The Peter Leitch New Life Orchestra – New Life – CD Review
This post contains affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure here.
Plastic – CD
Surface noise: N/A
Dynamic Range: 4+
Stereo Imaging: 4+
Image depth/perspective: 4
Overall frequency response: 4+
Please see here for my comments on reviewing albums.
Track List
CD 1:
- Mood For Max
- Portrait Of Sylvia
- Sorta. Kinda
- Monk’s Circle
- Round Midnight (Thelonius Monk)
- Penumbra
- Brilliant Blue, Twilight Blue
- Fulton Street Suite
CD 2:
- Exhilaration
- Elevanses
- Clifford Jordan
- Ballad Fof Charles Davis
- The Minister’s Son (Jed Levy)
- Spring Is Here (Rogers & Hart)
- Back Story
- Tutwiler 2001
- The Long Walk Home
This album was recorded by Ryan Strieber at Octaven Audio, Mount Vernon, NY on January 17-18, 2020, and mixed and mastered by David Darlington at Bass Hit Recording, NYC. It will be released on the Jazz House label on November 20th, 2020.
Leitch’s transition from an acclaimed first-call jazz guitarist who performed with numerous jazz masters like Oscar Peterson and Jack McDuff to a jazz orchestra leader was not a voluntary decision. Peter Leitch’s New Life Orchestra celebrates his New Life after losing his ability to play guitar due to illness.
The fifteen-piece New Life Orchestra first performed at The 75 Club, NYC in 2018 and this is their debut album release. And so, after decades as a jazz guitarist, Peter Leitch has discovered his previously undeveloped talents as an arranger and orchestra leader.
It took Peter two years to orchestrate these these seventeen tracks but only two hours for me to listen to them.
Read more about Peter Leitch on his web site.
Background hiss was minimal as tracks were faded up and down, often with little to no time between the end of one track and the start of the next. Instrumental dynamics were good throughout and there were no audible signs of compression. The imaging for the kit and all the instrumental breaks/solos was stable, clean and pin point. However, I found that the backing/rhythm instruments tended to merge into one horizontal line with little delineation between instruments. The general imaging was set back behind my speakers with the kit furthest back, the rhythm section just in front and all breaks and solos appearing front line. The entire orchestra was nicely placed between my speakers with few instruments ever appearing to come directly from the left or right hand speakers, but they showed little vertical separation remaining in the same horizontal plane and height between the speakers except for the kit that had a small amount of vertical separation.
Normally I expect instruments to ‘stay put’ but on several tracks, like CD2T8, the acoustic guitar appeared on the RHS………I also noted that some of the notes for track instrumental assignments were not accurate. For example, there is no Arco (bowed) Bass on CD2T8 that I can hear, but there is a well detailed acoustic guitar.
There are sixteen different instruments and the kit in this orchestral jazz line-up so I shall not be dealing with them in any great detail individually. The overall sound was very open with most instrumental breaks and solos brought right to the front of the mix. This provided an excellent opportunity to analyze the instruments sound. In all cases brass, wind, guitar, piano, double bass and kit were all very natural and open. The kit provided a nicely spread, well defined center image with excellent dynamics, well damped toms and snare, sharp rim shots, well detailed; brush work, hi-hat and cymbals, all with a bright clean edge. The kick drum rarely making itself noticed except during the excellent solo on CD1T8 where it provided a well damped deep and solid thud followed by short reverb. Acoustical double bass always cut through the mix no matter how busy or loud it became, however, it always sounded just a little muffled lacking a little in clarity and edge but provided a terrific break on CD2T9.
The saxophones; baritone, tenor, alto and soprano all provided numerous excellent solos and breaks with almost enough realism to ‘appear’ in my room. Miking is close enough to provide the listener with reed and wind noise, but little key action was heard. Trombones sounded very open with a deep resonating mellow tone and a clean solid ‘rip’. Flugelhorn and in particular the trumpets had a very clean and bright edge with no hardness, giving them plenty of presence. Flute and alto flute provided a soft, warm, natural and mellow sound with just enough detail, in a similar manner to the bass clarinet. The electric guitar was very mellow in contrast to the acoustical guitar that was much brighter and more detailed revealing both fret noise or finger action. Finally the piano provided a well spread image, left of center, with a very natural full bodied tone and good detail.
There were few bum or split notes and most entrances and extemporizations were quite tight. General levels of reverb were low and short, filling out the sound field and creating an inviting atmosphere without coloring the performance.
Peter has managed to assemble a very proficient group of musicians who together with his original compositions created two hours of dynamic and enjoyable laid back jazz music that on occasions gets a little raucous.
Singling out any one track just depends upon what you are looking for. Almost every track has a good range of breaks and solos from several instruments. The tracks are all well recorded and provide accomplished performances, with many of the tracks having excellent brass, wind, guitar and piano solos and breaks.
Playback note: Reviewed using my Denon DBP A100 over Denon Link 3. Speakers; a stereo pair of Genelec 1038’s and four SVS subs.
Disclosure: This CD was provided by Mouthpiece Music. No financial compensation was provided.
Purchase from City Hall Records.
Purchase from Amazon.
See my other Mouthpiece Music reviews.
