Stand Up! Jerome Sabbagh, Ben Monder, Joe Martin, Nasheet Waits. Analog Tone Factory 2025 2026 (Pure DSD256, Stereo) HERE
When tenor saxophonist Jerome Sabbagh released Stand Up! on vinyl and open reel last year, I remember thinking, I hope he gives us a Pure DSD256 transfer from that half-inch 30ips master tape. Now he has!
And its marvelous—both musically and sonically.
This is expressive jazz, with depth to it and thought behind it.
All of the compositions are Sabbagh's, and the music never lacks for fresh and creative ideas. I'm not sure there is a repetitive or re-used phrase across the various tracks.
Joined by band members Ben Monder (guitar), Joe Martin (bass), and Nasheet Waits (drums), the album delivers an engaging set of contemporary tunes that is often mellow, but always moving forward creatively. But when "Mosh Pit" opened (track 6), I did a double take. It was not at all expected from what had come before it, and it threw me completely for a loop. Thirty seconds into it, I was on board and enjoying it's inherent craziness and clashing sounds. This clearly is a band that can also rock out in a jazz vibe.
Jerome's Analog Tone Factory has been releasing some excellent jazz albums over the past several years. All have been musically engaging and sonically exceptional. I wrote about the four earlier releases from Analog Tone Factory in Voluptuous Sounds from Analog Tone Factory in Pure DSD256, with free sample download (HERE). That free sample download from Heart is still available if you go to that article for it.
What distinguishes these recordings—and this album in particular—is the purist approach to the recording session. The instruments are all acoustic. The musicians perform together in the same room. Balance is achieved organically as in a live set. Everything is captured directly to 30-ips analog tape: no overdubs, no studio artifice. The atmosphere is immediate, relaxed, and utterly natural.
For this Pure DSD256 release, the master tape was played back on a Sony APR-5002 transport with a Doshi Audio tube tape preamp instead of the stock electronics, and then converted to DSD256 via a Playback Designs A/D converter—among the finest available. As both Dr. David and I have noted in other articles, the sound of a Pure DSD256 transfer can be virtually indistinguishable from the original source. Accordingly, with an excellent DAC this release should sound as close to the sound of the master tape as most of us are ever likely to hear.
Analog Tone Factory also offers first-generation ¼-inch 15ips tape copies, but they will also set you back $575 each. At $35, the Pure DSD256 download is extraordinary.
If you value honest, expressive jazz recorded with integrity—and you want to hear four superb musicians sounding as if they're playing right in front of you—I recommend Stand Up! without hesitation, whichever format you choose.
