Jack of Hearts

Anthony Wilson

20,9926,99
(4 press reviews)
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Original Recording Format: Analog Tape
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A breakout album for Anthony Wilson, this organ trio with the superb Larry Goldings on B3 features two of the finest drummers working today – half the tunes are with the swinging Jeff Hamilton on drums and the rest session drummer par excellence Jim Keltner who lays down some truly great percussion. Aside from Wilson’s exploration of Latin, south of the border influences, the recording features unique performances of music by Ellington, Hawkins, Jerry Goldsmith and Van Dyke Parks.

Recorded Direct to 2-track Analog in the legendary Ocean Way Recording Studio A in Hollywood, CA on January 27 and 28, 2009.

* NativeDSD makes this recording available for the first time as a DSD Download to a wider audience, outside the US and Canada.
* NativeDSD exclusively offers this recording as DSD 128 and DSD 256 Downloads (see Tech Specs for more info).

Tracklist

Please note that the below previews are loaded as 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.
1.
Mezcal
03:45
2.
Jack of Hearts
05:47
3.
Hawkeyes
05:44
4.
Carnegie Blues
07:43
5.
Theme from Chinatown
08:10
6.
Vida Perdida Acabou
04:24
7.
Orange Crate Art
04:57
8.
Harajuku
04:09
9.
Zweet Zurzday
07:36
10.
Homecoming
05:51

Total time: 00:58:06

Additional information

Label

SKU

GRV1046

Qualities

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Channels

Artists

Composers

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Genres

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Mastering Engineer

David Glasser, Airshow Mastering

Mastering Room

DSD 128 and DSD 256 Download Files Created by Tom Caulfield at the NativeDSD Mastering Lab, Marshfield, MA

Notes

We are pleased to announce the availability of Groove Note releases in DSD 128 and DSD 256, in addition to the original DSD 64 releases. These higher bit rate DSD 128 and DSD 256 releases are all pure DSD created. They are not up samplings, for there are no PCM or DXD conversions involved in their production. They are re-modulations of the original DSD 64 encoding modulation that produced the DSD 64 releases. The sonic advantage to these new Stereo and Multichannel DSD 128 and DSD 256 releases, as with all higher DSD bit rate releases, is the wider frequency passband prior to the onset of modulation noise.This results in the listener’s DAC using gentler and more phase linear filters for playback of the music.

Instruments

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Original Recording Format

Producer

Joe Harley

Recording Engineer

Michael C. Ross

Recording Location

Ocean Way Recording Studio, Hollywood CA on January 27 and 28, 2009

Recording Type & Bit Rate

Analog

Release DateMay 11, 2018

Press reviews

Analog Planet 8 out of 5

While two of the three previous jazz records guitarist/arranger Anthony Wilson made with producer Joe Harley were guitar/drum/organ sessions, this one also featuring those instruments is much different.

Though it’s definitely a jazz album, the inclusion of legendary rock drummer Jim Keltner instead of a more swinging, lighter touched jazz percussionist gives Jack of Hearts a much different anchor and a mostly retro-feel.

Keltner’s insistent drumming puts organist Larry Goldings in an equally steady groove and allows Wilson to play blockier and more aggressively than on previous albums.

Jazz purists might wonder about the choice of Keltner, who even when playing jazzy rhythms, is unmistakably a rock drummer by temperament and touch. Not being said purist, I think the choice was inspired. Even when on occasion you might be wishing for a slightly lighter, breezier touch, Keltner makes it interesting.

Sonically, you get everything you could hope for in a Michael C. Ross Oceanway live to two track analog production. There are sonic riches galore from the to-salivate-from Hammond B-3 organ with its big, fat warm bass lines to the warm, round yet precise electric guitar lines and the woody, cracklin’ rim shots snappy snares, punchy cymbals and cataclysmic kick drum explosions. Ross is going for impact not soundstaging or three guys playing in the distance in a big room, so expect a big drum kit spread across the stage and room-filling man-sized images.

So crank it up and enjoy this not-so-guilty, below the neck retro-pleasure fest.

Prairie Audio Man Cave

Anthony Wilson Trio. “Mezcal.” Jack of Hearts. DSD128 Native DSD download. Groove Note Records. 2009.

This sassy jazz gem by the longtime guitarist in Diana Krall’s quartet (“Anthony Wilson: Guitarist, Composer, Arranger”) shows plenty of slam with Jim Keltner’s snare, crash, ride cymbals — and, yes, the cowbell, while Wilson’s electric guitar is big, bold and well articulated. Larry Golding’s vintage Hammond B-3 lead riffs and background pads give it verve. And, when Wilson opens up, it’s an intoxicating kickoff to an outstanding album this shines with a very analog and realistic presentation that draws me in time and again.

Tone Audio

“Sometimes the postman brings cool surprises. I looked at the quilted envelope marked “Groove Note Records” and figured with a name like that, something good had to be inside and I was not disappointed. Though I’m not terribly familiar with Anthony Wilson, my ears perked up when I saw Jim Keltner listed as one of the musicians. A few seconds later a big warm sound filled the room and about 15 seconds later, everyone that was hanging out had a big smile on their face.”

Jack of Hearts is straight ahead jazz, served classic trio style. Anthony Wilson is a great guitarist, who plays with a light touch and an exquisite sense of space on “Clark and Old Fender amps.” Trio partner Larry Goldrings brings an equal level of tastiness to the Hammond B-3, mixed in with Jim Keltner and Jeff Hamilton on drums to round out the group. The disc has a nice mixture of jazz standards from Ellington, Hawkins and Parks, with the remaining half of the disc Wilson originals.

This is one of those special albums that has been flawlessly recorded and mastered, but isn’t boring audiophile music. This is a record that you want to share with your friends and your favorite adult beverage with the lights down low. The record was recorded in the legendary Oceanway Studio in Hollywood to 2 track analog and thanks to the care taken in the DSD mastering, Jack of Hearts will put these three guys right in your listening room.”

All Music 4 out of 5

“Jack of Hearts isn’t the first Anthony Wilson album to feature an organist extensively. For example, he worked with the Los Angeles-based organist Joe Bagg on his album Savivity. But the guitarist has worked with acoustic pianists more often than organists.

Jack of Hearts is unusual in that it finds Wilson not using a pianist at all. On this session, Wilson forms an intimate trio with Larry Goldings on organ and Jeff Hamilton or Jim Keltner on drums.

In the ’90s and 2000s, Goldings was one of the leading proponents of a post-Jimmy Smith aesthetic on the Hammond B-3. Goldings has been greatly influenced by the late Larry Young, who started out as a Smith disciple but evolved into an innovative, distinctive post-bop/modal player and went down in history as “The John Coltrane of the Organ.” Of course, Goldings is not a clone of Young; he is most certainly his own person, but he shares Young’s love of post-bop.
So it isn’t surprising that Goldings does a lot to shape the post-bop perspective that dominates Jack of Hearts. His presence is a major plus on material that was composed by Goldings and/or Wilson, and it is a major plus on memorable arrangements of Coleman Hawkins’ “Hawkeyes” and two of Duke Ellington’s lesser-known pieces (“Zweet Zursday” and “Carnegie Blues”). The fact that neither of those Ellington tunes is a standard speaks well of Wilson, who is smart enough to realize that one of the joys of the vast Ellington songbook is hearing all of the worthwhile Ellington compositions that didn’t become standards.

Jack of Hearts is a consistently engaging addition to Wilson’s catalog.”

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