Have you ever dreamed about producing a jazz album? A new program from Newvelle Records will make it a reality.
Newvelle, a popular subscription-based record label that deals exclusively in premium vinyl, recently announced dates for its latest Live Recording Session, which allows participants to experience a live studio recording session at Eastside Sound in the heart of New York City.
During the session — which will take place March 24 — visiting guests will be able to witness firsthand the creation of a completely new recording project by partaking in a recording master class with Marc Urselli, a Grammy Award-winning mixing and recording engineer. (Urselli’s previous engineering credits include U2, Foo Fighters, Sting, Lou Reed, Keith Richards, Jeff Beck, Les Paul, Buddy Guy and Luther Vandross.)
This year’s Live Recording Sessions will feature pianist Elan Mehler, who will record with his working trio. For participants, that’s an especially good booking. After all, Mehler — who has performed with vocalist Becca Stevens and bassist Harish Raghavan, among many others — is also Newvelle’s co-founder and president. Under his leadership, the label has produced records by legends such as drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Rufus Reid, as well as albums by emerging talents like saxophonist Noah Preminger and guitarist Lionel Loueke.
Following the day in the studio, every participant will receive a hand-cut lacquer sent to them of the fully mastered tracks recorded that day. For record collectors, albums like this don’t get much rarer. These lacquers are each hand-cut by Newvelle’s mastering engineer in a delicate process that etches the audio-signal-modulated groove onto the surface of a special lacquer-coated disc. Cuts will be limited to the number of participants at the recording session, and won’t be for sale anywhere else.
Newvelle has teamed up with JAZZIZ to offer this exclusive opportunity to join world-class musicians in the studio as they create a truly singular record. Space is very limited — only a handful of participants will be able to attend each session — but the program robust in its offerings.
The day will begin with a catered breakfast at East Side Sound, after which guests either join in the control room or enter the live room with headphones, where they can see the action up close and hear everything the musicians are hearing. Following a catered meal with the musicians, engineer Marc Urselli will give an hour demonstration describing what happens in a mixing session, complete with examples of rough mixes, mixes, and masters played through his world-class ADAM monitors. Then, Urselli will mix the record with input from the musicians and guests. The evening concludes with a wine reception and light hors d’oeuvres.
Each Live Recording Session is $2,000 per participant. Tickets are available here. For more information visit Newvelle’s website.
Feature image courtesy of Newvelle Records.