From the band's inception nearly two decades ago in Leeds, UK,The New Mastersounds have wholeheartedly embraced the "old school" label, their sound rooted deeply in those classic soul jazz, boogaloo and funk albums on labels such as Blue Note and Prestige by artists like Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff and Lou Donaldson. The New Mastersounds' latest LP,The Nashville Session, takes that devotion one step further by recording in the same tradition that many of those rare groove gems were made. This 11-track collection, cut at Welcome To 1979 studio in Nashville, was multi-tracked live onto one-inch tape in a single evening session in front of a small studio audience. Following the performance the recording was mixed down to quarter-inch stereo and then cut direct to vinyl lacquers. There are no guests and no overdubs, just bass, drums, guitar and organ-essentially pure New Mastersounds.
Hitting the studio at the tail-end of their Autumn 2015 cross-country U.S. tour, the band was razor-sharp and vice-tight. They selected material to record from across their 16-plus years-and-ten-studio-album career, the lone exception being their take on legendary jazz guitarist Grant Green's arrangement of James Brown's "In The Middle."
The effort was originally released in April 2016 as a limited-edition 1000-piece vinyl pressing which sold out within a few weeks. Now the digital release gives everyone else a chance to hear these classy grooves. The Nashville Session presents The New Mastersounds at their finest, full-on analog and unapologetically doing it vintage style.
The band's USA tour throughout October, November and December 2016 is punctuated by a 3-night residency at JazzNoJazz Festival in Zürich, Switzerland on November 3,4,5.
The album continues to receive solid airplay and support from The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show, Saturday nights on BBC Radio 6Music and occasionally on BBC Radio Two.