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| Jane Ira Bloom's Picturing the Invisible: Focus 1 Nominated for a Grammy! Picturing The Invisible – Focus 1 is a selection of compositions by saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom inspired by the science photography of legendary NYC photographer Berenice Abbott, arranged for duet during the pandemic and recorded remotely in high definition immersive sound by audio engineer Ulrike Schwarz. Award winning jazz soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom pairs with renowned improvisors drummer Allison Miller, koto artist Miya Misaoka, and bassist Mark Helias to play a series of eight compositions performed in real time connected remotely from their home studios in NYC. Using the most up-to-date technology, Grammy nominated tonmeister Ulrike Schwarz has recorded and mastered the acoustic beauty of these extraordinary musicians' creativity as they duet across the internet. Audio science and improvisational art collaborate to make this recording a one of a kind musical event. The digital premiere takes place on Tuesday, July 12. Release Date: July 12, 2022 Jane Ira Bloom soprano saxophone Allison Miller drums, percussion Mark Helias bass Miya Masaoka koto Produced by Jane Ira Bloom and Ulrike Schwarz ℗ 2022 Outline, Technical Credits: Recording engineer: Ulrike Schwarz Mixing Engineer: Jim Anderson Assistant Mixing Engineer: Dann Thompson Stereo and 5.1 Surround Mastering Engineer: Ulrike Schwarz Immersive Mastering Engineers: Ulrike Schwarz, Morten Lindberg Cover Design: Assen Semov Recorded at Jane Ira Bloom's office, Manhattan, Allison Miller's practice room, Brooklyn, Mark Helias' bass studio, Manhattan, and Miya Masaoka's living room in Manhattan, February 2022 Mixed at Skywalker Sound, a Lucasfilm, Ltd. Company, Division, Marin County, CA, March 2022 Mastered at Anderson Audio New York, Brooklyn, June and July 2022. This project was recorded, mixed and mastered in Ultra High Resolution (384kHz/32bit) using Merging Technology Horus/Pyramix recording systems and the Merging+Clock U. Release Formats: - Digital Permanent Download up to 384kHz/32bit in stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound - Digital Permanent Download Auro3D flac file (96kHz/24bit) - Digital Permanent Download Dolby Atmos - Streaming in MQA, up to 192kHz and other formats Notes from the producers: In the face of the most challenging issues of the pandemic, the NYFA Women's Music Fund gave us the flexibility and inspiration to reimagine our project to reach a vision for recording that pushed us to the peak of our creative limits. The breathtaking B & W science photography of NYC photographer Berenice Abbott was the beginning inspiration for a project of new compositions for improvisors called Picturing the Invisible. Together with audio engineer and producer Ulrike Schwarz an idea evolved that would combine cutting edge immersive sound recording technique to capture new music that I would compose and perform with several world renowned improvisors in NYC. With funding from the New York City's Women's Fund, we would make art & audio science collaborate in a way that mirrored the original impulse of Abbott's science inspired photography. It all sounded great....then the pandemic happened and all bets were off.... Given the issues of recording safety for everyone involved, we had to reimagine our vision - so we devised a way to hone the music into duet format and to record the music remotely but at the highest level of immersive sound capability. It's hard to believe that with cutting edge technology I was able to rehearse and record with my collaborators in real time from my home office. Drummer Allison Miller, bassist Mark Helias, and koto artist Miya Masaoka were likewise set up to record in their homes and on three separate days in February 2022 Ulrike Schwarz made audio magic happen by connecting all of us in high resolution immersive sound. Looking back on it I can see that the pandemic pushed us to our creative limits in ways that we could never have imagined. Maybe the limitations were what brought a heightened sense of immediacy and honesty to the creative process, but here are the results of our work together. Hope you enjoy hearing us Picture the Invisible. -Jane Ira Bloom Trying to Picture the Invisible we had to Imagine the Impossible. Initially we had envisioned a glorious studio session with New York's most wonderful improvisors in a beautiful space to capture "The Invisible" in three-dimensional sound and ultra-high definition (a k a 384kHz sampling frequency and 32bit resolution). Alas, plans changed and the focus changed to creating an environment to improvise and make music together in different homes over the internet while keeping the imagination of a three-dimensional experience for the eventual listener alive. One Ultra High Definition recording system and several microphones were installed at Jane Ira Bloom's office – with only the most basic room acoustic measures applied-, the other Ultra High Definition recording system travelled with me to the other musician's homes. While recording the other artists, the internet connections of each duo were equipped with high speed routers and Jane Ira Bloom's recording computer was remote controlled by me from the remote location as well. Each musician was equipped with latency free headphone mixers and for the most time the overall latency could be kept to a level that made improvising enjoyable. The mixing took place at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, CA, where the magic happened and mixing engineer Jim Anderson placed the musicians in the imaginary three-dimensional space. With the help of mastering wizard Morten Lindberg, we are able to not only offer this breathtaking album in conventional formats like stereo and 5.1 surround but also in immersive audio on streaming and download platforms. Please enjoy the music as it was intended and lose yourself in the breathtaking musicianship of Jane Ira Bloom, Allison Miller, Mark Helias and Miya Masaoka. -Ulrike Schwarz Funding for this project was made possible by the NYC Women's Fund for Media, Music, & Theatre by the City of New York's Mayor's Office of Media & Entertainment in association with the NY Foundation for the Arts. write your comments about the article :: © 2022 Jazz News :: home page |