Elisabeth Lohninger and band live at the Bauer Studios Ludwigsburg.
He’s done it again. And since he’s done it for the third time now, it’s officially a tradition: Lehmannaudio boss Norbert Lehmann recently released another live-recorded jazz vinyl for the Analogtage 2023 event – carefully fine-tuned in a number of aspects.
Elisabeth Lohninger is a singer with presence who clearly comes from the contemporary school of jazz, but who has tangibly inhaled the great era of the “crooners” and made it her own thing to a certain extent. In other words, a special artistic personality who stands out from the mainstream and whom Norbert Lehmann certainly did not choose by accident to record the material for the third Analogtage LP.
This project is as ambitious as it is unusual: behind it is the analog specialist Norbert Lehmann, who has been known for many years as a developer and manufacturer of high-quality audio equipment such as phono amplifiers, but also as a dedicated video blogger on the subject of high-quality music reproduction – in short, as a person who is massively committed to the profession, and therefore knows that the best system in the world is worth little to nothing without the right “software” in the form of music produced to perfection.
Norbert Lehmann’s personal conclusion: in addition to the stress of organizing the multi-hybrid event called “Analogtage” with a large number of participants, he also organizes a jazz concert at the Bauer Studios in Ludwigsburg every year. The multi-talented Elisabeth Lohninger was originally slated to record the Analogtage LP with the Jens Filser Project in 2022. As Norbert Lehmann notes in the lovingly edited liner notes, “the big C” threw a spanner in the works.
Good can come from bad: When Elisabeth Lohninger “resat” the recording session in 2023, she was able to work under significantly different circumstances – and bring a fine session band with her to Bauer Studios. The ultra-charismatic Frenchwoman Christine Corvisier can be heard on saxophone, Jean-Yves Jung pulls the strings on the Steinway D grand piano, Cliff Schmitt is responsible for the compelling double bass runs, while Alex Bernath provides the “motive force” on drums. One thing is immediately apparent: This ad hoc quintet is having a lot of fun! This is also conveyed to the 80 or so listeners who were able to attend the live recording in Ludwigsburg, as evidenced by the spontaneous and hearty applause.
Elisabeth Lohninger and Co. were aware that the “direct to tape” approach of this concert would ensure that every uncertainty, every little mistake would be recorded for posterity, but the five-piece didn’t let this pressure of expectation faze them in the slightest and performed in the best of moods. In the end, the result was eight incredibly relaxed and easy grooving numbers that certainly don’t reinvent jazz, but are always good for blue hours and moods between day and dream. The opener “Flight” thrives on an exhilarated mood of departure, “Endless Lawns” is a multi-colored auditory image and “When The Hours Turn Small” is a midnight snapshot in a charming saunter.
Frontwoman Elisabeth Lohninger, well aware of her compelling charisma, sees herself as a “prima inter pares” for long stretches, opening up space for her “bandmates” in a completely natural manner, telling stories with them, shaping gentle ballads as well as powerful mid-tempo numbers into well-rounded miniatures. Christine Corvisier proves to be a real stroke of luck, singing songs without words with her sax, creating a meta-level, as it were, giving the truths between the lines of music a voice and a face.
And because Norbert Lehmann knows what he owes to die-hard analog fans, record freaks and jazz fanatics alike, the inside cover of the LP, dressed in the usual rich blue, lists the microphones used for each instrument as well as the rest of the recording equipment and even the record player used later for listening – along with atmospheric photos of a recording session that you would have loved to have been part of.
The icing on the cake that makes the very good perfect? Without question, the pressing quality, which has noticeably improved once again on the third edition of the Analogtage LPs. Even if the cover information does not explicitly state it, in view of the virtual absence of background noises such as rumbling or cracking, it can be assumed that “silent vinyl” was used for this record production, which is on its way to becoming widely accepted. It’s just a shame that the fourth record, which has just been created at Bauer Studios, won’t be available until October 2025. We can’t wait.
