Jazz Recordists

While some of my favorite albums were made in huge studios with big budgets, I'm also very excited about records made under less ideal circumstances. I find it really inspiring when timeless records can be made by people with limited experience and resources. For this...

A drummer can make or break a session, and I have always loved getting their perspectives on the recording process as well as the variety of roles they play in the studio. After several solo records and appearances on records by Dave Holland, Brittany Howard, The Fearless...

Located in (yes) a former meat market, Pete Min calls Lucy's Meat Market in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, his two room recording studio and home. Artists such as Meshell Ndegeocello, Real Estate, Lake Street Dive, Orville Peck, Chris Dave, The Monkees and others have used his...

With the goal of releasing records recorded at the highest fidelity with minimal processing, Doug Fearn and brothers George and Geoff Hazelrigg began Outer Marker Records a few years ago, using DSD (Direct Stream Digital) recorders as opposed to the more typical PCM (Pulse Code...

In a Pitchfork review of SML's Small Medium Large album, Matthew Blackwell wrote, "There were no rules at Enfield Tennis Academy (ETA). The tiny Los Angeles cocktail bar… became a destination for the new jazz scene's westward migration from Chicago to L.A.; a...

What happens when you combine the rhythmic backbone of Fugazi veterans Joe Lally (bass) and Brendan Canty (drums, Tape Op#12) with the soaring heights of James Brandon Lewis' sax, and douse it all with the guitar pyrotechnics of Anthony Pirog? What if you put those guys...

In the mid-'40s, a new generation of musicians heralded the arrival of bebop. Here's why some of the most exciting jazz performances ever recorded still don't sound good, and how we might be able to fix it.

In the long and vast history of jazz, Charlie Parker...

With two feet planted firmly in the jazz world, as well as tentacles reaching into hip-hop, R&B, ambient, world music, and experimental genres, Grammy-nominated producer, composer, and trumpeter Theo Croker makes his voice heard far and wide. His latest release BLK2LIFE // A...

Keith Lewis is Qmillion, a musician, engineer, producer, composer, and mixer based in L.A. He's been busier than ever during the last decade with Robert Glasper (and his Experiment and Trio combos), as well as many related artists and projects. Qmillion's mixes and...

Several decades ago a young engineer left Italy for New York, looking to enter the studios of Manhattan. These days, Marc Urselli is a respected producer, recording engineer, and front of house live sound mixer. He works out of New York's EastSide Sound as Chief House...

Drummer, producer, and engineer Darryl Moore (aka: JMD, Jamm Messenger D, Jamm Messenger Divine) has helped seminal hip-hop groups Freestyle Fellowship and The Pharcyde develop their sound. As a drummer, Moore has toured with legendary pianist Horace Tapscott, and continues to...

New Zealand's Mark de Clive-Lowe is your conductor, musical tour guide, and conduit to the past and future. From accomplished jazz artist to a shaker in London's underground music scene, de Clive-Lowe has been part of over 200 releases and continues to produce, perform...

When one thinks of the great recording engineers who have indelibly shaped the recorded history of jazz music, names like Rudy Van Gelder [Tape Op #43] or Fred Plaut might readily come to mind. But if you were to ask some of the most prominent jazz musicians of the last 25 years...

Wayne Peet is an accomplished pianist/keyboardist and a first call player in the jazz/new music/avant-garde scene in Los Angeles, but he's also known as an excellent recordist, mixer, mastering engineer, and studio owner. The list of artists he's recorded spans genres...

A slight drizzle on an August afternoon in Oslo, Norway, set the mood perfectly for a conversation with engineer Jan Erik Kongshaug at his RainbowStudio. The space is tucked away in a beautifully designed modern business park. The lively stream running through the complex of...

In the insane world of recording and record production, we occasionally stumble across someone whose work puts him or her at many important junctures in music history, yet their name remains unknown to the general public. Richard Alderson is one such man. What's he done?...

Somehow, somewhere, somewhen, someone shared with me the sonic sensibilities of Ken Nordine. I was delighted with his word play (or were the words playing with him?), his deep, clear voice (an accidental hypnotist?), and the fresh and exciting music that slid, skittered, and...

A studio manager juggles responsibilities and must also find the time and space for creativity. It takes a level head and a scopic vision to stay sane and to be brilliant. Knitting Factory Recording Studio manager Sascha Van Oertzen runs her Studio with an ease that only comes...