Eric Alexander Quartet Gentle Ballads II SACD

This Single-Layer SACD can only be played on a Super Audio CD Player!
Second Installment from Highly Accomplished Jazz Musicians!
In 2004, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander recorded a smash hit album Gentle Ballads for Venus Records that earned Swing Journal's 2004 Jazz Disc Silver Award in Japan. What we have here is Gentle Ballads II, the second installment recorded two years later.
The band is the same and the concept is the same. What you get is a lot of wonderful tenor sax playing. What strikes the most is Alexander's great tone. It is strong and brawny, and supremely powerful. The recording captured this wonderful sound and put it center and forward.
If you are a fan of this instrument and well-played jazz ballads, you'll simply love this album. It's an album to listen to at night, preferably with your loved one at your side. Sit back with your favorite drink and let the warm sound of Alexander's tenor envelop you and intoxicate you.
The American musician Eric Wells Alexander began playing piano, clarinet and (at the age of twelve) alto saxophone at a very young age, but switched to tenor saxophone and – after classical training – to jazz during his studies at the University of Indiana. He continued his studies at William Paterson College in New Jersey with Joe Lovano, Rufus Reid and pianist Harold Mabern. In 1991, he finished second in the Thelonious Monk Saxophone Competition, behind superstar Joshua Redman, and made his first recordings with Charles Earland on Muse Records in the same year. Today, he is considered one of the best tenor saxophonists of his generation and has long been represented by Venus Records with numerous albums. The album "Gentle Ballads" from 2004, which Allmusic compared to Coltrane's Ballads LP from the early 60s, became so successful that it became a whole series with changing line-ups.
"Gentle Ballads II" was recorded in 2006 – with exactly the same line-up that had made the first album so famous: Mike LeDonne on piano, John Webber on bass and Joe Farnsworth on drums. Alexander's powerful and extremely expressive tone has also remained, as has the varied program, which envelops the listener with wonderful, evening sounds.
Venus Records was founded in 1992 by Tetsuo Hara, who had previously worked as a producer for RCA Victor. The label uses a special mastering process called "Hyper Magnum Sound" for the limited Japanese SACD (DSD, Non-Hybrid) of "Gentle Ballads II", which produces a very powerful, present sound and is highly appreciated by audiophiles worldwide.

Features:

• Super Audio CD
• SACD Stereo SACD Layer
• This Single-Layer SACD can only be played on a Super Audio CD Player! It will NOT play on conventional CD Players!
• Mixed & Mastered by Tetsuo Hara
• Venus Hyper Magnum Sound Direct Mix Stereo
• Made in Japan

Musicians:

• Eric Alexander, tenor sax
• Mike LeDonne, piano
• John Webber, bass
• Joe Farnsworth, drums

Selections:

1. Mona Lisa
2. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
3. Funny
4. I'm A Fool To Want You
5. Lil' Darlin'6
. Look Of Love
7. My Ship
8. Who Can I Turn To
9. Time After Time