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Kirsten Edkins - Shapes & Sound [CR-AV-2201 USA 2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC]

Some of you may have heard of this record, the more serious jazz lovers may already desire/own a copy. It was very difficult to find on my side of the planet and it took a while to track down a copy at a regular price.

Kirsten Edkins is a young composer and saxophonist out of Los Angeles, California. Shapes & Sound is her second album and the first release on mastering engineer Kevin Gray's record label Cohearant Records.

Gray recorded the album with Edkins and her band at his home studio, 'Hackensack West' in Los Angeles (in tribute to the great Rudy Van Gelder's home studio in Hackensack, NJ) using an all-analogue all-valve (vacuum tube) recording system - all the way from the cloned vintage microphones through to the final cutting head. Gray's intention was to capture that 'in the room' sound for which Van Gelder was famous for on his original recordings for Blue Note & Prestige.

This record sounds quite amazing, the positioning & timbre of each instrument is clearly defined, each in its own space with remarkable clarity. By cutting out the modern digital nuances, the natural sound from the band's tight performance fills the room - Edkins' sax clearly to the left, Lemar Guillary's trombone to the right, Gerald Clayton's piano & Ahmet Turkmenoglu's bass firmly occupy stage centre. 

Now we can hear what all the fuss is about.

A1 Party Slug

A2 Bird Shapes

A3 Dedicated To You

A4 The Goose

B1 Sweet Pickles

B2 Wuhoo

B3 Proprietary Minor

B4 Hula Hoop