"These are my favorite recordings from our label, appearing in chronological order. While all of our recordings are far above the normal industry standards, these are special to me for the reasons noted below. I hope you get as much pleasure from listening to them as I did making them." - David Chesky

# 10

SERGEJ RACHMANINOFF (1873-1943) - PIANO CONCERTS No. 2 The Royal Philharmonic Jascha Horenstein, conductor Earl Wild, pianist. (CD2) 1986 Recording engineer: Ken Wilkinson Producer: Charles Gerhardt. This is the recording that started us out as a company. Recorded by the legendary team that included recording engineer Ken Wilkinson and producer Charles Gerhardt, this brilliant team was responsible for a great majority of the early classical stereo releases on Chesky as well as the famous Decca London records from the 1960s. Why does this recording stand out so much after almost 20 years? Well, even with the slight analog tape hiss of this era, this still has one of the richest string sounds I have ever heard, full and lush. The soundstage is massive, deep and wide. Just listen to the piano! It's rich yet powerful as Earl Wild cuts across the orchestra. This recording still sounds a lot better than most modern recordings. It is simply a classic, recorded by some of the most talented people who ever put up a microphone. As someone who strives to produce the best-sounding recordings today, I am humbled by the talents of these two gentlemen, Ken Wilkinson and Charles Gerhardt, our two teachers who laid the groundwork for all audiophile recordings to follow.

# 9

IGOR STRAVINSKY (1882-1972): A SOLDIER'S TALE FOR 3 ACTORS Solisti New York Ransom Wilson, conductor. C. F. Ramuz (CD122) Recording Engineer: Bob Katz Producers: David Chesky and Manuel Kertsman This recording was done in St. Peters Church in New York City. It is a chamber piece with only eight players, captured with a single point microphone. When you listen to the CD for the first time, you will notice is the absolute precision of the imaging: a complete arc from left to right. Not only is the left to right imaging perfect but the sense of depth is as perfect. You hear the violin in the left front and the percussion is in the right at the back of the stage (listen to Track 23 , The Devil's Dance). Not only is the imaging and depth perfect, but there is a sense of realism to the sound. The timbre of the instruments are so real. The phase is perfect since it is one mike. Like all Chesky recordings, this is a Blumlein Recording. (Blumlein is a technique invented by Alan Blumlein using two figure eight capsules on top of each other. This type of miking to me gives you the best imaging and depth.) For some reason the combination of St. Peter's Church, the orchestra and the microphone placement resulted in a perfect recording of a chamber orchestra, real instrument timbre and perfect depth and imaging.

# 8

LIKE AS A HART Westminster Choir Joseph Flummerfelt, conductor Nancianne Parella, organist (CD138) 1995 Recording Engineer: Bob Katz Producers: David Chesky Recorded in the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in New York City, the organ and choir were captured by one stereo microphone. What I like about this recording is its great sense of space and openness: You can really feel that you are in a large cathedral. Let's listen to Track 6, Mozart's "Laudate Dominum." It starts out with a soprano and organ. The soprano is not near the mike; she is standing in the choir. You should hear this one small, beautiful, slightly distant voice. Then, the choir starts to sing along with the soprano. On a good system, you should still hear the soprano. You should also be able to pick out individual voices in the choir as well. The sound should be light and airy with a great sense of space as well. This is a good track to test the low level resolution of your sound system.

# 7

BEYOND WORDS Oregon (JD130, SACD252) 2002 Recorded by Bob Katz Producer: David Chesky Recently, this has become my favorite recording for bass. Glen Moore, the bass player in Oregon, has a great old upright bass. Listen to the punch and clarity of this instrument. The bass should be deep and clean; it should image right in front of you with the reverb bouncing off the side walls. If you want to test your bass, use Track 8, “Leather Cats”: the bass should be deep and tight. Like most of our albums, this was recorded in St. Peter’s Church in New York City. My favorite tracks are 10 and 12, “Silver Suite I” and “III”. You will hear so much out of phase intonation hitting the side wall of the church that even in stereo it sounds like a surround recording. You will hear great depth and space as well. Listen to the timbre and dynamics of Paul McCandless’ bass clarinet and oboe. This recording is great to test bass (and I mean tight, fast bass). It also has a great feeling of space and some very interesting music as well.

# 6

GYPSY FLAMENCO Carlos Heredia (WO126/SACD266) 1996 Recording Engineer: Bob Katz Producer: David Chesky and Arturo Martinez This CD is about transients. When you first hear all the handclapping, listen to the fast transients to reproduced clearly on your hi-fi system. The claps should not be thin and bright but full and rich. Also, you should hear them bouncing off the wall of St. Peters Church. The voices are not close mike. They should sound like they were. A few feet away from the main microphone. But they should still resolve clearly on a good stereo system. Now let's get to the guitar. This guitar is full of transients. Observe how fast Carlos Heredia plays the musical lines. You should hear a fast hard dynamic attack and then a rich note. These lines should be crystal-clear. They should not be blurry or ill-defined. It takes a great system to resolve the dynamic transients on the recording. Also, you should hear the delay of the guitar in the church at the end of the musical lines. This recording tests transients, dynamics and your low level resolution.

# 5

REMEMBRANCES Jon Faddis (JD166, SACD256) 1998 Recording Engineer: Barry Wolifson Producers: David Chesky and Carlos Franzetti This is one of my all-time favorite Chesky recordings. The arrangements by Carlos Franzetti are simply amazing, sophisticated and musical. This recording demonstrates space and clarity. When you put on the recording, listen to the air and space that surrounds the instruments. Listen to the light and airy texture of the sound. It is a very three-dimensional recording. It seems like the stereo plane just leaps out in front of the speakers. On Track 5, “Naima,” listen to the delicacy of the piano solo: Each note seems to float in the air. Now take a moment to listen to the airy and extended cymbals as well. When the drummer plays with brushes on the snare drum, you can almost see the bristles on the brushes. John Faddis’ trumpet is very round and rich, not bright and nasty. When I hear this recording I feel like I am sitting in front of the greatest jazz ensemble ever put together. This is a sonic and jazz classic.

# 4

SWING LIVE Bucky Pizzarelli (SACD223, CHDVD222)) 2002 Recording Engineer: Bob Katz Producers: David Chesky Swing Live was the first recording we released in B format surround. This is the next step in the audiophile music experience. When you hear this live recording of Bucky Pizzarelli's jazz group, you are right there in the club. The band is in front of you and the audience is on the sides and behind you. Unlike most of the surround gimmicky recordings out there, Swing Live demonstrates the potential of surround sound. You will feel the pressure of the club. You will hear the sound bounce off all of the walls. This is a three dimensional soundfield, forget the standard multichannel recordings you have heard before. It puts you right in the space. This recording has been used as a benchmark reference for all B format one mike surround recordings. Put on Track 7, "Lime House Blues": During the bass solo someone at the bar in the rear left drops a glass; then, Bucky says, in the front speaker, "No sitting in." Listen to the drum solo: This disc takes us out of the two channel stereo world and into the future multi-channel world. Put on this disc, it will make you a believer.

# 3

THE BODY ACOUSTIC Randy Brecker, Bob Mintzer, Andy Gonzalez, Giovanni Hidalgo, David Chesky (JD274) 2004 Recording Engineer: Barry Wolifson Producer: David Chesky I know this is my record. But let's not forget that it features some of the greatest jazz musicians in the world today, Randy Brecker, Bob Mintzer, Giovanni Hidalgo and Andy Gonzalez. What I would like you to listen to is the incredible imaging and depth this CD has and, especially, the conga drums. Let's start with Giovanni's conga drum. On most recordings, this instrument is close miked. It always has a good bright snap, but that isn't what a conga drum sounds like. When you hear the conga on this recording, it will have body and weight, and I might add a lot of dynamic power and bass as well. Listen to the punch of each note along with the clarity. Listen to the drum echo in the church. Now listen to the tone as well. It is rich, instead of thin. You hear Giovanni's hand hit the skin. Also, let's pay attention to the richness of the bass clarinet. Never thin or bright. Randy's trumpet is always in a harmon mute. The muted trumpet should never sound bright, thin or nasty; this is the best test to hear how good your amp, D/A converter or speakers are. If this trumpet sounds bright or nasty it is a system problem. The piano should come from behind the trumpet. Also, the playing is very light. Just for color. We use this disc to evaluate new gear for our studio. You can ad as well to test your system, and you will enjoy the music.

# 2

CANTOS DE AGUA DULCE Marta Gómez (JD281, SACD285) 2004 Recording Engineer: Barry Wolifson Producers: David Chesky and Julio Santillan Marta Gómez has one of the most beautiful and light voices we have ever recorded. Listen to her voice suspended in space in front of you. This recording is amazingly natural. The sound of the guitar and the sparse Colombian drums. Listen to when she sings with her background singer. I use this CD when I want to her a natural folkloric band. Cantos is not a pop mix or electric album. Since we know what a guitar, vocals, and drums sound like, this makes a good reference CD for natural tonality.

# 1

AREA 31 David Chesky (SACD288) 2005 Recording Engineer: Barry Wolifson Producers: David Chesky and Dave Eggar I know this is my recording again but I believe this to be one of the most realistic natural recordings of a medium size orchestra ever. This was done with a one point microphone. Listen to the imaging and depth. A few minutes into Track 2, the second movement of "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra," there is a bass drum pattern. Listen to the perfect phase of the drum. First, you feel the impact. Then the drum wave parts and you hear it bounce off the left and right walls of the church. Then, those of you hearing this recording in surround will hear it bounce off the back walls as well. Now let's listen to Track 4, "The Girl From Guatemala." This is my all-time reference for a female vocal. The soprano is about 10 feet behind the mike. You hear her delicate voice right in the center of the orchestra. This track is a great speaker crossover test as her voice should be seamless from the low to the high ranges. Here, should be a sense of coherency to the voice from octave to octave. There should not be any suck-outs or brightness in the frequency range. Now let's get to Track 5, the first movement of "Concerto for Flute and Orchestra." Listen to the percussionists clapping their hands. You should hear great depth on this track. Also, listen to the speed and naturalness of the hand claps. This disc is a great reference for female voice, depth, tonality and imaging. On a good system it should sound like you are in the first row of a concert hall, with the orchestra spread out in front of you.