I'm generally wary of getting involved in such discussions, but James Daering asked me to contribute my opinion and I'm happy to do so. Anyone is entitled to their opinion about a particular sound or mix, there are no absolutes and there's nothing to defend. If you don't like it, that's fine. In the instance of Terence Blanchard's "Let's Get Lost", most of the recording was done in Clinton Recording Studio A. It is a large room, which Terence likes to play in. It's large enough to hold an orchestra of about 85. Most of the reverb on that cd is natural and there's very little processing; almost no equalization, no limiting and there's no overdubbing. All of the performances were live. The sound of the project is one that was agreed upon by Terence, Laraine Perri, the executive producer and myself. Terence prefers the sound of the band on a stage and if you notice, like a Miles album from the fifties, the band is panned in a staging perspective: from left to right piano, bass, horns, and drums. Frankly, it doesn't have any more reverb applied than any of the 6 eyed Columbias, if anything it has less. The project was recorded analogue and mixed to DSD. There is an SACD version, which is a very good representation of the master, that I'd suggest you listen to at some point and compare it to the 16bit pcm version. The project is up for a Grammy, this year and we had a great time recording it. Thanks for inviting me to be a part of the discussion.
Best, Jim Anderson
Best, Jim Anderson