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"Don't You Cry". A Sound Liaison One Mic Audiophile Recording.

by Carmen Gomes

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1.
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Summertime 05:56
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How Long 04:00
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I'm Walking 02:38
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10.
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11 As I Do 04:30

about

This album is also available in various audiophile formats at www.soundliaison.com

Review by Mark Werlin
Many musicians can play jazz and blues, but few can sing the blues with total conviction and emotional authenticity.

Dutch singer-songwriter Carmen Gomes is one of those few.

A father from the Mediterranean region endowed Carmen Gomes not only with a Spanish-sounding name, but by her own description, with a Mediterranean temperament. At the margins of the culture, the world's differences meet; for Carmen Gomes, the language that gave her freedom of expression was not her native Dutch, but English; and the mode that encouraged her creativity was American jazz and blues. With a dozen previous albums in her catalogue, this accomplished singer, songwriter, teacher and vocal coach distills more than two decades of live performance and recording experience into "Don't You Cry", an hour of compelling jazz vocal music.

The selection and sequencing of the songs tells the story of a woman’s growing recognition that she must throw off the chains of love—false illusions, fears and insecurities—before she can find a more honest way of loving. From the opening "Unchain My Heart", a 1963 hit for Ray Charles, through two songs associated with the great Nina Simone, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and Simone's own assertion of female sensuality "Do I Move You", with stops along the way in the Deep South of the songwriter's imagination (Ira and George Gershwin's "Summertime") and the historical reality ("How Long", credited to Leroy Carr, originally written by blueswoman Ida Cox), the listener finally arrives at Gomes' original "As I Do." It's a one-hour trip from the depths of love's oppression to the renewed hope for a relationship between equal partners, cast in the languorous mode of sultry jazz singing and subtle instrumental accompaniment.
Gomes’ stylistic technique extends past the conventions of behind-the-beat phrasing. Listen to how she teases out the syllables, as if the lyrics themselves were musical notes, not just words on a page. On "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", she prolongs the vowel sounds through several shades of inflection. With her flawless pitch, the effect is entrancing. You might hear echoes of Billie Holliday, but her vocal sound has developed well beyond imitation to distinctive individuality.
The ensemble Carmen Gomes, Inc. is more than a singer and a backing group. Bassist Peter Bjørnild, whose session notes are posted on the Sound Liaison website, produced the record and arranged the songs in collaboration with Gomes, guitarist Folker Tettero and drummer Bert Kamsteeg. Tettero plays an archtop semi-hollow body guitar that has a warm timbre; his stylistic ears are well-tuned to blues idiom, especially the minor-key blues of the mid-1960s. Kamsteeg uses brushes throughout, and keeps superb time without ever overpowering the singer or other players. In bassist Peter Bjørnild, Gomes has found the deep instrumental 'voice' that complements her vocals, the glove that perfectly fits the hand. Their musical partnership is longstanding, and the trust that only years can bring is clearly in evidence.
The decision to record with a single-point stereo microphone came about after the group had already finished a recording session done with conventional multi-mic technique. The late delivery of a Josephson C700S stereo microphone prompted a test recording of a single tune; an afterwards, engineer and label co-owner Frans Rond was so convinced that the sound qualities of that track should be heard on a full recording, he reconvened two more sessions that consisted of the group's working repertoire, done almost entirely in single takes. Those sessions were recorded at MCO Studio 2, Hilversum, The Netherlands, on 26 October and 15 December 2018, in DXD 352.8 kHz. As Bjørnild explains:
"With only one mic… mixing was no longer possible. We would have to make the complete sound stage right there by carefully moving each instrument closer or further away, as well as left and right, in relationship to the microphone."
With an engineer of the capabilities of Frans Rond, mixing is no longer needed. The careful placement of the musicians and the control of group balance makes "Don't You Cry" one of the best-sounding "live in the room" audiophile recordings I've heard.
Not surprisingly, site listeners awarded "Don't You Cry" NativeDSD Vocal Album of the Year for 2019. I eagerly await the next release from Carmen Gomes Inc.
Mark Werlin

Original liner Notes;
One hall
One band
One mic
One take
One source
The ideal recording would be one that sounds as if the band is right there in front you.
We have one pair of ears, so why not take a stereo microphone, place it in front of the band and press record? Simple ...but somehow it does not work like that. At least we have not yet heard a one microphone recording of a whole band, that we found completely satisfying.

We are big fans of Josephson microphones. They are the secret to our critically acclaimed double bass sound. So we thought that if one mic would be able to do the impossible, it would be the Josephson C700S stereo microphone.
We had hoped to be able to try it out on a Carmen Gomes’ recording session, but there was an unforeseen problem with the delivery, the mic would not be on time. Having booked the studio and the musicians, we decided to go ahead and record the album the way we mostly do; a stereo pair and spot mic’s on the individual instruments.
We had just recorded the last song of the session when the Josephson C700S arrived.
The band had to go and play a gig in the evening and Frans had a lot on his mind that day, so nobody was really in the mood for testing a new microphone but Carmen said: Come on, lets just make a quick take of something simple; "Let’s play 'How Long'!". So we all gathered around the mic, made the take, packed up and rushed off to the gig of the evening.
Next day Frans called me up and said; "I can’t stop listening".
"Did you already make a premix of the session", I asked.
"No, I am talking about the one take with the Josephson C700S; there is something very special about it, we need to really test that mic. Could you all come back next month?"
The band has just spend 3 days recording an album and we were rather pleased with the result.
So as not to waste any precious studio time, we grabbed a bunch of songs that have been in our live repertoire for years and went back in.

Multi track recording has advantages and disadvantages. The good is that you can make an instrument louder or softer as you please. The bad thing when the recording is done in one room is phase. Maybe, the most time consuming aspect of our way of recording is getting the phase between the mics right. Frans de Rond is a true genius in that field and his expertise is one of the secrets to our well defined sound stage.

Now with only one mic the challenge lay elsewhere.
Mixing was no longer possible. We would have to make the complete sound stage right there by carefully moving each instrument closer or further away as well as left and right in relationship to the microphone.
Carmen was given a headphone so she could hear exactly what the mic was hearing. She could then direct the musicians and with hand gestures let each band member play louder or softer.
Special credits goes to drummer Bert Kamsteeg who, while playing a full modern drum kit, managed to drive and colour each tune with his unique style, but never over power the pure non amplified sound of Carmen’s voice and my upright bass.
Guitarist Folker Tettero decided to play the whole session on his old archtop guitar. It is quite unique that you can actually hear the pure acoustic sound of the guitar blending in so well with the sound from his custom made amplifier. Listen to Folkers comping during the bass solo in 'Where can I Go'; that’s practically the pure sound of his guitar and not to forget; the sound of his hands.

Almost all the songs are first takes. Except for 'Billie’s Blues' and 'How Long' where second takes where needed in order to get the balance right.

Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen told me how Ben Webster was the only musician he knew that could play himself to tears while playing a ballad. I know one more; Carmen Gomes.
It happened, on the Little Blue album and again on this recording as she was singing the last words to Gershwin’s beautiful ballad 'Summertime'. Carmen was very apologetic and wanted to make another take, but Frans refused to press the record button. "I’ve got goosebumps all over. And why is it a problem to shed a tear while singing; ……‘don’t you cry’... !?"

Peter Bjørnild - Sound Liaison

Carmen Gomes: Don't You Cry (Sound Liaison)

credits

released December 15, 2018

Carmen Gomes - vocal
Folker Tettero - guitar
Peter Bjørnild - double-bass
Bert Kamsteeg - drums

Recording and mastering by Frans de Rond.
Recorded at M.C.O, Studio 2, Hilversum, The Netherlands, on the 26th of October and the 15th of December 2018.
Produced by Peter Bjørnild.
Music arranged by Peter Bjørnild with lots of help from Carmen, Folker and Bert.
'Summertime' arranged by Cajan Witmer and Peter Bjørnild.

Used equipment:

Microphones:
Main system - Josephson C700S
Micpre's: Merging Horus
Microphone cables by AudioQuest

Speakers: TAD Compact Evolution
Poweramp: Moon 760A
Mixing headphones: Sennheiser HD800 / AKG 702

All power cables and power conditioners by AudioQuest.

Special thanks to Jules Fransen of Joystick Audio.

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Carmen Gomes Amsterdam, Netherlands

''Her style is bluesy and intimate with a sexy voice that's sweet as dark tupelo honey. ''
SoundStage!

"in her phrasing you can hear everything that the blues stands for. That is quite an achievement."Kees Polling -Trouw
The chef is Carmen herself, serving a dream-like melodic delicacy. Guy Zinger - , All About Jazz
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