Hamilton, Birro, Zunino, Kramer – Ballads For Audiophiles (180g LP)

Club 496 – Only 496 Copies Numbered Limited Edition – Pressed at Pallas

Saxophonist Scott Hamiton, pianist Paolo Birro, bassist Aldo Zunino and Alfred Kramer, drums, combine on an audiophile ballads program that includes such timeless favorites as “Moon River,” “The Shadow Of Your Smile,” “The Gypsy” and more.

The arrangements for the classical jazz quartet were entirely in the know-how of the four musicians, and they are no strangers to Fone fans: Scott Hamilton (saxophone) was most enthusiastic about his albums “I Could Write A Book” and “Who Cares” ? “Together with pianist Andrea Pozza. On “Ballads For Audiophiles”, Hamilton comes back with two colleagues, with whom he could be heard on “Bean And The Boys” at Fone: Paolo Birro on the piano and Alfred Kramer on drums.

For delicate jazz ballads however a warm and elegantly played double bass is indispensable, and therefore on this album a fourth man is added: bassist Aldo Zunino. Together, the quartet has an impressive stylistic range: Hamilton and Zunino have the gentle swing in the blood, Paolo Birro is just as virtuosic as the keys on the keys thanks to his classical training, and drummer Alfred Kramer, who has a long career in Enzo Pietropaoli’s exerimable space Jazz trio, with subtle grooves, the pieces skillfully contrast each other – from free-flowing ambience to seductively slow Latin beats, everything is here.

The place where this record was created has now also proved to be very successful at Fone: The ancient vault of the old hotel “Il Castello” in Florence. With the exception of Aldo Zunino, all the musicians of this recording had already appeared several times in these rooms in front of the microphone (in particular, of course, Alfred Kramer, the hotel), and Giulio Cesare Ricci, who conducted the recording as usual himself, now knows the acoustics of the old walls Already very accurate. It is also the fact that “Ballads For Audiophiles” has a wonderfully relaxed and family atmosphere, in which the music can unfold unimpeded, captured by Signore Ricci on a purely analog signal path in absolutely first-class sound quality. Especially the enormously detailed saxophone sound and the wonderfully warm double bass make this album a real audiophile treat. As always with Fone limited to 496 pieces – so strike fast!

Recorded November 2016 at the Hotel II Castello – Palazzo di Scoto di Semifonte. Recorded using Ampex ATR 102 76 cm/sec 1/2-inch tape.

ID: Fonè Jazz – 111