With a direct to disc recording, the music is recorded directly onto a lacquer disc.
Genius is genius, mistake is mistake. There is only one chance. What has been played can be heard. What can be heard has been played.
From the microphone to the final vinyl disc, the audio signal stays analogue, without compromise.
Lacking a storage process on tape or as a coputer file, there are very short and direct signal routes. The instruments' sound waves are transformed into electrical oscillations by microphones, and cut into a groove on the lacquer disc by the cutting stylus directly and without any delay. Direct-to-disc recordings do without digitising the music, and also without a lossy storage on analogue tape.
For roughly 20 years now, the guitarist Joscho Stephan has been performing as a gypsy swing musician on both a national and international level.
Forming a trio with Volker Kamp on the double bass and Sven Jungbeck on the rhythm guitar, he feels himself drawn to the musical legacy of the “Hot Club de France”, the legendary ensemble which Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli brought to life in the Thirties in Paris.
Having made numerous CD productions, it was more or less a matter of course to make a recording under the very same conditions as Django Reinhardt and all renowned swing and jazz musicians had experienced up until the end of the 40s –, namely Direct-to-Disc!
The A-side boasts the title “Paris”. Alongside his own compositions ("Train To Paris" and "Valse de la Mer") we find such Django classics as "Are You In The Mood", and the numbers "Songe d’Automne" and "Vous et Moi", which are also evergreens from the gypsy swing genre.
The B-side is an homage to the recording location and the recording studio (EBS) which is associated with it: Berlin. Not only are such hits to be heard as "Mein kleiner grüner Kaktus" (as an up-tempo swing number), "Hallo, kleines Fräulein" and "Bei Dir war es immer so schön" (by Theo Mackeben), but also "Kein Schwein ruft mich an" from the great Max Raabe. "Wes Berlin" by Joscho Stephan brings the LP to a close in a final bow to Wes Montgomery, ending our journey from Paris to Berlin.
Musicians:
Joscho Stephan, lead guitar
Volker Kamp, double bass
Sven Jungbeck, rhythm guitar
Selections:
Side A:
1. Train To Paris
2. Are You In the Mood
3. Valse de la Mer
4. Songe d'Automne
5. Vous et Moi
Side B:
1. Mein kleiner gruner Kaktus
2. Hallo, kleines Fraulein
3. Bei Dir war es immer so schon
4. Kein Schwein ruft mich an
5. Wes Berlin
Details:
Recorded 2018-06-06
Released 2018-11-01
Executive & Recording Producers Rainer Maillard & Stephan Flock
Recording Engineer (Tonmeister) Stephan Flock
Cutting Engineer Rainer Maillard
Lacquer Disc Developing Pallas GmbH
Recording and Mastering Facilities Emil Berliner Studios
Recording Location Emil Berliner Studios
Recording Equipment DGG custom made microphone preamplifiers, ADT Faderbox, Reverberation chamber 1, Gyratec G23
Microphones Josephson C 722, Sennheiser MKH 20, MKH 30 & MKH 800
Lathe Neumann VMS 80
Cutting Head Neumann SX 74
Cutting Amp Ortofon Amp GO 741
