admin – Page 8 – hradl.com – High Resolution Audio Download

SACD

Inger Marie Gundersen – For You (2011) [SACD / Master Music – MKSA 69901-2]

adminMarch 2, 2026 51 Views

Title: Inger Marie Gundersen – For You (2011)
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

In May 2011, in Lars Nilsson’s Nilento Studio outside Gothenburg, Inger Marie Gundersen and her five Scandinavian musicians met with producer Rasmus Solem and created “For You.” This time, Ulf Wakenius and Inger Marie join forces once again. This time with a Scandinavian dream team featuring another Swede, Lars Jansson, on piano, and two Danes, bassist Jesper Bodilsen and drummer Morten Lund – as well as the wonderful trumpeting of Norwegian Per Willy Aaserud on several tracks. This album includes a version of the perhaps most successful song ever from a Norwegian pop group, AHA’s “Take on Me”.
Inger Marie first worked with the Swedish guitarist Ulf Wakenius on BY MYSELF from 2006. The collaboration was inspiring for both of them and led to many concerts all over the world. Inger Marie’s next release, MY HEART WOULD HAVE A REASON, was produced by another great Swedish guitarist, Georg Wadenius. But on her new album, FOR YOU, Ulf and Inger Marie join forces once again. This time with a Scandinavian dream team featuring another Swede, Lars Jansson, on piano, and two Danes, bassist Jesper Bodilsen and drummer Morten Lund – as well as the wonderful trumpeting of Norwegian Per Willy Aaserud on several tracks. Inger Marie and her band of outstanding musicians make this album an aesthetic delight… Inger Marie doesn’t seek flashy musicality, she seeks depth, and she finds it in this quintet of musicians, who despite their virtuosic qualities never play a superfluous note. Their splendid musicianship allows room for reflection. This is the sound of the mountains of Arendal.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

(more…)

2 min read

SACD

Inger Marie Gundersen – By Myself (2006) [Reissue 2007] [SACD / Master Music – MKSA 69604-2]

adminMarch 2, 2026 54 Views

Title: Inger Marie Gundersen – By Myself (2006) [Reissue 2007]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Norwegian vocalist Inger Marie Gundersen’s second solo album BY MYSELF is a worthy follow- up to her successful debut release MAKE THIS MOMENT. 45-year old Inger Marie waited many years before venturing into a solo career, but more than twenty years as an active vocalist have provided her with ample experience in the music field.

Inger Marie has built a solid relationship based on mutual respect with several musi- cians from the surprisingly high quality pool of players in and around her home town, and has hand-picked the musicians for her band. They provide the exquisite backing on her recordings, as well as on stage. On piano you hear Oscar Jansen, a very popular musician, and a prolific painter in addition to his musical activities. “Oscar is an ingenious musician with a unique way of phrasing and creating the right mood with his playing.” Ole Kelly Kvamme is an active freelance bass player. He also works as a music teacher. “Ole’s depth and warm sound on his old acoustic double-bass is no less than brilliant.” Geir Aage Johnsen is a very original drum- mer with his own unique style. “Geir is my favorite drummer ever… He always comes up with lots of ideas for arrangements.“ The saxophone player Oivind G. Stoemer works as a music teacher and freelance musician. He is also Inger Marie’s son. “I really like his sound and his lyrical style.” On her second album, BY MYSELF, Inger Marie chose to work with the renowned Danish producer Søren Sigumfeldt. They recorded the album at Nilento Studio, Gothenburg, Sweden. Inger Marie’s hand- picked group of local Norwegian musi- cians are joined by Swedish guitar vir- tuoso Ulf Wakenius, known from Oscar Peterson’s trio. Other guest performers include Norwegian trumpeter Gunnar Halle, Danish electric guitarist Niclas Knudsen, and Norwegian vocalist Rasmus Solem. BY MYSELF is easy to listen to, but hard to forget. The music is smooth, but far from saccharine or superficial. The honesty in Inger Marie’s husky voice is unmistakable. You believe her. The words mean some- thing – she can’t sing a song without mean- ing it. Whether it’s a jazz standard or a pop tune, she delivers the lyrics as if she had experienced and written every word. She doesn’t waste time pressing her voice or using a heavy vibrato, she lets the music speak for itself with a dusty, velvety feel… and a voice that won’t let go of you. This is the sound of a mature woman telling her stories with no regrets.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

(more…)

3 min read

SACD

Inger Marie Gundersen – Feels Like Home (2018) [SACD / Master Music – MKSA 690182]

adminMarch 2, 2026 51 Views

Title: Inger Marie Gundersen – Feels Like Home (2018)
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Inger Marie Gundersen’s fifth solo album, “Feels Like Home”, sees reflective and relaxed versions of songs by iconic musicians such as Creedence Clearwater Revival, ABBA, Otis Redding, and Randy Newman.

Inger Marie Gundersen has released her 5th recording, entitled “Feels Like Home.” She made her bandleading and recording debut relatively late in life in 2004 with “Make This Moment,” which immediately rose to the top of the more jazz-oriented vocal charts. This was especially true in Asia, where the albums sold by the thousands in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Indonesia. “By Myself” followed in 2006, “My Heart Would Have a Reason” in 2009, “For You” in 2011, and over the years, Inger Marie has also been “discovered” in Europe and the United States, where many of her songs are popular on streaming services’ playlists. Inger Marie has her own voice – dark, warm, heartfelt, and engaging – and she has always had a great sense for choosing exactly the right material, oftentimes well-known pop or rock songs, which she transforms into her own in her unique, hot, jazzy universe. In this universe, Inger Marie has always surrounded herself with the very best musicians, so the sound never gets oversimplified or lacks in depth. There’s time for reflection on “Feels Like Home,” and at a relaxed tempo we are pulled into Inger Marie’s wonderful world of versions of famous songs such as the Creedence Clearwater Revival hit, “Long as I Can See the Light,” Abba’s “When All Is Said and Done,” Otis Redding’s “Sittin’ On The Dock of the Bay,” and many more, after which listeners are treated to the beautiful Swedish song “Med ögon känsliga för grönt” (With Eyes Sensitive to Green) by Barbor Hörberg and Nils Hansén. Inger Marie’s personal and loving interpretations form images that, together with the musical arrangements, create alluring landscape paintings in the minds of the listener. Life isn’t always easy, but it feels good as long as you can see the light. Inger Marie Gundersen was born in the small town of Arendal, on the southern coast of Norway, on February 13th, 1957. She grew up as an only child with her parents, close to nature and in a peaceful environment. Her fascination and joy for music began in early childhood, with her father playing guitar and singing, filling their home with songs nearly every day. When she was young, Inger Marie studied at the University of Agder, receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Health and Social Work. Ultimately, she always knew she really was a singer, and was on a musician’s path. Inger Marie waited for many years before she ventured out upon a solo career. She had ample experience though, from years of activities in the musical industry.

hraudio | allmusic

(more…)

3 min read

SACD

Indigo Girls – Become You (2002) [SACD / Epic – ES 86401]

adminFebruary 28, 2026 44 Views

Title: Indigo Girls – Become You (2002)
Genre: Folk
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

The Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. Become You is their eighth studio album, released in 2002. Indigo Girls’ eighth studio album, released 15 years after their first, finds the duo of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers in a sense starting over. Using their regular backup band of keyboardist Carol Isaacs, bassist Claire Kenny, and drummer Brady Blade, but only a couple of guest musicians — in contrast to albums that featured lots more players, many of them well known — and returning to producer Peter Collins, who worked with them on their second, fourth, and fifth albums, they have stripped down their approach to something approaching the folk-rock style with which they began. The restrained instrumentation and arrangements focus attention on the songs themselves, and Ray and Saliers, as usual writing separately and alternating tracks, have similar things to say. Eleven of the 12 songs are addressed by an “I” to a “you” (the exception, “She’s Saving Me,” might as well be), and for the most part they deal in romantic complications, with the “I” looking back on a past romance or detailing the difficulties that may lead to a breakup. In the opening track and first single, Ray’s “Moment of Forgiveness,” for example, the narrator notes that two years have gone by since her lover left and asks, hopelessly, “When are you gonna come home?” Ray is characteristically more raw in her singing and in her expression; she also provides the album’s musical contrasts, whether it’s the “Games People Play”-style Southern soul of “Moment of Forgiveness” or the Mexican tone of “Nuevas Senoritas.” Saliers is more abstract, titling one of her laments “Deconstruction” and, in “She’s Saving Me,” even offers a more positive statement. But it is Ray’s title track, in which a daughter of the South confronts the region’s reprehensible mythology — not a song of romance — that is the album’s most wrenching and powerful statement.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

(more…)

2 min read

SACD

Indigo Girls – All That We Let In (2004) [SACD / Epic – EH 92859]

adminFebruary 28, 2026 46 Views

Title: Indigo Girls – All That We Let In (2004)
Genre: Folk
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Nearly 20 years on, and Indigo Girls are still spinning their dualistic tales of love, anger, and life. Over the years, the formula has had its bouts with rigidity — for a while there, it even threatened to reach obsolescence (think of the phoned-in late-’90s effort Shaming of the Sun). But Emily Saliers and Amy Ray did a wise thing with 2002’s Become You, returning to the threads of personal experience that had made their folk-rock tapestry so strong in the first place (and reducing their sound). All That We Let In continues Indigo Girls’ throwback arc, opting for just their longtime band with a few well-placed guests. (For example, pedal steel player Mark Van Allen and cellist David Henry make Saliers’ darkly searching “Come On Home” a particularly velvety moment.) All That We Let In has some fun before getting to the serious stuff, opening with a pair of strong tracks taking different routes to a rootsy hook. Carol Isaacs’ organ shines on the warm and inviting “Fill It Up Again,” which despite musing about getting dumped does so with the promise of refueling and hitting the open road. And despite it being the same old trick, darn it if it isn’t comforting to once again hear the intertwined yearn of Saliers and Ray’s harmonies. Ray’s “Heartache for Everyone” opts for a skipping ska off-beat, in its own way suggesting the 1986 Housemartins jingle “Happy Hour.” “Perfect World” is a well-crafted Indigo Girls single, broadcasting its message of universal hope with earthy lyrical allusions and tasteful touches of accordion and recorder. There are still demons in their world, which they take on with typical pluck. “Dairy Queen” deals again with relational drama, while “Tether” is live-wire raw with its Crazy Horse distortion and desperate foment. “Do we tether the hawk, do we tether the dove?” Ray and guest vocalist Joan Osborne wonder. A neighbor spits out his chaw. “We need a few less words dear,” he says. “We need a few more guns.” Like the best Indigo Girls work, All That We Let In continually dwells on the dynamic of internal, emotional tumult and outward-looking, world-wondering fervor. Its strongest example of this comes in the album’s twilight. As Saliers’ inner Joni Mitchell resurfaces for the heartening but bittersweet prodigal friendship number “Something Real,” Ray’s trademark activist fire smolders mournfully in “Cordova”‘s darkness. It’s the album’s truest stretch, and proves Indigo Girls haven’t lost a step even as they look back to their musical roots.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

(more…)

3 min read

SACD

Incubus – A Crow Left Of The Murder (2004) [SACD / Epic – EH 92863]

adminFebruary 28, 2026 46 Views

Title: Incubus – A Crow Left Of The Murder (2004)
Genre: Rock
Format: MCH SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

A Crow Left of the Murder… is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Incubus. The music of album incorporates elements of art rock, alternative metal, jazz, pop and progressive rock. Kicking in like a compellingly acrimonious version of Rush (“Megalomaniac”) before meandering through what can rather uncomfortably be termed noodly, time-signature lottery jazz-metal terrain A Crow Left of Murder probably identifies Incubus as the average Pearl Jam fan’s second-choice for chin-stroking mosh action. Brendon O’Brien (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam) produces and singer Brandon Boyd possibly fancies himself as a bit of a Vedder-esque sage, even blustering “My secret arsenal is an infinite ageless ink well” on the otherwise acceptable metal squawk of “Pistola”.
At the beginning of their career, Incubus was rightly lumped in with the legions of post-Korn alt metal/rap-rock bands swarming America in the latter days of the 20th century. But by their third album, 1999’s Make Yourself, they had separated from the pack, as indicated by the presence of producer Scott Litt, best-known for his work with R.E.M.. It signaled that the band was serious, and they began expanding their rap-metal template on that album and its follow-up, 2001’s Morning View, completing their transition from juvenelia to maturity with 2003’s Crow Left of the Murder. Switching from Litt to producer Brendan O’Brien, a man who has been with Pearl Jam longer than any of their drummers, Incubus has opted for a clean, crisp yet heavy sound which allows them to aggressively switch from crunching metallic riffs to jazzy prog interludes. It’s an expansive musical vision charged with some righteous anger; although vocalist Brandon Boyd doesn’t write explicit protests, there sure are enough allusions to social turbulence to make this the first politically aware alt metal album in many a year. This maturation is even more evident in the music, how the band actually swings on “Zee Deveel,” or how guitarist Michael Einzinger’s jazz-influenced solos seem both carefully constructed and casually tossed off, or how Boyd’s voice shifts from song to song (or during a song, as on the opening “Megalomaniac,” which sounds like a bizarre blend of Mr. Mister’s Richard Page and John Lydon). All this maturation does mean that Incubus may shed some older fans, since the naked ambitions on this record are far removed from the earnest, angst-ridden earlier records, but so be it – A Crow Left of the Murder… is far more interesting than any of their other records, or their peers’. At times, they may stretch themselves a little too far here, but the ambition is admirable and the achievements are tangible – a real breakthrough for the band.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

(more…)

3 min read

SACD

Ikuyo Nakamichi – Debussy: Preludes I; Images I & II; L’Isle Joyeuse (2021) [SACD / Sony Classical (Japan) – SICC-19053]

adminFebruary 28, 2026 66 Views

Title: Ikuyo Nakamichi – Debussy: Preludes I; Images I & II; L’Isle Joyeuse (2021)
Genre: Classical
Format: DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Pianist Ikuyo Nakamichi is known for her Beethoven performances, but she has also performed Chopin’s piano music with multimedia accompaniment and, occasionally, Debussy. This set of the Preludes and Images, with a vigorous concluding L’isle joyeuse, isn’t exactly the kind one would pick for a multimedia presentation, for Nakamichi doesn’t lean heavily on the atmospherics. When she deploys abundant pedaling, it’s in the service of images that are specifically supposed to be hazy in some way, as in La cathédrale engloutie or Cloches à travers les feuilles. Elsewhere, Nakamichi’s textures are clear and her articulation detailed. Her goldfish (Poissons d’or) are little flashes of light in the pond, not inhabitants of a deep watery realm, and many of the Preludes benefit from careful tracing of structural and motivic details. It would be too much to call this a Beethoven specialist’s Debussy, but it may reflect Nakamichi’s primarily German and Japanese training rather than French traditions. None of which is meant as criticism, just as a suggestion to sample to see what one is getting into; the performance is distinctive, and RCA’s sound, from a live performance in Tokyo at the Toyo Bunkakaikan Recital Hall in the fall of 2020, is impressively clear and immediate.

hraudio | allmusic

(more…)

2 min read

SACD

Ike Quebec – Soul Samba (1962) [Analogue Productions 2009] [SACD / Analogue Productions – CBNJ 84114 SA]

adminFebruary 28, 2026 62 Views

Title: Ike Quebec – Soul Samba (1962) [Analogue Productions 2009]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Soul Samba (aka Bossa Nova Soul Samba) is an album by American saxophonist Ike Quebec recorded in 1962 and released on the Blue Note label. It was Quebec’s final recording before his death in January 1963.

With his thick, engaging sound and elegant romanticism, it only made sense for Ike Quebec to try his hand at the bossa nova boom Stan Getz kick-started in 1962, and that’s what he did with Soul Samba. However, Quebec makes the session much more than mere bandwagon-jumping. He takes some chances with the repertoire and consciously adds a heavy blues inflection that makes Soul Samba one of the more unique interpretations of the bossa nova style. It’s also one of the more sensuous, thanks in part to the combination of Quebec’s natural tendencies and the soft, light style itself, but even more so with the extra bit of meat added via the blues. The music is warm and danceable, yet with a late-evening hush that’s more suggestive of winding down and getting cozy with someone. Quebec’s choices of material are never obvious – the Brazilian selections do not include any Jobim standards, for one thing, and both Quebec and guitarist Kenny Burrell (absolutely stellar in support) contribute original material that ranks among the album’s best performances (particularly Quebec’s “Blue Samba” and Burrell’s “Loie”). What’s more, Quebec adapts some unlikely sources – the traditional standard “Liebestraum” and the Dvorak theme “Goin’ Home” – into surprisingly effective samba pieces. The whole project is thoughtfully conceived and beautifully executed, treating bossa nova as a new means of personal expression, not just a fad to be cashed in on. Sadly, Soul Samba was Quebec’s final album, but at least his career ended on a high note.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

(more…)

2 min read

SACD

Ike Quebec – Blue & Sentimental (1962) [APO Remaster 2011] [SACD / Analogue Productions – CBNJ 84098 SA]

adminFebruary 28, 2026 52 Views

Title: Ike Quebec – Blue & Sentimental (1962) [APO Remaster 2011]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Ike Quebec’s 1961-1962 comeback albums for Blue Note were all pretty rewarding, but Blue and Sentimental is his signature statement of the bunch, a superbly sensuous blend of lusty blues swagger and achingly romantic ballads. True, there’s no shortage of that on Quebec’s other Blue Note dates, but Blue and Sentimental is the most exquisitely perfected. Quebec was a master of mood and atmosphere, and the well-paced program here sustains his smoky, late-night magic with the greatest consistency of tone. Part of the reason is that Quebec’s caressing tenor sound is given a sparer backing than usual, with no pianist among the quartet of guitarist Grant Green, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones. It’s no surprise that Green solos with tremendous taste and elegance (the two also teamed up on Green’s similarly excellent Born to Be Blue), and there are plenty of open spaces in the ensemble for Quebec to shine through. His rendition of the Count Basie-associated title cut is a classic, and the other standard on the original LP, “Don’t Take Your Love from Me,” is in a similarly melancholy vein. Green contributes a classic-style blues in “Blues for Charlie,” and Quebec’s two originals, “Minor Impulse” and “Like,” have more complex chord changes but swing low and easy. Through it all, Quebec remains the quintessential seducer, striking just the right balance between sophistication and earthiness, confidence and vulnerability, joy and longing. It’s enough to make Blue and Sentimental a quiet, sorely underrated masterpiece.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

(more…)

2 min read

SACD

Ike Quebec – It Might As Well Be Spring (1964) [Analogue Productions Remaster 2010] [SACD / Analogue Productions – CBNJ 84105 SA]

adminFebruary 28, 2026 58 Views

Title: Ike Quebec – It Might As Well Be Spring (1964) [Analogue Productions Remaster 2010]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Working with the same quartet that cut Heavy Soul — organist Freddie Roach, bassist Milt Hinton and drummer Al Harewood — Ike Quebec recorded another winning hard bop album with It Might As Well Be Spring. In many ways, the record is a companion piece to Heavy Soul. Since the two albums were recorded so close together, it’s not surprising that there a number of stylistic similarities, but there are subtle differences to savor. The main distinction between the two dates is that It Might As Well Be Spring is a relaxed, romantic date comprised of standards. It provides Quebec with ample opportunity to showcase his rich, lyrical ballad style, and he shines throughout the album. Similarly, Roach has a tasteful, understated technique, whether he’s soloing or providing support for Quebec. The pair have a terrific, sympathetic interplay that makes It Might As Well Be Spring a joyous listen.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

(more…)

1 min read