loose bits. Great microphones, skilled engineering and of course a big beautiful former church are key to the uniformly excellent sound here... Alex DeTurk at The Bunker cut the lacquers and QRP in Salina, KS pressed on 180 gram vinyl. While I’m reviewing this using test pressings, I bought this set without hearing a note and I’m glad I did! It’s well-worth the asking price". "The New Orleans Collection Newvelle's Crescent City Excent Adventure" Michael Fremer, AnalogPlanet.com.
From jazz label Newvelle Records, Newvelle Presents: The New Orleans Collection features four clear vinyl 180 gram LPs featuring performances by the soul queen herself Irma Thomas, the late joyful jazz pianist and musical mentor to many Ellis Marsalis, the inimitable Delta blues guitarist Little Freddie King, and the wildly expressive funk and R&B pianist Jon Cleary ! Recorded in the spring of 2020, (Ellis passed at the age of 85 in March 2020) these four new recordings from the greatest generation of New Orleans artists are produced and pressed with the uncompromising quality that Newvelle fans have come to expect from the label.
The vinyl is pressed at the world-renowned Quality Record Pressings, makers of the world's finest-sounding LPs !
What makes Newvelle so special that discerning audiophiles would want to invest $200 without having a chance to preview these releases? The easy answer is that Newvelle LPs sound absolutely spectacular in every way. Here's their mission statement.
"We set out to build a series of records, of all new music, that cut no corners sonically or artistically. Each year Newvelle records... records, exclusively on vinyl and with curated artwork and literature. We built a model that treats musicians right and uses the full available canvas of vinyl to make something unique and beautiful".
So, give us the details. What's Newvelle serving up in this special vinyl bundle package ? We'll tell you.
The legacy and breadth of New Orleans music is beautifully represented in this limited edition collection of four single-sleeved records on clear vinyl. The New Orleans Collection is a physical testament to the vibrancy of New Orleans music-preserving the legacy of New Orleans for generations of listeners, present and future.
New Orleans Featured Artists
IRMA THOMAS
Returning to the studio for her first album in over a decade, soul powerhouse Irma Thomas is back. With vocals that will sweep you away into a different time and space, Irma Thomas is rooted by her phenomenal accompanying band featuring Preservation Hall Jazz Band pianist Kyle Roussel, Johnny Vidacovich on drums, and the late Alfred "Uganda" Roberts on percussion. Roberts and Vidacovich played together since the late '60s as rhythm partners for many of the '60s and '70s R&B greats, including Professor Longhair.
Providing the brass for the album are Andrew Baham on trumpet, Roderick Pauling on Saxophone, and Terrence Taplin on Trombone. Thomas is supported by vocal backing from Paggy Prine, Sierra Green, and Kyshona Armstrong. And, bridging two great American musical traditions, Paul Defiglia and Stephen Daly join the band to contribute bass and guitar all the way from Nashville.
LITTLE FREDDIE KING
You've never met anyone quite like the charismatic Delta blues guitarist and vocalist, Little Freddie King. Born in Mississippi, King rode the rails to New Orleans at the age of 14, began to study guitar, and soon found himself performing in juke joints across the city. King mastered his craft and recorded the first electric blues album (Harmonica Williams and Little Freddie King) before setting off to tour with John Lee Hooker and Bo Diddley. King is backed by his longtime band members ‘Wacko' Wade Wright on drums and Robert Louis diTullio, Jr. on harmonica. Adding a new element to the music, the album also features the playing of Nashville guitarists Paul Defiglia and Stephen Daly as well as piano accompaniment by Elan Mehler. This project captures the authentic, incredibly raw style that King embodies, but it also expands on his forms of expression with solo, acoustic, and even gospel influence.
ELLIS MARSALIS & JASON MARSALIS
Jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis joined Newvelle Records in the studio just a few weeks before his passing in March 2020. This album, his last recording, finds him returning to some of his earliest works. In addition to a few new pieces, Marsalis revisits works from the earliest days of the modern jazz movement in New Orleans. He remembers moments that impacted the trajectory of the genre-such as when Coltrane came to listen to Marsalis and James Black and was blown away by their use of mixed meter. Ellis is joined on several songs by his youngest son Jason Marsalis on the vibraphone, and on one track with special accompaniment by Jason's daughter Marley Marsalis on percussion and piano.
JON CLEARY
Funk, jazz, R&B-these genres are so deeply rooted in New Orleans that it's no wonder the young British pianist Jon Cleary was compelled to move to the city to play. In the early '80s, he was painting the bar at the famous Maple Leaf Bar, where he listened to James Booker play live every week while soaking in the sounds of New Orleans piano greats such as Huey "Piano" Smith, Mac Rebennack, Fats Domino, and Professor Longhair. Now, four decades later, New Orleans has fully embraced Cleary as one of its own. Coming full circle for this recording, Cleary is backed by James Booker's rhythm section from his last studio album Classified James Singleton on upright bass and Johnny Vidacovich on drums. They are joined on several tracks by James Rivers, a legendary New Orleans saxophone player who played on many New Orleans funk and R&B classics from Big Chief to Carnival Time.
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