Bennie Wallace

Bennie Wallace – The Nearness Of You (2003)
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 52:28 minutes | Scans included | 2,1 GB
or DSD64 2.0 (from SACD-ISO to Tracks.dsf) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Basic Scans included | 2,07 GB
or FLAC (carefully converted & encoded to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Basic Scans included | 1,06 GB

Bennie Wallace has long been known for his sudden interval leaps and somewhat angular approach, and this studio date is no exception, though it focuses exclusively on standards written between the 1930s and 1950s. The tenor saxophonist chose two top-caliber musical partners, pianist Kenny Barron and bassist Eddie Gomez, to join him on his excursions, all of which are delightful. Barron’s blues-drenched piano sets the table for Wallace’s mournful sax in “Willow Weep for Me,” while Gomez provides a series of intriguing responses to the leader in an anything but hackneyed treatment of “Cocktails for Two.” Hoagy Carmichael’s warm ballad “The Nearness of You” is clearly in the hands of three masters as it is recast with a distinctively modern touch. This is easily a high point in Bennie Wallace’s long career.

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Bennie Wallace – Moodsville (2001/2016)
DSD128 (.dsf) 1 bit/5,6 MHz | Time – 50:50 minutes | 3,01 GB
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 50:50 minutes | 1,11 GB
Genre: Jazz | Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: nativeDSDmusic | Artwork: Digital booklet

Bennie Wallace is an American Jazz tenor saxophonist. He has cited Sonny Rollins and Coleman Hawkins among many major saxophone influences. He recorded on the revived Blue Note label in 1985 – the original label provided much of the key music of his formative years. “Moodsville” is one of his finest and most lyrical sessions. Recorded direct to 2-track Analog Tape at Systems 2 in New York in May the session features some of the hottest jazz musicians currently working in the US: Mulgrew Miller, Peter Washington and Lewis Nash. The sound and feel of the album is very close to that of the great Moodsville and Prestige recordings of the 50s and 60s featuring artists like Gene Ammons.

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