The system and speakers effortlessly match the demands of the recording, in dynamic range, density and scale – big or small. It’s that last factor that is really special. Whether you are playing a solo voice or instrument, or a soloist with an orchestra, the speakers and system scale to the demands without hesitation, slurring or exaggeration. Dynamic leaps are handled just as easily and naturally as the tiny inflections that inform the most intimate vocal. So Ólafsson’s piano sits between and behind the speakers just as comfortably as the Ébène or the Sinfonia…
Ella singing ‘Good Morning Heartache’ (Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie! Analogue Productions/Verve SACD CVRJ 4053 SA) is astonishingly life-like, the vocal nuance and inflexions, the phrasing and breathing, the sinuous flexibility of line and length are captivating. And it’s not just the vocal. Double bass will seldom sound more real, the piano is natural and understated, the drum patterns and cymbal work just as they should be, the whole delivering the perfect backing to the undisputed focus of Ella’s voice.
That sense of musical purpose and targeted arrangement scales perfectly to bigger, more dynamic material, like Basie’s Farmers Market Barbeque (analogue Productions/Pablo CAPJ 023). Play ‘Way Out Basie’ and the rock solid rhythm section steps in with an easy lope, the Count’s stabbed interjections prompting and prodding while that first brass tutti explodes out of the stage. The band build into the solos, Danny Turner’s alto sax soars and rips, Bob Summer’s trumpet carves agile lines. But as impressive as the individual instruments and players are, it’s the sheer cohesion of the band, the way it ignites into a high-energy whole that sets the Monarques’ delivery apart. This is music delivered with purpose and intent, by both the band and the speakers. Dynamics don’t get much more explosive than this, at least, not if you play it at anything approaching realistic levels – levels the Göbels are well able to support. Let the track run on into the slow smooch of ‘St. Louis Blues’ and the lock step security of the rhythms, the pitch definition and transparency through the lowest frequencies help the music breathe and the system to disappear, leaving a band, one of the tightest bands you’re going to hear.
Black, white and shades of grey…
From Ella to Billie, from the stab, blat and punch of the horns to the soft leading edge pluck, extended release, clarity and pitch security of the bass, the tight skins, sharp cymbals and crisp brush work of the drum kit, the playful lightness or rhythmic pushes provided by the piano, this is a speaker that thrives on the dynamic contrasts, articulate lines and complex rhythmic patterns of classic jazz, at ease with the shifts in density and dynamic demands as it is with the subtleties and intimacies of the music. Coltrane’s “sheets of sound” have never made more sense, the pain that underpins almost everything that Billie sang has never been so apparent.
