Witmer Trio ft. Jan-Luc van Eendenburg - Cuban Fantasy
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"Cuban Fantasy; 'Listening to the studio master file 32/352.8. Sensational recording. Warm, intimate and dare I say it, sensual".
- J.Plucker
Cajan Witmer - piano
Jan-Luc van Eendenburg - percussion
Han Slinger - double bass
Maarten Kruijswijk - drums
Total time: 56:52
Original master format DXD 352kHz-32bit.
"Creative ideas often happen when people combine two dissimilar concepts, and that’s the same line of thought nostalgia inspires: It makes us contemplate past experiences in the context of today."
- J. Plucker
I have had the privilege of witnessing the Trio’s development since its inception. This album not only pays homage to their origins but also showcases the Trio’s collective life experience, enhancing the artists’ individual craftsmanship. In Cajan Witmer's cantabile interpretation, the melody emerges stronger and more mature than ever. One can clearly see these qualities are also true for bass player Han Slinger and drummer Maarten Kruijswijk. After more than 25 years of close collaboration, their rhythmic foundation has become even more robust, creating a superb basis for Witmer’s refined melodic improvisations. I deeply admire Cajan Witmer’s arrangements, as they breathe new life into classics while maintaining a clear respect for the original compositions.
Listeners will sense Witmer’s appreciation for the original pieces, as the music remains genuine and undistorted. In this new album, Witmer Trio skillfully weaves together the past and present in a most satisfying manner.
When creating the soundstage, we devoted significant time to achieving an ideal balance. We placed a pair of Josephson C700S in the ''sweet spot'' in MCO Studios’ Studio 2 before incorporating spot microphones.
Our goal was to create a sound field that felt intimate yet retained sufficient depth to evoke a visual representation of the instruments. In this respect, we embraced a philosophy similar to Cajan Witmer in his arrangements: we aimed for the piano’s melodic component to be prominent without overshadowing the ensemble. In this recording, the piano and the drums have been given a prime position on the soundstage, rather than being spread out from left to right as is typical in commercial recordings.
The advantage of this approach is the ability to visualize the quartet in front of you, arranged from left to right between the speakers, as opposed to the more prevalent (and radio-friendly) format where the instruments are piled on top of each other.
In some ways, we are old-fashioned. We may have listened to too many old jazz recordings, but as Louis Armstrong once said, ''The memory of things gone is important to a jazz musician.
Things like old folks singing in the moonlight in the backyard on a hot night or something said long ago."
- Peter Bjørnild
Recording, mixing and mastering by Frans de Rond.
Produced by Peter Bjørnild and Cajan Witmer.
Music arranged by Cajan Witmer.
Recorded at MCO, Studio 2, Hilversum, The Netherlands, on the 20th of December 2021.
Used equipment:
Microphones:
Cajan - Josephson C700S
Jan-Luc van Eendenburg - Josephson C700S
Han - Josephson C700A, Neumann M149
Maarten - Josephson C700S
Micpre's: Merging Horus
Microphone cables by AudioQuest
Speakers: TAD Compact Evolution
Poweramp: Moon 760A
Mixing headphones: Hifiman HE1000 / Sennheiser HD800S
All power cables and power conditioners by AudioQuest.
Cover design by Koen Verbeek
Catalog Number: SL-1061A