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Total Immersion: New Multichannel Mixes from Pink Floyd and Franco Ambrosetti

Total Immersion: New Multichannel Mixes from Pink Floyd and Franco Ambrosetti

How we refer to recordings that require more than two speakers for playback has evolved over the last 60 years—from quadraphonic, to surround sound, to multichannel, to the current in vogue term, “immersive audio.” Whatever it’s called, the goal has been fairly consistent—to offer a more spatially convincing representation of musical content. This can be reality-based, as with an orchestral recording, or a completely synthetic construct, as with many jazz and most popular recordings. The number of music-only surround releases has diminished substantially since the SACD’s heyday, but there’s still a steady, if slower, stream of new immersive mixes to consider.

Female vocalists are a common musical obsession for audio enthusiasts, but for many audiophiles of a certain age, Progressive Rock isn’t far behind. Originating in Great Britain in the mid-1960s and typified by bands like Genesis, Yes, ELO, and Van der Graaf Generator, the genre struck some as increasingly pretentious and overblown. Critical ambivalence aside, the music has had undeniable staying power, and none more so than the recorded legacy of Pink Floyd.

Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall belong in any basic rock collection; possibly Wish You Were Here as well. Floyd’s tenth studio project, 1977’s Animals, was a bleak concept album that took its inspiration from George Orwell’s Animal Farm. It was intended as a critique of classist, capitalistic society—the lengthy selections describe pigs, dogs, and sheep in conflict—and while there’s nothing as memorably chart-worthy as “Another Brick in the Wall” or “Money,” the level of musicianship is high, David Gilmour’s guitar work in particular. James Guthrie’s association with Pink Floyd dates back to The Wall, which he engineered. More recently, he’s created the definitive 5.1 versions of DSOM and Wish You Were Here. The 24-bit/192kHz multichannel version is very involving, revealing layer upon layer of depth and detail as well as the richly variegated tonal range of Gilmour’s guitars and Richard Wright’s keyboard sonorities, as well as the expressive implacability of Roger Waters’ lead vocals. Bass and drums are slightly underpowered by current standards but appropriate for the overall scale and sonic perspective of the album.

With Nora, veteran Swiss trumpet and flugelhornist Franco Ambrosetti honors the tradition of arrangements for jazz soloist and strings. Classic albums from 1950s and 60s featured Clifford Brown, Charlie Parker, Ben Webster, and Stan Getz in similar settings. The eight selections are mostly slow ballads, including the title track composed by Ambrosetti and once used for a stage production of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Also programmed are compositions by Victor Feldman, Johnny Dankworth, George Gruntz, Joseph Kosma (the standard, “Autumn Leaves”), John Coltrane’s “After the Rain,” and a gently swinging arrangement of “All Blues” that’s the only up-tempo selection and arguably the album’s highlight; in fact, it’s as fine a tribute to Miles Davis as I’ve ever heard. The supporting jazz musicians are a dream team that includes pianist Uri Caine, guitarist John Scofield, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Peter Erskine. Alan Broadbent wrote the harmonically luxuriant string arrangements.

Though Nora is highly recommendable on its musical merits alone—TAS jazz writer Bill Milkowski picked it as his favorite album of 2022—it’s also special from a sonic standpoint. Leading the production team was Jim Anderson, familiar to audiophiles from his work with Patricia Barber; among those collaborating with Anderson was his wife, Ulrike Schwarz, a German-trained Tonmeister with extensive symphonic experience. Schwarz’s professional history could be at least partly responsible for the exceptionally rich aural texture of the 22-person ensemble of violins, violas, and cellos that helps to establish the mood of warm introspection with which the album is saturated. The multichannel mix, created at Skywalker Sound, isn’t exactly “immersive” in the sense of enveloping the listener from all directions but instead generates an almost palpable sonic object that couldn’t exist in reality—musicians sometimes seem to be occupying the same space—yet it’s extraordinarily clarifying of artistic intent. It’s far easier than usual for a receptive listener to attend to several musical events—the soulful flugelhorn, Caine’s crisp keyboard punctuations, and Erskine’s imaginative cymbal work, the melting string harmonies—simultaneously. It’s a heightened sensory experience, one you’re likely to return to often.

Tags: CLASSICAL MUSIC ROCK

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