TromboneChat

Request for suggestions:

What albums come to mind as being the best recorded (sonically speaking) small group albums built around the trombone?

I’m doing some recording with my quintet (piano, bass, drums, bone and alto sax), and am looking for models of a great recorded sound to use as a reference. Doesn’t have to be my exact lineup, of course, but anything in the ballpark.

Any suggestions much appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob

Delfeayo Marsalis is a great engineer for acoustic jazz recordings. I like to use his stuff as a reference.
Sweet Thunder is outstanding https://www.allmusic.com/album/sweet-th ... 25/credits

JJ Johnson's stuff with Columbia and RCA Victor was great -

JJ! (big Band album) Mickey Crofford, Engineer, RCA Victor

JJ Inc. - Collumbia - Teo Macero produced (Fred Plaut, Engineer and Debra Parkinson - remix and master I think for re release)

Josh Roseman's stuff always sounds great and is quite adventurous. checkout treats for the nightwalker https://www.allmusic.com/album/treats-f ... 48/credits

The Wycliff Gordon Ron Westray album "Bone Structure" was one of my faves when it came out https://www.allmusic.com/album/bone-str ... 0000185683

Steve Davis and Conrad Herwig's Osteology - Max Bolleman engineering https://www.allmusic.com/album/osteolog ... 59/credits

David Gibson's G-Rays - I like the sound of his recordings - can't be hard to record such a beautiful sound. https://www.allmusic.com/album/g-rays-m ... 81/credits

Michael Dease's albums on Posi-Tone sound great

Marshall Gilkes' albums on Alternate Side...

Greenleaf's approach to albums is worth looking into. Ryan Keberle

Thanks, Zack, that's very helpful.

I'm curious about this, too. When it comes to jazz, there's an odd tendency to alter an acoustic trombone sound to make it 'better' or to compensate for a mic's deficiencies - in general, the sound I hear coming out of speakers is not that close to the sound I hear standing in front of someone playing. This seems to happen a lot more in jazz and pop compared to classical recordings.

Of course, that depends on we mean by 'best sounding'. I like that to mean as close to acoustic trombone as possible, but that isn't necessarily the case in some projects.

I think the JJ recordings I have sound great. They range from the late 70's through the 90's.

Also, Steve Turre albums always sound great. Instrumentation is very different, but they might give you inspriration...

Anything Conrad Herwig. There's actually a really good album that I can't remember off the top of my head but it's Conrad & Steve Davis which I really like the way it worked out because they both have fairly distinct styles of playing so there was a lot of contrast even though its the same nominal instrument.

Kai Winding. Often overlooked as people tend to mention JJ, but Kai had major influence on trombone recordings

Everything recorded by Urbie and Bill Watrous