The recordings from this disc contain one of the last recording sessions of Ray Brown (1926-2002). He was very happy with it and wanted to repeat the meeting with the piano player Shota Osabe. Four months later he was dead. This is no “farewell” or “last” album, or anything similar. This is splendid, refined playing of an experienced man, who does not need to hurry anywhere, who does not need to prove anything, who just met with a few friends and played a few pieces. On this disc we find recordings of jazz classics as well as pieces from Ray Brown and Shota Osabe – in total fourteen brilliant interpretations in a, today a bit forgotten, formation of a piano trio. The disc was issued in 2002, but only now, due to the K2 HD technology we get it in such a refined form. Winston Ma, the owner of the editor, First Impression Music, decided to issue it via a daughter company, named Last Impression Music, where especially nice discs, with high artistic value, are issued.

When we put it on in our player, besides the fantastic, swinging music, we get exceptional sound that references with saturation, presence and timbre to the best years of jazz (50.). The piano from Osabe is vivid and full, similar to Browns contrabass. The latter has a slightly boosted attack and contour, but it can be splendidly heard. The boost is in the fact, that it is heard clearer than in reality. But its coherence and vividness are on a very high level. It is no element placed somewhere in the back, but an equal partner to the piano. The percussion is also clear, but it can be heard, that it is not the main actor here. The timbre is rather sweet and slightly dark, just as usual like in the K2 HD – I catch myself more and more often that this is maybe the “right” interpretation of the reality. Anyway, the cymbals are “heavy” and substantial. The whole has just that character. The thing I would point to as an asset of the best recordings from the 50. is better presence and directness of the instruments. I don’t know where this comes from, maybe because the microphones were placed closer to the instruments, but it gave a more “audiophile” picture. But I will not complain. Happy Coat is a disc played with feeling and recorded with love (or the other way round, but lets just leave it as it is). The only “sin”, if it is one, is showing of the instruments as quite massive. But maybe I am mistaken, and this is how they should sound? Regardless of that, this disc is worth to have just for listening, and the fantastic sound will just enrich us.

Such combination of instruments, like on this disc, meaning a saxophone and organ is incredibly uncommon nowadays. In the 70. it was very popular, especially regarding the organ. Because the natural environment of this instrument is a church interior, with long reverb, real artistry is required to capture the event the right way. A saxophone is an instrument with a point type emission, meaning that the sound comes from one place, and the organ occupies big space. This makes the interaction with the environment different, and the reverb is generated in a different way. We have dealt with a similar project, some time ago, when Jan Garbarek recorded the disc Officium (ECM, 1525, CD) where he combined the sound of a tenor and soprano saxophone and voices of the singers from the Hillard Ensemble in the space of the St. Gerold monastery.

The disc of Ame Domnérus, because he is the main actor here, is equally quieted down, contemplating. But it is enough to hear a few notes to shout from the impression: I haven’t heard for a long time such phenomenally captured space, timbres and tonal balance. Even the recording from Garbarek, made by the unequalled ECM, does not come close to the Swedish recording. Or maybe this is the result of the K2 HD mastering? Possible, quite possible. Its signature can be heard – incredibly full, analog, creamy and “dense” sound, where the treble does not act on its own, but is only an elongation of the basic tone. Incredible!

But this music didn’t reach me from the very beginning – the first playing left me with a feeling of not being fully satisfied. Now I know I made a mistake – I sat down to listen with an attitude “I have to do it” and was in a hurry. The second time I played it was during the night, together with the new issue of “Hi-Fi +” in my hand and it left an overwhelming impression on me. The recording has an incredible space, depth and fullness. The organ is recorded with care, not drowning the saxophone. The latter has a substantial space around it and does not stand still in front of the microphone. It goes back often, and this increases the reflected sounds. The structure of both instruments is clear, but also warm. The drawing is precise, but in a natural way – we “see” the saxophone, but it is not artificially removed from its surroundings. This is due to the very good dynamics and carefully evened frequency response. The pad cups are not audible, or the mouth piece, but this is not a recording of that type. There is some noise in the recording, but in the end this is a large church and a large instrument (organ). And the recording is not very recent. Anyway this disc is a must to have.

The disc Now the Green Blade Riseth came to life from the need to re-interpret the collection of hymns of the Swedish Church issued in 1976 (Swedish Books of Hymns). Its goal was to combine what is traditional with a newer view. The task of new interpretation was taken by Bengt Berg, who prepared the arrangements, allowing using different groups of instruments in different parts of the church. However the main part of the recording consists of the fragments sung by the Stockholm Cathedral Choir. And this directs us directly an earlier issue by Winston Ma (also in K2 HD), the disc Cantate Domino (Prioprius/Lasting Impression Music, LIM K2HD 025, K2 HD), with which they constitute an inseparable whole.

Because I own the version of Now the Green... issued earlier on XRCD² (Prioprius, XRCD 9093, XRCD²), I could have a closer look at that, what the new re-master brought into the music. The comparison is for me the easier, as once heard and appreciated; the assets of K2 HD become the reference point for everything else. The older edition is incredibly resolving and precise. When the children in When He Comes take breath, when they phrase, when they finish the verse in not precisely the same time we get everything presented clearly. The space is extremely precise. It can be clearly heard, where the microphones were placed versus the performers. When in When We Share the Bread the guitar plays, it is quite close and has distinct edges of the strings. The thing is that they sound like in an acoustic and not a classical or baroque guitar. As if in the sound of the strings was more metal than intestines. Because the K2 HD version does not sound like a recording, but rather a live event. Just less of hi-fi in the music. We do not accept it from the very beginning, as the audiophile tastes disappear somewhere. But if we reorient our minds, then it will turn out, that we listen to music and are not analyzing it. Maybe the location of each and every instrument is not as precise, but normally it sounds like on the K2 HD. And in the new version we get the vertical dimension, earlier only hinted at. And the sibilants do not hiss at all, what did happen in the previous version. The background noise is audible, but it is just a background. The timbre is a bit warm, full. The performers are a bit more to the back, but the recording has a 6dB lower level, what suggests it was re-mastered with bigger dynamics. I have no doubt, that this is the way XXI century re-masters should sound. We will probably get something better, because technological advance will allow for it, and as Herman van den Dungen, the main constructor and owner of Prima Luna (Q&A, „Hi-Fi Choice”, Issue 311, October 2008, s. 54) says, we are now only half way to fully understand PCM coding and the Compact Disc in particular. But here and now the K2 HD is king for me.