Joe Policastro Old School — December 2021 Chicago, Illinois

Finding an original pianist who can front a jazz trio and not sound like myriad others is a daunting task. How many jazz pianists have a fresh voice? Well, Reggie Thomas does. His soulful, hard-swinging brand of piano immediately grabs the listener, imparting joy and a positive energy. Ballads? Yes, he also plays those flawlessly and does so in in this outing. Joining Mr. Thomas is a veteran rhythm section with Dennis Carrol on bass and George Fludas on drums. Dennis and George both support and complement Reggie’s piano artistry with excursions of their own. The result is a masterful trio creating exquisite music. The performance was captured with the finest custom (tube) and vintage microphones including a pair of legendary cardiod AKG 414 EB’s on piano, two AKG ULS’s on drums and a single AKG ULS on bass, directly to a highly modified Studer/Revox 8-track master recorder. The result is an audio and musical gem.

Where technology meets art

Joe Policastro Old School — Steptember 2021 Chicago, Illinois

This performance, like the Vibes Quartet of Joe Policastro done in May of 2021, is one of the highest representations of fine analog sound IPI has produced. The music is indeed old school as it is named here, joyous. buoyant, and infectious. The musicianship here is superb in capturing the essence of this genre of music and communicating it to the listener. Further heightening the effect is the recorded sound, appropriately done with old school microphones, some of which employ tubes, giving the proceedings a natural yet present sound. The session was recorded at Pro Musica Chicago, directly to a Studer/Revox custom 8-track tape recorder through Manley microphone preamps. Engineering by Jonathan Horwich and Ken Christianson. This is old school music and analog sound at its best.