Troy Roberts – Stuff I Heard – CD Review
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Surface noise: N/A
Dynamic Range: 5-
Stereo Imaging: 5-
Image depth/perspective: 4
Overall frequency response:4+
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Track List:
- Little Room
- Harry Brown
- Lifeline
- Prayer Of Hope
- Rejekt
- Hightail
- Aeonian
- Solar Panels
- The Comedian
Line Up:
- Soprano Sax – Troy Roberts
- Alto Sax – Troy Roberts
- Tenor Sax – Troy Roberts
- Acoustic Bass – Troy Roberts
- Electric Bass – Troy Roberts
- Drums – Jimmy Macbride
This is Troy Roberts 12th album and as you can see from the line-up he is a talented one man band who also composed and created all the arrangements.
The album was recorded on January 16th & 18th, 2019 at Bass Hits Studios, NYC, where it was engineered, mixed and mastered by Dave Darlington.
Troy Roberts is a Vandoren endorsed artist who has received many musical accolades including; 3 DownBeat SM Jazz Soloist Awards, 2 Grammy nominations and has contributed to over 50 recordings as a sideman and performed and worked with many well know jazz luminaries to include: Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, James Morrison and Christian McBride, just to name a few.
Clearly the only way ‘one’ musician could create this album is through the wonders of overdubbing and multi-tracking, allowing the recording of an instrument(s) while listening to other recorded instrumental or vocal tracks that have been previously recorded (laid down).
This performnace technique, once mastered by the musician works very well, but it can lack the dynamics and interaction found when multiple musicians play simultaneously, taking cues from each other and working off each others energies. So while this album was musically accurate with tight entrances and exits, few bum notes and good extemporization between the various parts it lacked just a smidgen in energy.
Background system noise was minimal as the tracks were faded up, however, tracks 6 & 1 showed some obvious 60Hz hum during the bass opening bars and bass solo respectively. This issue was not heard at any other time even during very quiet passages. Overall the instrumental dynamics were very good showing no obvious audible compression. The imaging was typical for a studio multi-tracked recording with the kit set furthest back and filling the entire distance between my speakers. The bass lines placed dead center behind what was mostly the central lead alto sax, with the tenor sax occasionally popping up slightly set back to the RHS and the soprano, and what sounded to be double-tracked and individual alto sax parts, being spread across the entire image but set back behind the lead sax. Overall the image was shallow showing restricted height and depth in the instrumental separation.
Both the electric and acoustic bass, were clean, tight and well defined reaching down with good ‘punch’ and integration with a kick drum that produced a well damped solid and deep thud with just a little beater noise and a short, but clean, reverb decay. Fingering and fret noise was clearly audible pulling you a little further into the many excellent bass solos and breaks such as those on T2, T5 and T7. Even when the tracks were “busy” the bass lines were always crips and well defined. The kit provided good pin-point imaging with a well damped snare that provided some excellent rim shots T1, and detailed brush work T9. Well damped toms and detailed hi-hat and cymbals that had just enough sparkle and zing filling out the drum kit image.
The various sax layers provided plenty of detail, with very natural and well recognized tones for all sax parts. Plenty of wind and read noise could be heard particularly for the lead sax, providing a closer more intimate feeling of the instrument, creating sufficient presence to “appear” in my room. Several tracks gave me the view of peering down the sax bell providing high levels of detail for both reed and wind noise like T7 that provided a very intimate and almost personnel rendition.
General levels of reverb were quite low and short, filling out the sound and creating a warm enveloping atmosphere. The lack of audible compression and the presence of particularly the lead sax, were very good, causing the instruments and performance to “appear” in my room.
All tracks are well recorded and performed, providing an accomplished and very enjoyable musical performance with many of the tracks having excellent sax, bass and kit solos and breaks. If you love sax, bass and kit, as I do, this album is for you, recommended.
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 Kari-On Productions for my review. No financial compensation was provided.
Purchase from Bandcamp, Amazon Music.
See here for the Troy Roberts web site.
See my other Kari-On Productions reviews here.
