Lyn Stanley has had a remarkable career in music. With the
late legendary jazz pianist Paul T. Smith as her mentor, she began her career
out of nowhere in 2010. Her debut recording Lost In Romance ranked in the top
100 albums played by American radio stations and, virtually by herself, she has
built up a large worldwide following (particularly among audiophiles) and released
such popular albums as Potions {from the 50s}, Interludes, The Moonlight
Sessions Volumes One and Two, and London Calling-A Toast To Julie London, all
of which have been big sellers. She was awarded Female Jazz Vocalist of the
Year for 2018 by Saul Levine, programmer for KKJZ-FM,Los Angeles' top jazz
radio station. Her secret, beyond her unique sultry voice and her impeccable
taste in picking out gems from the Great American Songbook, has been her
planning and attention to details. Whether it is the packaging, the sound
quality, the material, the arrangements, the always-danceable tempos, the
top-notch musicians or the producer, Lyn always goes first class.
Following up on the success of her London Calling-A Toast To
Julie London, Lyn Stanley decided to take a chance and record London With A
Twist-Live At Bernie's as a direct-to-disc album. Direct-to-disc recording is a
process that bypasses the use of magnetic tape, recording audio directly onto
an analog disc. The sound quality is impeccable but it can be a very difficult
process requiring nerves of steel. There is no opportunity to "fix"
mistakes later on, to change the balance, use overdubbing, or to do any
editing. The music is recorded live, one song after another. If a mistake is
made, either the entire process stops or the musicians continue playing. While
all recordings prior to the Lp's debut in 1949 were direct-to-disc, since 78s
contained around three minutes of music, stopping and doing a second take was
easy. When Lps, which held 15-20 minutes of music, took over, most recordings
were made utilizing magnetic tape and engineers could repair any mishaps. In
the 1970s and ‘80s a handful of direct-to-disc albums were made for the
audiophile market who wanted much better sound quality. While some of those
projects were successful, because the musicians had to play nonstop until a
side of an Lp was filled, much of the time they played it safe to avoid
last-minute mistakes. On London With A Twist, the exact opposite occurs.
Utilizing her Jazz Mavericks, an all- star group consisting of guitarist John
Chiodini, either Otmaro Ruiz or Mike Lang on piano, bassist Chuck Berghofer,
drummer Aaron Serfaty, and percussionist Luis Conte, Lyn Stanley sounds relaxed
and swinging in this collection of her favorites takes from two during the live
recording sessions. The singer has found that the most rewarding performances
occur when she and her musicians create music spontaneously, using only chord
charts. That way all of the players own the music and the results are creative,
looser and joyful, sounding like a late-night set performed purely for the fun
of it. And with this release, Lyn Stanley has become one of only five singers
who have created a direct-to-disc vocal album containing at least three songs
and 12 minutes of music; London With A Twist has over 43 minutes and was
recorded at Bernie Grundman's Mastering Studio using his famous customized
lathe. Recording/instant mixing by engineer Allen Sides.
Among the dozen selections on London With A Twist are such
standards as "Route 66," "Blue Moon," ‘Goody Goody,"
‘Bye Bye Blackbird" and "Body And Soul." Adding variety are two
offbeat choices, Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell" and Bruce
Springsteen's "Pink Cadillac," that one could imagine Julie London
interpreting in a similar fashion. Lyn Stanley's interpretations of these
classic songs do justice to the melodies and the lyrics. She and her Jazz
Mavericks create fearless performances during a swinging set that audiophiles
and lovers of high-quality music will treasure.
The sultry swing singer Lyn Stanley releases her most
adventurous project, a Direct To Disc Live to Metal Lacquer Recording with
superb recording quality that was performed live with instantaneous mixing and
no editing.
Musicians:
Lyn Stanley, vocals, Otmaro Ruiz, piano
Mike Lang, piano, Chuck Berghofer, bass
Aaron Serfaty, drums, John Chiodini, guitar
Luis Conte, percussion
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