“For me, the best vinyl albums are the ones recorded mostly in one room with minor overdubs, if any. The records feature real instruments, not synthesizers.”
“The pairing of vinyl with a crackling amplifier, the organ swell of a Leslie, the tines of a Rhodes, the footwork and steel coming through an acoustic piano, the clack and thump of drums, the sound of a natural reverb on horns and voices, is right and harmonious.
I love listening to jazz on vinyl. Everything just seems to BE there. One of my favorite recordings is Duke Ellington and John Coltrane’s version of “In A Sentimental Mood” and on an LP it is sublime. With vinyl, you can almost simulate sitting in the room when the music was recorded.
Playing Robert Johnson’s King of The Delta Blues Singers on LP can completely transport you. The warble and moan of Johnson’s singing comes dancing off the player, and the vinyl seems to be able to emit the stifling heat and sweet air of the south. You can see the sweat coming off his brow, kicking up dust from the floorboards. Magic.
I guess what I am saying is that the process of recording mostly live and releasing on vinyl leaves a timestamp of a real occurrence in history. This is now not only art, but artifact. Stax, Motown, Blue Note all mastered the art, and I think that Color Red, the current label I am on, is achieving this as well.
Produced by Eddie Roberts, label co-owner and guitarist of The New Mastersounds, Natural Born Hustler will be a vinyl release recorded straight to tape, with minimal overdubs. The record is out March 26 this year. My goal as an artist is to create a product that will have it’s own life after I am gone; ideally a record that can be listened to as whole work.
So, pairing the timestamp of a mostly live, vinyl release with the cohesiveness of a full album, but not necessarily a concept album, is the ultimate goal. John Coltrane A Love Supreme, Led Zeppelin II, Aretha Franklin I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You, Bob Dylan Blood on The Tracks, The Temptations Puzzle People, Charles Bradley Victim of Love and Santana Caravanserai are some of my personal favorites.”
—Josh Hoyer
Natural Born Hustler, the new full-length release from Josh Hoyer & Soul Colossal arrives in stores on March 16, 2021 via Color Red Records—on vinyl. Pre-order the LP here.
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