Vanessa Fernandez – I Want You (180g 45rpm 2LP)

Michael Fremer Rated 4 Stars for Performance / 5 Stars for Sonics!

Mastered by Bernie Grundman From The Original 30 ips Analogue Masters!
Pressed & Plated at RTI!

‘I Want You’ sees Vanessa return to the ’70s R&B classics and modern soul catalogue that was delivered so very well on ‘Use Me’ but with the addition of more recent hits from the likes of Radiohead and Rag & Bone Man.

Vanessa’s third session for Groove Note features a collection of classic and old school soul and RnB classics with more recent songs included in the mix. Vanessa covers artists that include Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Gloria Gayner, Amy Winehouse, Hall & Oates, Radiohead and More!.

The album was recorded at United (former Oceanway) in Hollywood and mixed at Sphere in Burbank. All tracking and mixing was done 100% all analogue. Michael C Ross recorded the album in United Studio B over four days on a 24 track Studer using 2 inch analogue tape running at 30 ips. The final 30 ips 1/4 inch stereo master was used by Bernie Grundman to cut the 45 rpm LP and create the SACD.

Tim Pierce handled all the arrangements as on the first two Vanessa albums. Musicians include former Michael Jackson bassist Alex Al, current Jimmy Kimmel show band keyboardist Jeff Babko, top LA-based horn player Ricky Woodard as well as returning musicians from ‘When The Levee Breaks’. Needless to say, Vanessa and the band deliver some truly exceptional performances on this session and with fabulous all analogue sonics!

“As he usually does, engineer Ross splits the difference between an audiophile-savvy, band-in-the-room perspective and the pop and slam of a great commercial studio recording. Mastering is Bernie Grundman. The sound picture is well-organized, and images are solid and three-dimensional, within a supertransparent soundstage. From the first center-fill drum smack on the opener, “Right On For the Darkness”, you know you’re in for an exciting, live-in-the-studio ride, captured with minimal processing and dynamic range intact. A jacket sticker says Ms. Fernandez’s voice was recorded without Auto-Tune. The analog recording, on 2″ 30ips tape, produces the smooth, naturally flowing, artifact-free sound analog lovers always hope for but don’t often get…” ; 4 Stars for Performance / 5 Stars for Sonics – Michael Fremer, Stereophile, July 2019

“There are few recordings you can buy today that equal the sound of Fernandez’s Groove Note releases in any parameter you can think of, including deep bass, explosive dynamics, unlimited headroom, expansive soundstaging and spot-on tone color. This time out, backed by a band of top Los Angeles session players, Fernandez sings eleven covers, with something from Michael Jackson (‘Billie Jean’), Amy Winehouse (‘Back to Black’), Radiohead (‘Creep’) Curtis Mayfield (‘Tripping Out’), Daryl Hall (‘Every Time You Go Away’) and others, all pop and soul grooves that continue her record of unique interpretations while avoiding the plodding dullness of most female vocalists on audiophile recordings. Watching Claire Denis’s Let The Sunshine In recently, in which Juliette Binoche dances to Etta James’s ‘At Last’ (and keeps the album cover on the wall in her home), I was struck by how much of James’s energy Vanessa Fernandez brings to her renditions. Nobody is going to mistake the two for each other, but there’s an authenticity that both share. That’s high praise indeed.” – Dennis Davis, The Audio Beat, Music 4/5, Sound 5/5