News from Blue Coast Records

Blue Coast World to distribute Emily Palen's Solo Violin Recording, "Glass"

2012-01-23T19:11:00.000-08:00

Hi friends,
We are pleased to announce that Blue Coast World will be distributing the recording of Emily Palen's Solo Violin recording called "Glass".

The disc will be priced at $30 but for a short time, will be available for $25 at this website.
http://valencerecords.downloadsnow.net/glass

It was recorded at the extraordinary Grace Cathedral, San Francisco using the Extended Sound Environment technique. Emily's exquisite violin improvisations have been used extensively in sonic comparison tests because the masters were recorded to DSD and all recording processes have been under control from record to digital delivery.

We have kept the one bit DSD format throughout. The CD layer was mastered in the same process, so you can compare your CD layer with your DSD or SACD playback systems. At CES we used Track #3 (Light in the Fracture) to test the audio response on the Sony AR1 speakers (This year's winner of Absolute Sound's speaker of the year).

Those present for the demo comparisons had the unique opportunity to also hear the SACD coming from the Meitner DACs against the DSD masters from the Sonoma Systems playback master through the Meitner professional DSD DACs. Gus Skinas from Super Audio Center was onhand along with Yuki Sugiura from Sony to help with the demos as hundreds of people passed through our room to experience the comparisons.

The CD to SACD comparisons were obvious. Shrunken images and lack of dynamics could be heard in the CD sound. What was most surprising is that we could hear a clear difference in the Meitner DACs both playing back DSD. We can only suggest that the best sound is with DSD DACs for playback. It was a small difference, but audible.

Now, those of you who have an SACD player can experience Emily's violin performances the way we intended.

Many of you already own downloads these wonderful masters. Those that would like to experience a FREE DSD DOWNLOAD of one piece from the album can click below to download. (Requires Foobar or Audiogate to play)
http://audiogate.bluecoastrecords.com/

Positive Feedback, article one!
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue59/marenco.htm
Thank you to Positive Feedback for asking me to be a writer for their publication. If your interested to know some of the reasons why and how I came to be a recording engineer, along with the challenges we face as engineers, this article is for you. I'll be writing from a professional engineer standpoint for PF as I can. Please feel free to ask questions that I might be able to write and article on.

2012 is going to be a great year for DSD.
It was a pleasure meeting many of you in person.

Cookie and the Blue Coast Crew

join our Facebook page
or Twitter.com/bluecoastworld

Congratulations to Alexander Baker for Being our 9000th member at Blue Coast Records!

2011-10-31T17:51:00.000-07:00

Blue Coast Records is pleased to announce its 9000th member, Alexander Baker! Very exciting for us. This is a 300% increase since the beginning of this year.

Alexander found our site while googling for DSD Downloads. This lead to a site on the Sony playstation that discussed DSD capabilities which had links to Blue Coast Records. He found, he listened, he purchased!

And then he signed up to our Blue Coast Records mailing list. Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding!!!! He's our 9000th member.

"Basically I'm a computer audiophile nutcase, always looking for higher quality material.." Alexander said in a note to us.

For being the 9000th member, Alexander will win a free download album of his choice. Our guess is it will be in the DSD format. :)

Who will be the 10,000th member? Join our mailing list. Maybe it will be YOU!

Congratulations

Blue Coast Records

What is an Audiophile? Part One (repost)

2011-10-09T10:59:00.000-07:00

This is a repost of the article written by Cookie Marenco for PStracks.com

We welcome your continuing comments at the PStracks.com website.

What is an Audiophile?

Why does the term “Lunatic Fringe” come to mind?
Since When Did It Become Controversial Listening to Music with Great Sound?
After all, sound is a huge part of everything we do as humans, from how we communicate with each other to how we choose to spend time alone. What is wrong with wanting the sound we interact with to be the best that it can be?
I travel in music circles with pro audio engineers, recording artists, label execs and audiophiles. It surprises me that more industry people don’t go to the audiophile shows where the rubber meets the road — the people who create the music meeting those that love and buy their products.

When I ask my industry cohorts ‘why’ the first words coming from their mouths seems to be ‘lunatic fringe’ — as if ‘audiophiles’ have the plague and should be avoided at all costs.

What is defining the word ‘audiophile’ that is so bad in their minds? Can we reintroduce ‘audiophile’ to a new generation? Do we need a new word to describe a passionate listener?
A recent survey by the CEA (Consumer Electronics Association) indicates that music lovers are everywhere. They’ve analyzed the results in a study called “Notion of Quality: Audio Expectations of Consumers.” Participants were asked to rate themselves as to their music listening habits divided into 3 categories. Here are the results of how people thought of themselves.
Audio Enthusiast –34%
Moderate Interest – 34%
Low Interest – 32%
CEA estimates that there are 80,000,000 Audio Enthusiasts in the USA alone. Audio Enthusiasts would pay more money for better quality content and listening gear. Their ages run relatively equally from 18-55+, with 77% having household incomes of less than $75,000 annually and 48% are women. Is it possible to expand the ‘audiophile’ profile to include these demographics or do we need a new word? “Audio Enthusiast” isn’t a bad term. As a product manufacturer, broadening the demographic to be more inclusive is a very healthy sign and benefits the whole community.
Today, the profile for ‘audiophile’ seems to be over 50 years old, male, with income over $100,000 annually. Some manufacturers feel that the estimate for ‘audiophiles’ is about 500,000 worldwide. That’s a tough nugget for any of us in the business to develop new products. Adding new categories of the demographics from the CEA report could be advantageous.
Take for instance, “women”.. something I know a bit about. I have often wondered why more women don’t consider themselves ‘audiophiles’? And, why more manufacturers haven’t taken advantage of the power of a woman’s dollar as the auto industry did in the nineties. Whether you like ‘Beats’ headphones or not, they’ve made it ‘cool’ to want better sound for a younger generation. Spending $299 on headphones is a start. If anyone feels ‘kids today’ don’t understand ‘quality in sound’, please come to my studio and experience my fresh faced interns working on analog tape, buying vinyl and unhappy with mp3 sound.

Once exposed to great sonics, they can’t go back to mp3.

In upcoming articles, I would like to poll the readership as to what it means to be called an ‘audiophile’. I welcome suggestions for questions. Is an audiophile someone who pays $xxxx for their listening environment? Someone who builds their own set of speakers? Goes to meetings with fellow listeners? Pays $1000 a foot for cable? Buys ‘Beats’ headphones? Hates mp3s? I’d like your opinion to help open our world to new ears. Let me know what you think.
This is a great forum to place your comments so we can all share. Simply comment on this post.
Thanks and enjoy your music experience!
Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer, Blue Coast Records
http://bluecoastrecords.com
Special thanks to Gene Bryan Johnson for his editing skills and the volunteers at
DownloadsNOW.net

Chi McClean, the latest Blue Coast Artist to have music available in the DSD format!

2011-09-17T07:38:00.000-07:00

Hello DSD friends!

We have a free DSD download for you to enjoy at our AudioGate.bluecoastrecords.com page by our newest Blue Coast Artist, Chi McClean!
http://audiogate.bluecoastrecords.com/

Chi has been touring the country singing and playing guitar, surfing, camping and booking more shows as he goes. He is a true road warrior who's talent doesn't go unnoticed. His songs are reflective of his life, loves and travels. At times, he'll remind you of John Mayer with a southern rock twist much like Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes.

You can hear the rest of his album, also available as a DSD, 9624WAV and CDQ download, by clicking on the link below..
http://chimcclean.downloadsnow.net/a-thing-or-three

This album of guitar and voice, performed live in the studio, recorded in my E.S.E. technique with no headphones or overdubs. A different version of Hole in My Heart is now on the Blue Coast Collection 2 (song #3). http://bluecoastrecords.downloadsnow.net/blue-coast-collection-2

Check out the article for PSTracks.com called What Is An Audiophile? http://www.pstracks.com/2011/08/30/what-is-an-audiophile/
and join in with comments!

Special thanks goes to Paul McGowan at PSAudio and to Gene Bryan Johnson for editing expertise.

Thanks again for all your support and

Enjoy the music!

http://bluecoastrecords.com/

join our mailing list or Facebook page
or Twitter.com/bluecoastworld

Three Free DSD Audio Downloads from Blue Coast Records!

2011-08-20T14:55:00.000-07:00

Hi friends, each month we upload one new song for your DSD listening experience. This month our featured artist is Keith Greeninger performing a song he wrote called, "Hop in the Truck". Keith also has a youtube video coming featuring that song.
http://audiogate.bluecoastrecords.com/

This selected DSD comes from our archives. Brain (drummer with Tom Waits) plays some classy percussion while Chris Kee supplies the bottom end bass. All the songs from this session were recorded using E.S.E., no headphones, no overdubs, just live in a few takes. Great musicianship is all that's required! We'll have the rest of these songs available as DSD downloads by September 1st!
http://bluecoastrecords.com/special-event-02-may-2009

Also featured is a solo acoustic guitar piece by Gregory James called "Taos". A wonderfully moody piece he composed. Houston Jones, "I Found a Heart" is going to retire to the catalog in a month. Be sure to get it while it's free. One of my favorite songs.

Be sure to check our page with free DSD music downloads every month. You can also find the Korg AudioGate software on the same page.

Come back soon!

Stereophile -- Northern California Audio Show and Blue Coast World

2011-07-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

The Second (Northern) California Audio Show Starts Friday

By Jason Victor Serinus • Posted: Jul 11, 2011

The pendulum has swung back to the West Coast. Just one week after the Capital AudioFest, three weeks after AXPONA NYC, and six weeks after T.H.E. Show Newport Beach, the second California Audio Show is set to begin. Scheduled for July 15–17 in the Crowne Plaza SFO in Burlingame, the show is located just minutes from San Francisco Airport, a few giant steps from a major freeway, a free shuttle ride away from the airport's BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) stop, and an eight-minute walk from CalTrain's Broadway Station. Show organizer Constantine Soo, founder and editor of Dagogo.com, reports that the show currently promises 42 rooms of various sizes, all with active exhibits playing music. The list of exhibitors and brands, complete with a generous helping of California retailers, service providers, and distributors, includes a host of companies whose equipment resides in the homes and dreams of Stereophile readers.
Especially enticing are the seminars from Acoustic Science Corporation, Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems, Cookie Marenco's Blue Coast World, and MIT Cables (aka Music Interface Technologies). The latter two will attempt to look into the audiophile crystal ball, with MIT's "The Past, Present, and Future of High-Resolution Audio" coming directly after Marenco's "DSD—Then, Now, and Tomorrow."
Marenco's DSD seminar dovetails with the launch of Channel D's DSD-equipped Pure Music v1.8 computer playback software and the expected California Audio Show preview of Sonic Studio's forthcoming Amarra 2.3 with its own set of DSD features. Chris Connaker of ComputerAudiophile.com will join Marenco to co-moderate a panel that includes original members of the Sony DSD design team, Gus Skinas of the Super Audio Center, Leslie Ann Jones of Skywalker Sound, and legendary Telarc engineer Michael Bishop of Five/Four Productions.
On an extraordinary system assembled by Tim Marutani Consulting for Blue Coast World in the Plaza Ballroom 1, Bishop will play many of his live-to-stereo DSD masters, including previews of new Five/Four direct-to-DSD masters and new FIM re-releases of great Telarc titles. State-of-the-art equipment from Magico, TAD, Constellation Audio, Continuum Audio Labs, and Bottlehead will unite with a cutting edge computer and reel-to-reel playback set-up. Expect a first hearing of Merging Technologies' new Emotion high-end media server. The Swiss company, known for its award-winning Pyramix Digital Audio Workstation, has for the first time managed to embed its DAW Audio Engine in a stereo, multi-channel, and multi-zone Media Server that handles PCM, DXD, and DSD.
Marutani also promises to showcase Bill Schnee's Bravura Records live-to-two-channel, 192/24 recordings and Reference Recordings' HRx 176.4/24 masters. He will even offer sneak previews of RR's forthcoming Reference Mastercuts LPs. Marenco, in turn, will also offer the show's only live performances, which she will record direct-to-DSD twice daily and upload for immediate free DSD downloading. These performances were packed at the 2010 California Audio Show.
Bay Area and California retailers are also making a strong showing. AudioVision San Francisco, which sat out last year's show, is sponsoring four different rooms, with gear from Devialet, KEF, Naim, Nola, Clearaudio Simaudio Moon, Dynaudio, Bel Canto, and Anthony Gallo sending a lot of music through Crystal Cable, Nordost, Shunyata, and Cardas.
"This is actually low key for us," AudioVision co-owner Randy Johnson explains. "We first opened the shop when Stereophile held its show in San Francisco's St. Francis Hotel. We had nine rooms, which put us on the map. We're never going to attempt something like that again!"
Hardly on the sidelines, the two rooms from Music Lovers Audio Video of San Francisco and Berkeley promise Wilson, Ayre, and a whole lot more. Audio Image Ltd. of Oakland, Soundscape of Santa Rosa, Loggie Audio of Redwood City, Angel City Audio of Rancho Cucamonga, Audible Arts of Campbell, High Value AV of Santa Cruz, and Bob Hodas Acoustic Analysis of Berkeley (pairing Focal with VTL) are some of the other California Dealers who will tout premium value equipment. In addition, from the Northwest, Puget Sound Studios will play some of its fine masterings of classic and new recordings. Apologies to anyone I've missed.
Soo may not be bringing a wine show, cigar show, classic car show, and pornography convention to Burlingame, but he is enticing people with great sound and astoundingly low admission rates. Online pre-registrants can attend all three days for $10; those who buy tickets at the door will shell out a hardly gargantuan $20 for a three-day pass.
Bay Area jazz station KCSM-FM will have a live booth at the show. Every hour, they'll interview attendees, and invite audio reviewers to answer questions from their listening audience.
"We're trying to bring fresh blood to the hotel," says Soo. "Our goal is to reach a music-loving public. I want to give people an opportunity to experience this hobby and passion of ours."
To ensure that your window on the show is just as fresh, Stephen Mejias will be blogging for Stereophile. Stay tuned.

Rob Ickes on the cover of Guitar Player Magazine!

2011-07-12T09:15:00.000-07:00

Coming soon! The whole article.
We're proud of Blue Coast Artist, Rob Ickes, for making the cover of Guitar Player magazine, August 2011! Congratulations!

Jean-Claude Reynaud poursuit l'aventure du son

2011-07-12T09:04:00.001-07:00

12 juillet 2011 | 04h00
Mis à jour | 09h34

Sud

Barbezieux: Jean-Claude Reynaud poursuit l'aventure du son

Jean-Claude Reynaud est désormais seul à la tête de la fabrique d'enceintes de Barbezieux. Son objectif: conjuguer fidélité de la marque et modernité.

Réagir

Jean-Claude Reynaud, venu au son par son propre chemin, a la même obsession de la fidélité que son père. C'est à lui désormais de trouver de nouvelles voies.Photo CL

Jean-Marie Reynaud est mort le 31 mars dernier. Le «sorcier de Barbezieux» était reconnu comme le créateur génial des enceintes qui portent son nom. Aujourd'hui, Jean-Claude, son fils de 42 ans, reprend le flambeau. Il est PDG de l'entreprise depuis février dernier, deux mois avant la mort de son père. «C'est une très grande charge» reconnaît-il, incapable après le décès de son père «d'écouter de la musique pendant plus d'un mois». Jean-Claude est le fils naturel et spirituel de Jean-Marie. Enfant, il a joué dans l'atelier de son père. Plus grand, il a découvert son laboratoire, qui l'émerveillait, avec des boutons partout. Sa première chaîne hi-fi à onze ans, impressionnait ses copains. Il est aussi le fils spirituel en devenant un passionné de la qualité du son. Un obsédé de la fidélité restituée.
Deux parcours, le même objectif

Mais il a tracé son propre sillon. Il a plaqué l'école en terminale. Il a forcé les portes des studios d'enregistrement pour devenir ingénieur du son à Bordeaux et Paris. Il a poursuivi l'aventure dans les studios de San Francisco où il a créé un label. Il a imaginé des méthodes pour spatialiser le son, tout en collaborant avec l'Institut de recherche et coordination accoustique-musique (Ircam) de Boulez. De loin en loin, le père et le fils travaillaient, chacun à sa manière, sur la même matière. Leurs retrouvailles professionnelles semblaient inscrites. Et c'est parce que son père envisageait de vendre qu'il est revenu pour intégrer l'entreprise en 2005, en tant que simple technico-commercial. «On en a parlé pendant deux ans. Il n'était pas très chaud et pas sûr de l'avenir de l'entreprise. Il voulait me protéger.» Les deux hommes ont travaillé côte à côte pendant cinq ans. «J'apportais mon regard extérieur. Je voulais des produits plus dynamiques, plus vivants» se souvient Jean-Claude Reynaud. Il a fouillé dans les trésors enfouis de son père. «Il n'a jamais cessé d'inventer. Parfois il avait laissé tomber dans l'oubli des concepts très intéressants.»
Comme l'enceinte murale plate imaginée par le père une quinzaine d'années avant. «Mais à l'époque les gens voulaient toujours des enceintes de plus en plus grosses. Ils ne croyaient pas en son concept qui remettait en cause certaines idées.»

Cap sur le numérique

Jean-Claude Reynaud a remis au goût du jour le principe de mise en tension des haut-parleurs pour éviter les transmissions vibratoires à l'ébénisterie, et donc limiter la distorsion tout en améliorant la dynamique. «En fait une enceinte contrairement à ce que l'on croit, c'est tout sauf une caisse de résonance» précise Jean-Claude. Dans la famille Reynaud, l'enceinte est d'abord un objet au service de la fidélité. «Au-delà de la bande passante, il faut rester attentif au battement de l'air entre les instruments, être toujours au plus près de la vérité des timbres. Les ingénieurs sont capables de faire des enceintes parfaites techniquement. Ce sont toutes les mêmes, trop neutres, sans couleur, sans émotion, ni personnalité» explique le fils. La perfection d'un objet, en apparence si simple, se glisse d'abord dans les détails. Ainsi on utilise une même planche de médium pour la réalisation de toute l'ébénisterie. Chaque haut-parleur, construit en sous-traitance selon un cahier des charges précis, est rodé sur place avant d'être monté. Jean-Claude Reynaud a introduit l'utilisation d'éléments viscoélastiques qui ont la propriété de transformer l'énergie vibratoire en chaleur et donc de la neutraliser. On n'utilise pas n'importe quelle peinture pour les haut-parleurs, «elle peut changer de matière drastique la qualité restituée», raconte-t-il. Une obsession de la perfection qui n'est pas si loin de celle du père.
A lire en intégralité dans votre CL d'aujourd'hui

Tim Marutani Consulting / Blue Coast World Plaza 1 Ballroom from Tim Marutani Consulting

2011-07-08T11:45:00.001-07:00

For Immediate Release

Tim Marutani Consulting / Blue Coast World

Plaza 1 Ballroom

California Audio Show by Dagogo, July 15-17, 2011

Crowne Plaza SFO, 1177 Airport Boulevard. Burlingame, CA

Emeryville, CA • 6/27/11 • Tim Marutani Consulting, in association with Blue Coast Records founder and engineer, Cookie Marenco, has assembled a state-of-the-art sound system for the Crowne Plaza SFO Hotel’s Plaza 1 Ballroom. The three-day display will include live performances, which Marenco will record direct-to-DSD twice daily and upload immediately for free DSD downloading. Question and answer periods will follow each recording session.

Marutani Consulting has also arranged a host of panel presentations. Thanks to Concord Music Group, First Impression Music, and Five/Four Productions, Michael Bishop, co-founder of Five/Four Productions, will play many of his live-to-stereo DSD masters. Selections will include new FIM re-releases of great Telarc Records DSD titles as well as previews of previously unheard Five/Four direct-to-DSD masters.

Bishop, former chief engineer at Telarc Records, has been privileged to record icons of the music industry for over thirty years. His releases have helped define the sound of popular, jazz, blues, and classical music for the record-buying public. For his efforts, he has received nine Grammy Awards, Japan’s Grand Prix Award, Gramophone Magazine’s Record of the Year; and multiple Surround Music Magazine and RIAA Platinum Album awards.

On Friday and Saturday, another industry leader, Grammy and Emmy award-winning producer and engineering veteran, Bill Schnee, will present live-to-two-channel, 24-192k recordings of several artists featured on his new audiophile label, Bravura Records. Schnee produced and engineered many of the legendary Sheffield Lab direct-to-disc recordings, including those of Thelma Houston, James Newton Howard and Friends, The Drum Record, The Track Record, etc. Grammy nominated eleven times for Best Engineered Album, he has over 135 Gold and Platinum albums to his credit. Bravura Records’ new breathtakingly live, high-resolution studio recordings must be heard to be believed!

Randomly throughout the show, Marutani will play Reference Recordings 2-channel DSD and high-resolution PCM masters (in HRx 176.4 kHz/24 bit format). In addition, attendees will hear sneak previews of vinyl test pressings of upcoming Reference Mastercuts LPs. Since 1976, Reference Recordings has produced outstanding audiophile-class classical and jazz releases engineered by the legendary “Prof.” Keith Johnson. Johnson has received the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Surround Sound Album as well as 8 Grammy nominations for Best Engineering.

Tim Marutani Consulting’s state-of-the-art main system in the Plaza 1 Ballroom will include Magico Model Q5 Loudspeakers ($59,500/pair); Constellation Audio Altair linestage preamplifier ($65,000); Constellation Audio Hercules power amplifiers ($140,000/pair); Continuum Audio Labs turntable system ($100,000); and a computer source consisting of a Zalman TNN300 with no moving parts and external supply, Win XP, Pyramix 6, and Mykerinos card ($10,000). Also featured are a Mike Spitz ATR102 ½”, ½ track with Mike Spitz hybrid repro using copies from running masters (n/a); Pacific Microsonics Model Two converter for 1x, 2x, and 4x LPCM files (n/a); and Merging Technology DSD DAC (n/a).

The room’s second reference system will include Technical Audio Devices (TAD) Model CR1 Compact Reference loudspeakers ($37,000); Constellation Audio’s not-yet-released or priced Performance Series linestage preamplifier ($TBD) and stereo 250 watt power amp ($TBD); and other outstanding equipment.

Separately, Blue Coast World will host a panel entitled DSD -- Then, Now and Tomorrow. Scheduled for Saturday July 16, 1-3pm in the Peninsula Ballroom, it will be moderated by Marenco and Chris Connaker of Computer Audiophile.

The panel will include original members of the Sony DSD design team. Speakers will provide a history of the DSD recording format, and explain how it led to the development of SACD discs and high-resolution data files. Guest speakers include Gus Skinas of the Super Audio Center, Leslie Ann Jones of Skywalker Sound, and Michael Bishop, with others to be announced.

For further information, please contact Tim Marutani Consulting at tim@marutaniconsulting.com or (510) 652-1911.

Blue Coast Collection 2 debuts to Fans only and gets First Review!

2011-07-07T20:44:00.000-07:00

Before we could get a link up on the Blue Coast Records website, Our Music Lover friend, Morten Teinum posted this wonderful photo and review of the recording. Thanks Morten!
http://mortenteinum.blogspot.com/2011/07/blue-coast-collection-2.html
He has a beautiful blog, Check it out!

Blue Coast Collection 2

Finally!

It was supposed to be released last spring, but now it's here, and it's good. There will be multiple releases of this record. First out is download editions including 44kHz /16 bit, 96kHz / 24 bit, and the most exciting, DSDIFF files. You can also buy a promo CD, but that is a gift if you get one of the download editions (valid if you purchase a download edition in July). In september a Hybrid SACD is released.

DSDIFF or Direct Stream Digital Interchange File Format, is a file container for the format used on the SACD layer, and most likely will the SACD edition and DSDIFF be the same, except you can't rip the SACD. You can play DSDIFF files using Korg AudioGate (mac/win). There is also a DSDIFF plugin for foobar2000 (win) that will play these files without a problem.

Pure Music from Channel D (mac) is also an option.

AudioGate can convert DSDIFF files to multiple formats including flac and Apple Lossless up to 192kHz / 24bit.

On the picture above I have made a 96 kHz / 24bit copy that I can play through a SqueezeBox / Benchmark DAC.

Sonics

As expected, this is the top of the line. The music is recorded live without overdubs, digital effects and so on, and is wonderfully captured by Cookie Marenco.

This is a no-brainer - get this one:

bluecoastrecords.downloadsnow.net/

Lagt inn av Morten Teinum kl. 7:43 PM

Blue Coast Records to Demonstrate Direct Stream Digital Recording at 2011 California Audio Show (July 15-17)

2011-06-28T20:27:00.000-07:00

The 2011 California Audio Show (CAS) will feature world renown audiophile producer Cookie Marenco and her Blue Coast Records team recording a series of acoustic performances live to Direct Stream Digital (DSD). The sessions, using her proprietary Extended Sound Environment (E.S.E.) recording technique, will be open to the public, so fans can experience first-hand how Blue Coast’s world-class musicians are recorded in a natural setting, without headphones or overdubs. Marenco’s recording technique was featured in the July 2011 issue of Keyboard Magazine and newly launched pstracks.com which centered around Vijay Iyer’s critically acclaimed release called Solo.

CAS takes place the weekend of July 15th at Crowne Plaza SFO in Burlingame. The live recording events will be hosted by Blue Coast in the Plaza One Ballroom. Veteran audio consultant and dealer Tim Marutani will share the space. Blue Coast Artists Jane Selkye, Chris Kee, Chi McClean, Gregory James, Houston Jones, Frank Tusa and more will be performing live in the Blue Coast room. Gus Skinas from the Super Audio Center will also be present demonstrating the Sonoma DSD editing system. Observers will be encouraged to ask questions about the equipment, techniques and recording process.

This three day exposition will introduce the next generation of high-end audio to audiophiles and the general public, with a list of exhibitors and panelists including Acoustic Science, Music Interface Technologies, Blue Coast Records and many others. Confirmed media sponsors include Dagogo, Stereophile Magazine, Wired.com, KCSM (Jazz FM 91.1) and KOIT (Light Rock FM 96.5). A full list of participants can be found at www.caaudioshow.com/.

Blue Coast Records founder, president and producer/engineer Cookie Marenco is a five-time Grammy nominee known throughout the music community as an A&R representative during the “golden years” of Windham Hill Records and pioneering recording engineer for Liquid Audio. Blue Coast has been mixing and releasing audio files in DSD for more than ten years. The DSD format provides a stunning difference in sound when compared with industry standard Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) for high resolution audio distribution.

Blue Coast Records has always been and remains committed to preserving audio at its highest quality, even under the most difficult and challenging of circumstances.

For more information on the event please visit:

BlueCoastWorld.com
Caaudioshow.com
ActMusic.downloadsnow.net/solo
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newbay/kb_201107/#/38
CookieMarenco.com

Thank you PSTracks.com for This Article!

2011-05-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

Reflections on Recording Vijay Iyer’s latest album

Featured Music — 21 May 2011

To Read the complete article at PStracks.com please click here!

Written by Cookie Marenco

Vijay Iyer is an international artist of the highest caliber and reflects the new sensibilities of jazz’s next generation of players. Though considered a ‘youngster’ in the world of jazz, Vijay has been recording albums for more than 15 years. Vijay was named 2010 MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR in the Jazz Journalists Association Annual Jazz Awards! I’ve had the great fortune of recording all but one of his releases. It’s been a pleasure to watch him grow and see him grace the covers of notable magazines such as Downbeat and Jazzwise. He was recognized with a Grammy Nomination for Best Jazz Recording.
Though Vijay is a resident of New York City, he chose to fly to the San Francisco area to record at OTR Studios, my commercial recording facility of 25 years. Because this would be his first solo piano effort, his decision to use my studio was based around the 1885 Steinway that lives at OTR along with my personal bias to record on analog tape and mix to DSD (Direct Stream Digital). Light or heavy action, key grip, pedal noise, and you name it variations between instruments make it a challenge for any pianist to perform at their best.

Vijay is always keen to ‘future-proof’ his music by recording with the highest fidelity audio gear and format available. We used the E.S.E (Extended Sound Environment) techniques devised for Blue Coast Records’ projects. We simultaneously recorded to tape, DSD and 44.1khz/24bit.

Vijay’s choice of songs showed his wide appreciation for all great artists. From Michael Jackson’s Thriller he performed a version of ”Human Nature”, my personal favorite. Over the three-day recording period, he applied his unique interpretive style to works by Ellington, Monk and many other well-known composers. Most of you are familiar with analog tape and have heard of Direct Stream Digital recording. DSD is a one-bit digital recording format that offers 2.8 million samples per second. I realize there are numerous opinions on this subject of preference, but, in my view, DSD comes closest to tape and is our format of choice for multitrack recording. Thanks to Gus Skinas and the Super Audio Center, we have a Sonoma System at OTR studios for use with EMM Labs ADDA converters.

To Read the complete article at PStracks.com please click here!

Valentine's Day Rebate from Blue Coast Records and Artist Connex!

2011-02-12T13:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day to our audio friends! We're sending you virtual hugs for supporting high resolution audio.

Starting friday, we will be offering a 20% rebate (discount) on all products sold at Blue Coast Records and through the entire Artist Connex catalog. In celebration of Valentine's Day, any purchase of downloads through the end of the day on February 14th, 2011 will be eligible. Rebates will be credited back to your account no later than February 18.

Our DSD catalogue includes some of our favorites
http://bluecoastrecords.com/blue-coast-collection
http://bluecoastrecords.com/while-she-sleeps
http://keithdayan.downloadsnow.net/

There are plenty of new titles in the Artist Connex Music Discovery module from various labels.

If you have not been at the site recently, we are pleased to announce that there are 3 DSD songs available for free download. In conjunction with Korg and their wonderful AudioGate software, we will offer one new download to guests registered at the site.

http://audiogate.bluecoastrecords.com

There will always be 3 songs in DSD available for collectors of high resolution audio.

This is a good time to begin collecting the downloads.

You can get AudioGate free from Korg here.

http://www.korguser.net/audiogate/en/index.html

Watch for next month's newsletter, we have a very special announcement to make....

If you can guess what that announcement is, I'll give you a free download of any song in the catalog!

Happy Valentine's Day
We love your all!

Cookie Marenco
Blue Coast Records
founder and producer

Congratulations to Rob Ickes for Winning the United States Artists Fellowship!

2010-12-07T20:39:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Blue Coast Artist, Rob Ickes!

United States Artists, an organization dedicated to supporting America's finest artists working across diverse disciplines, announced the selection of Rob Ickes as the 2010 United States Artists Cummings Fellow at a ceremony tonight at the Lincoln Center.

The USA Fellows program awards a $50,000 grant to fifty artists each year in the disciplines of music, theater arts, visual arts, dance, literature, media, crafts/traditional arts, and architecture/ design. United States Artists was formed by the Ford Foundation in 2005 with $22 million in seed funding from The Ford, Rockefeller, Rasmuson and Prudential Foundations, with a mission "to invest in America's finest artists and illuminate the value of artists to society."

USA Fellowship nominations are made by an anonymous group of arts leaders, critics, scholars, and artists chosen by USA. An expert panel for each discipline then chooses the USA Fellows to be recommended for approval by the USA Board. Previous USA fellows from the field of music include Michael Doucet, Bill Frisell, Ali Akbar Kahn, Terry Allen, Lionel Loueke, violinist Leila Josefowicz, jazz musician Muhal Richard Abrams, and interdisciplinary artist Meredith Monk.

Katharine DeShaw, USA Executive Director, described the 2010 recipients as follows: "Chosen for the caliber and impact of their work, the USA Fellows for 2010 hail from 18 states and Puerto Rico, range in age from 32 to 71, and represent some of the most innovative and diverse creative talents in the country."

Ickes is the first artist with roots in bluegrass music to be named a USA Fellow. His work spans multiple genres, and Ickes plans to use his fellowship to continue to explore "the vast musical potential that the dobro has to offer," and to raise the visibility of the instrument.
WATCH THE ANNOUNCEMENT AND CELEBRATION , STREAMING LIVE FROM JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER AT 8pm ET: The 2010 USA Fellows will be announced tonight at 8:00pm, followed by a celebration with special performances by several Fellows from prior years. Watch a live stream of the announcement and celebration at www.unitedstatesartists.org (a video will also be archived and available for viewing on USA's website after the event).

About Rob Ickes

A Northern California native, Rob Ickes moved to Nashville in 1992 and joined Blue Highway, the highly esteemed bluegrass band, as a founding member in 1994. He is recognized as one of the most innovative Dobro players on the scene today, contributing signature technique and greatly expanding the boundaries of the instrument's sonic and stylistic territory. He won the International Bluegrass Music Association's Dobro Player of the Year award for a record-setting twelfth time in 2010, and is the most awarded instrumentalist in the history of the IBMA awards.

An active session player and touring musician, he has collaborated with a wide range of artists, including Merle Haggard, Earl Scruggs, Tony Rice, Charlie Haden, David Grisman, Alison Krauss, Willie Nelson, David Lee Roth, Dolly Parton, Patty Loveless, Peter Rowan, Claire Lynch, andMary Chapin Carpenter.

His most recent release is Road Song (ResoRevolution), a dobro-piano jazz album. He has also
released four acclaimed solo albums on Rounder, nine albums with Blue Highway (Rounder, Ceili, Rebel) and a CD with Three Ring Circle (Rob, Andy Leftwich & Dave Pomeroy). The youngest dobro player on The Great Dobro Sessions (Jerry Douglas & Tut Taylor, producers), which won the 1994 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, he was also on the Alison Krauss & The Cox Family album, I Know Who Holds Tomorrow, which won the 1994 Grammy for Best Southern Gospel.

Rob is also a gifted resonator guitar teacher; in 2007, he founded ResoSummit, a three-day annual instructional event in Nashville, featuring leading Dobro players and luthiers as faculty.

To schedule an interview or for more information:publicity@resorevolution.com 615-656-5306
www.unitedstatesartists.com | www.resorevolution.com

CD Quality and High Resolution versions of his song are available on his Downloads NOW! page.

http://robickes.downloadsnow.net/

Recorded by Cookie Marenco, Producer and Founder, Blue Coast Records

New DSD Title from Blue Coast World -- Vijay Iyer "Solo" -- ACT Music

2010-11-20T12:16:00.000-08:00

As Thanksgiving approaches, we are compelled to thank all of your for your support of our high resolution audio efforts! We are very, very grateful to you all!

As our way of saying "Thanks!" we wanted to give you the first opportunity to purchase our new DSD Downloads!

From now until Nov, 24, we are offering a 20% rebate or choice of any high resolution album when you purchase our DSD files (see details below or in our backstage area on how to claim your rebate).

We have added Vijay Iyer's critically acclaimed album, "Solo", as our second DSD title. While it's distributed by ACT Music in Germany, the recording was done in the Extended Sound Environment (E.S.E.) fashion at our studio in the Bay Area. Cookie Marenco was the engineer and co-producer. It was recorded to analog 2" tape and mixed to DSD. The recording has received numerous accolades in the New York Times and other media.

http://actmusic.downloadsnow.net/solo

Our first DSD release, Blue Coast Collection, is available now as DFF or DSF files as well.
http://bluecoastrecords.com/blue-coast-collection

More great news, Korg has announced free downloads of their Audiogate software making DSD easier for most computer systems.

http://www.korguser.net/AudioGate/

Many of you support our venture of higher quality audio through DSD and 96 24 high resolution files. Blue Coast Records has become the first label in the USA (that we are aware of) to release native DSD files... meaning masters recorded to analog tape or DSD and mixed to DSD. Our files can now be downloaded as DFF or DSF files, depending on the player you have at home. If you've never tried to hear DSD audio, we suggest joining our Backstage area where we have free DSD downloads for you to try. These are recordings of our favorite Blue Coast Artists captured in ive performances at CAS. Unadulterated by effects. If natural is your preference, this is what a showroom at a convention sounds like! All recordings were direct to DSD on the Sonoma System.

Thank you and all the best throughout the Holiday season!

The Crew

Blue Coast Records
Blue Coast World
Downloads NOW!

How to get your rebate or free download!
To Register for our Backstage area
Go To
http://bluecoastrecords.com/dsd-disc-burning
and look under "Member's Chat" for Information!

Rebates and downloads will come to you before Nov 29.

Blue Coast Records Releases Downloads in High Rez Extreme Format DSD

2010-10-13T14:21:00.000-07:00

Blue Coast Records announces the release of the critically acclaimed “Blue Coast Collection” in Direct Stream Digital (DSD) format. The launch date is expected to be October 14, 2010 and will be announced at the Rocky Mountain Audiofest in Denver Oct 15-17. Blue Coast Records is one of the first labels to release high resolution music on DSD. DSD is considered by many to be the highest quality digital audio available to date.

bluecoastrecords.com/blue-coast-collection

"We originally recorded the tracks on analog tape as well as DSD for SACD (Super Audio CD). After numerous requests from adventurous audiophiles for DSD, we have figured out a relatively easy way to deliver them electronically through the internet. We had always intended to do this once the broadband and delivery mechanism was in place. Now it is," says Cookie Marenco, founder and producer of Blue Coast Records. "Gus Skinas, from Super Audio Center and one of the original members of the DSD development team for Sony, was a great supporter and activist for our releasing DSD."

In August 2010, Skinas joined Marenco at the California Audio Show where they put on live recording demonstrations and burning DSD to Disc for playback in Sony’s Playstation PS3. The room was packed with eager audiophiles who wanted to hear and learn more. With free DSD downloads of the live recordings available from Blue Coast Records, the incredible success of the program led to the decision to release the full length Collection.

Blue Coast Records has been challenging the norm for some time, first gaining critical acclaim for its proprietary recording technique, E.S.E. (Extended Sound Environment) and creating what has now become a new sonic standard for acoustic recording. Manufacturers and audiophiles praise the label for its realistic sound combined with skillful, passionate performances. Thousands of people around the globe now own the original Blue Coast Collection SACD. Earlier this year the Collection was released in

China

as a 24 Karat Gold CD which includes a booklet containing images and stories from the original recording sessions.

In 2008, Blue Coast Records partnered with Downloads NOW! to release CD Quality downloads. In 2009, the label released the Collection as 96kHz 24bit audio downloads. "The demand was so great for 96 24 downloads, we started recording live Special Events as the Artists came into town. We use our E.S.E. recording technique and have been able to post live recording events for fans within 3 hours of the performance and available worldwide," Marenco continues, "Our 96 24 high resolution audio outsells the CD Quality by 20 to 1. It plays easily using iTunes, Windows Media and other players. DSD will be more of a challenge for the audiophile. It requires new players and new thinking, but the end result is worth it!"

DSD is the format created for music released on SACD. With the slowdown of manufacturing physical discs, Marenco and many other producers felt it was important to keep sound quality at the highest level possible for future generations to hear these artists. "Speed of the broadband has always been a delivery barrier. These are huge files. With broadband and storage more accessible, we are looking into the music recorded and mixed on DSD to be released in that format. It's a tragedy to give the consumers mp3s. And more a tragedy, for these artists whose legacy will be lost in mp3 sound. Future generations will thank us later."

There are some complications with DSD playback. For consumers without a DSD setup, like the Sonoma System, Blue Coast Records is making DSF files available as an ISO disc image in the DSD Disc Format, which can be burned to DVD for playback on Sony’s Playstation PS3 and other devices that support the DSD Disc Format, including Korg's Audiogate software. Single song downloads will be in the DFF format for computer-based playback using the DFF Decoder plugin for the popular free music player software Foobar. Blue Coast is prepared for the onslaught of enthusiasm and “how to” questions and is offering information at its website.

www.Bluecoastrecords.com

Conspicuously, Blue Coast Records has not released the Collection on mp3. "Mp3 has a purpose. It's convenient, accepted by the masses and we use it to stream full length previews at a higher rate than they will allow us to sell. At best, the mp3 services are a great solution for personalized radio. We're not ruling out distribution in the future, just like we're not ruling out releasing the Collection on vinyl."

More information on how to listen to DSD data files is available at the Blue Coast Records website.
Or contact
support(a)bluecoastrecords.com

If you're interested in having your music available in a high resolution format, please visit
downloadsnow.net
for information.

How to Playback your DSD data files on a Sony Playstation

2010-07-24T15:19:00.001-07:00

DSD Disc Burning

We're excited to begin offering our music in the new DSD Disc Format. DSD Disc is an open format and does not require an SACD transport system to hear the full quality of the Blue Coast Recorings. DSD Discs can be played in any Sony Playstation 3 (PS3), Sony's SCD-XA5400ES and their upcoming SCD-XE800. DSD Disc files can also be played using Korg's AudioGate software which accompanies their MR series DSD Recorders. We are hopeful that additional manufacturers will be adding DSD Disc Format capability in future.

If you are already familiar with burning disc images you may not need the instructions below. If you're not we have set-up a step-by-step procedure for the burning the downloaded ISO disc image file to DVD, including a free (and very simple) image-burning application for Windows users. If you need support please contact us.

NOTE: It will not work to simply copy the ISO file to DVD media. The ISO file must be burned to the disc as an image, which contains the formatting and file structure necessary for the PS3 and other units to read the DSD Disc Format.

Burning the ISO file with a Windows PC (XP/Vista/7):

Download the ISO image file of the DSD_DISC from our website.
Download Free ISO Burner. (freeISOburner.com, download link at bottom of page)
Install Free ISO Burner & open the application.
Insert a blank DVD-R (DO NOT use a CD-R/RW).
Click the [Open] button and select the ISO image file you downloaded.
Check the box labeled "Finalize Disc".
Click the [Burn] button to start the disk burning.

Burning the ISO file with a Mac:

Download the ISO image file of the DSD_DISC from our website.
Start Disk Utility (usually found in Applications\Utilities).
Insert a blank DVD-R (DO NOT use a CD-R/RW).
Click the Burn button with the black & yellow icon.
Use the file browser to select the ISO image file you downloaded.
Click the [Burn] button.

You can play DSD Discs on any PS3, including those that are not SACD-compatible. DSD Discs also play on Sony's SCD-XA5400ES and their upcoming SCD-XE800.

Resource Links

Live Performance Schedule at California Audio Show

2010-07-24T15:18:00.000-07:00

Blue Coast Records, Valence Records and OTR Studios are hosting 2 live performances daily with guest artist from our labels. The doors will close during the shows and we will record 1-3 pieces, demonstrate our recording techniques and upload to the internet. Later that night, attendees to the performances will be able to download the songs for free at 44.1 or 96.

With Gus Skinas' help, we hope to get at least one song on DSD available for testing. We hope you all come to listen. Check the website for where to find the downloads. Artists will be available for signing CDs or items.

Here's our current show schedule
Engineered and produced by Cookie Marenco, Sponsored by Blue Coast Records and OTR Studios

Confirmed Live Recording Performances
Friday 11am -- Jane Selkye, Singer / Songwriter, Blue Coast Artist
Friday 4pm -- Gregory James, Contemporary Jazz Guitarist and founder Valence Records

Saturday 11am -- Jason McGuire, Flamenco Guitarist, Blue Coast Artist
Saturday 4pm -- Emily Palen, Solo Violin Improvisations, Valence Records Artist

Sunday 11am -- Joshua and the Juncos / Woodie Guthrie for our times, Blue Coast Artist
Sunday 2pm -- Keith Greeninger and Dayan Kai / Singers, Songwriters, multi skilled instrumentalists, Blue Coast Artists

Reserve your space in advance. 24 seats available, some standing room.
Email support@bluecoastrecords.com please put the Artist name/CAS in the subject. Confirmation will be emailed.
Doors close at beginning of session for 30 minutes.
Questions answered at the end of the session.

Gus Skinas will be available through out to answer your questions about DSD recording and playback at home.

Blue Coast World at the California Audio Show and free passes

2010-07-24T15:13:00.000-07:00

Blue Coast World at the California Audio Show will be offering free passes compliments of Blue Coast World. To receive your free passes, send an email to:
support@bluecoastrecords.com and include in the subject:
Free Passes to Blue Coast World
In the email, include your name and how many passes you'll need. We will reserve those tickets for you at will call.

We are thrilled to be hosting a music room at the Show. Blue Coast World will be located on the lobby level in a room called the Platinum Dock of the Bay room. From July 30- Aug1, you can come by and listen to our music selection, purchase 96 24 downloads, buy CDs from many of the Artists who will be in attendance and meet Cookie, founder of Blue Coast Records.

Several labels will be represented as well as legendary Gus Skinas, one of the first people to pioneer SACD and DSD (direct stream recording). Gus will be available to discuss how to use a Sony Playstation as a DSD playback system. We will be using music from our Blue Coast World catalogue to demonstrate.

We look forward to seeing you there! For updates, check our Blue Coast World page on Facebook.

New High Resolution Downloads from Blue Coast Records Artist, Garett Brennan.

2010-06-12T00:24:00.000-07:00

We are thrilled to announce that Little Cottonwood, Garett Brennan's first recording as a solo artist, is now available as a 96khz audio download. Blue Coast Records founders, Cookie Marenco and Jean Claude Reynaud, recorded Garett in a cabin high in the mountains of Utah, live and without headphones or overdubs. Many audiophiles will delight in hearing the sound of a real thunderstorm passing through on the song These Knees.

The proprietary recording technique, Extended Sound Environment (E.S.E.) was used through out. The original recording format was DSD (Direct Stream Digital) which is one bit recording and 2.8 million parts per second. Cookie Marenco remastered the recording to 96 24 files for the high resolution downloads using her Dynamic Mastering process which eliminates the compression used in mastering. "I have very fond memories of this session with Garett, his band standing by listening, Jean Claude and Nick, our Russian assistant. Most of these songs were recorded in one or two takes."

This weekend only, June 12 and 13, Little Cottonwood 96kHz audio downloads will be featured and on sale through the Artist Connex module. Additional CD Quality and High Resolution Downloads can be found rotating in the module. Blue Coast Records and Blue Coast World is one of the first distributors to have high resolution files available to international fans.

Garett Brennan, a Portland, Oregon resident, has been a favorite of our Blue Coast fans with poignant songs like These Knees and The Dog Songs on the Blue Coast Collection. You can find more of Garett's recordings in the Artist Connex module.

Blue Coast Collection -- Collector's Edition Gold Available NOW!

2010-05-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

Blue Coast Records announces the release of the Blue Coast Collection--Collector's Edition Gold. This special release has been remastered without compression for full dynamic range. Also included will be a 16 page booklet with information on the recording sessions and full color pictures from the studio.

For more than 10 years recordings have been getting increasingly louder while the sound has been degrading in quality. On the original SACD hybrid disc, only the SACD stereo layer was left uncompressed. The CD layer had increased volumes which is standard for most discs even today. The founder of Blue Coast Records, Cookie Marenco (a recording and mastering engineer herself) decided to take a stand on the volume wars by releasing the uncompressed version on Gold CDs.

This graphic representation is the actual comparison of the first song on the Collection, "Looking for a Home", performed by Keith Greeninger and Dayan Kai. The top representation is from the original disc with increased volume. You can see in the louder section that compression had "flat topped" the dynamics eliminating natural peaks. The lower panel is the wave from the new Collector's Gold and is the same song with no compression and no flat tops.

The overall volume has been purposely reduced to avoid creating distorted peaks. While distorted peaks are subtle, the compression to limit those peaks creates an unnatural sound. Blue Coast Records has felt it is time to take a stand on the loudness wars and believe people know how to use their volume controls. Here's to TURNING UP the volume!

Blue Coast Collection -- Collector's Edition Gold

Blue Coast News .. New Rob Ickes 96 24 Music Downloads, Garett Brennan on the Radio, Forum Finds!

2010-04-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

Friends and fans of Blue Coast Records,

Garett Brennan live on the Radio

Garett Brennan (Dog Song) will be featured performing and talking about his music tomorrow, Thursday, at 1pm PST. Garett represents the new generation of Americana performers crossing lines of folk, rock, and hillbilly.

To hear the live show tune in at pdx.am on your internet. Those of you using internet radio for the first time might want to go there early to check out how to listen from your computer or mobile device.

You'll find more information here!
http://betweenthenotes.vox.com/library/post/time-out.html

It's a radio show in Portland that gets about 10,000 listeners worldwide each week.

Little Cottonwood was the recording Garett, Jean Claude and I did in a cabin at 9000 ft. You'll hear the thunderstorm roll by on These Knees. Since we recorded this to DSD and mixed to 1/2" tape, we will soon be releasing this as a 96kHz download. Anyone buying it now at 44.1 until it's official release, will get free delivery of the 96kHz file when it's available in late June.

Forum Finds of the Week Thank you Leonid Lozner! Thanks for the kind words, all!

http://www.psaudio.com/ps/forum/faq.php/viewthread/485/#4086

We welcome your help letting us know about websites and forums that are focused on high resolution downloads and super sonic products!

Rob Ickes, Live Again on Downloads NOW!

In case you missed our last email, we have debuted more songs at 96kHz from Rob's very popular record, Road Songs. He has an interesting twist combing his style of jazz with his background in bluegrass, pop and folk music. Rob has played the dobro with Dolly Parton, Blue Highway and Alison Krause.

http://robickes.downloadsnow.net/

Thanks, all! Be sure to let us know what you're listening to and any new gear you might want to tell us about!

Enjoy the music!

Happy Valentine's Day -- New Piano Music Weekend at Blue Coast Records

2010-02-14T11:53:00.000-08:00

Blue Coast Records and Blue Coast World would like to wish all of our fans, friends, family and followers a very Happy Valentine's Day! While you're enjoying chocolate, flowers and time with your significant other, we hope our weekend release by solo piano artist, John Hinson, will give you 9 minutes and 20 seconds of time well spent together. You can listen to the piece in its entirety streaming at 192 kbps at

JohnHinson.downloadsnow.net/

Or purchase the complete song for high resolution play (96kHz) with a special Valentine's Day discount.

We'd like to thank our Discovery and Distribution folks at Downloads NOW! for their incredible help getting this music up so quickly. The internet is amazing when you think that last week, John and Blue Coast were strangers last week and today he's our featured artist. We look forward to more spontaneous findings.

Surprise Download Coming this Week!

2010-02-10T16:19:00.000-08:00

It's always a treat when you have a young, talented artist, who you've never heard of, suddenly show up at your doorstep unexpectedly. (And he hadn't heard of us either, by the way)....

Yesterday, John Hinson called our studio, OTR Studios, to book some recording time on the Steinway while he was passing through the Bay Area. John was moving his family from Seattle to Phoenix and had stopped in Medford, Oregon to call. He could be there tomorrow, he said. Typically, we don't book sessions without 3 weeks of advance notice, but we had some time and he seemed like a nice guy...

John arrived and we recorded to tape and DSD. The music and his playing sounded so good, I asked if we could offer this on Blue Coast for our fans. We'll send out another email when we have the music posted.

It will be an exclusive to our mailing list fans only.. so JOIN UP NOW!

Thanks, and be on the look out!

Cookie

SoundStage.com Gives Rave Reviews to Blue Coast Records!

2009-12-04T02:22:00.000-08:00

We'd like to thank Rad Bennett and Sound Stage for this wonderful review of our website! Please visit....
http://www.soundstage.com/digitaldomain/

December 2009

The Digital Music Revolution: What Download Sites Have to Offer -- Part 13

Note: Previous "The Digital Music Revolution" installments are available in the SoundStage! A/V archives, which is where the series originated.

This month’s download adventure takes us to Blue Coast Records for some exquisite but limited fare that will leave you longing for them to post more. Downloading and listening to these tracks is like discovering a great new restaurant. You enjoy your meal and feel satisfied, but even though your experience is complete for the moment, you can’t wait to return.

Launched in 2005, Blue Coast Records is very new. It’s the brainchild of respected producer and recording engineer Cookie Marenco, who has recorded over 400 projects in the last 15 years. Marenco felt our ears were being dumbed down by MP3s that sacrifice audio quality for convenience. Along with Jean-Claude Reynaud, son of the audiophile speaker manufacturer Jean-Marie Reynaud, she developed E.S.E. (Extended Sound Environment) technology for recording in surround, a technique that’s now applied to stereo recording. This method uses room and direct microphone placement to let musicians place themselves without using headphones. With E.S.E. there are also no overdubs or digital effects. The resulting sound lets you hear pure music without artifice. All of the masters are analog-to-2" tape.

With Marenco so interested in providing an audiophile alternative to iPod limitations, it makes sense that she would create an audiophile environment for downloads. Yes, Blue Coast Records produces both CDs and Hybrid SACDs, but it also has a very lively download venue. On its surface the site operates like many others, but there are a few surprises. It’s easy to surf because for the moment there are only two album-length downloads, Blue Coast Collection and While She Sleeps. But if you start examining the fine print under the Store and Special Events tabs, you’ll find many more singles and short concerts by Blue Coast Records artists. All downloads are DRM free, and prices range from $15 for CD quality to $40 for 24/96 HD.

You can listen to any of the individual cuts before purchasing, but before your first purchase you’ll have to create an account, which will make it easier to order on subsequent visits. You can pay with any major credit card. All of the files are WAV format, whether 16-bit/44.1kHz or 24-bit/96kHz, and they’re zipped. I found that they both downloaded and unzipped very quickly. One interesting thing about Blue Coast Records is that in addition to linking to your download file on the site, they also send you an email containing the link. Downloads are good for seven days, but should you run into any unforeseen problems, Blue Coast is big on customer service. Marenco likens Blue Coast Records, its artists, and its listeners to a big family.

Since their list is currently small, I easily downloaded all of the tracks from the Blue Coast Records page and two or three from its sister site, Blue Coast World. This site is available in beta for now. Marenco hopes it will someday be a showcase for other producers who create great recordings, regardless of whether they use the proprietary E.S.E. system. One of the albums I liked most, Calico Heart by Houston Jones, a West Coast band that blends bluegrass, folk, and blues, came from this site and is also available as a 24/96 download on the Blue Coast Records page. If you like Alison Krauss, you’ll most likely enjoy the heck out of this album.

On the Blue Coast Records site, I particularly enjoyed discovering Keith Greeninger, a balladeer whose laid-back style and superb guitar technique combine to focus on the lyrics and meaning of a song. The approach is almost conversational, and thanks to the E.S.E., it’s like he’s singing just to you. Many others, including Jenna Mammina, are well worth hearing. There’s some jazz and New Age music, but I think the real draw at Blue Coast Records is the folk and jazz vocalist genres. If you watch the video on the site or read the detailed article on E.S.E. recording, you’ll notice that none of the singers are too close to the microphones. This distance creates some of the best vocals I’ve ever heard -- they’re clean, open, and totally focused, yet they have a little space around them. The recording of guitars, bass, and piano is as good as anything you’ll hear, but the vocals are something special.

Blue Coast Records is adding special events, singles, and albums on a regular basis, and you can sign up on the site to be notified when there’s something new. After a few downloads, my bet is that you won’t want to miss a thing!

. . . Rad Bennett
radb@soundstage.com

2009-11-20T08:03:00.000-08:00

A few months ago Cookie Marenco had the pleasure of having Keith Greeninger and Dayan Kai over to the Blue Coast Studios (AKA OTR Studios). The three of them got together to record their new album, live in the studio, for Keith's own label.

KeithDayan.argoarts.com

You probably remember them for their lead off track on the Blue Coast Collection.

This event has been years in the waiting and Blue Coast Records is happy to announce the completion of the recording.

The E.S.E. technique was used thoughout and lives up to it's previous recordings with full dynamic range and stunning clarity. Jim Norris and Steve Uccello joined Keith and Dayan on a few songs to provide drums and bass. Keith and Dayan covered some songs like Jerry Garcia's "Friend of the Devil" and Jackson Browne's "Lady of the Well". Don't miss the last track, it's excellent... "Bid You Goodnight".

You can audition the entire series of new songs in full length. They are available in 44.1 cd quality wav or 96Khz audio, uncompressed wav files. You can also download the cd artwork on our Downloads NOW! page.

Buy a latte or a 96Khz uncompressed audio download! Or do both :)

Thanks for your support of high resolution sound!

New 96kHz Songs by Rob Ickes and Gregory James recorded by Cookie Marenco

2009-10-07T12:58:00.000-07:00

Many of you have just returned home from Denver's Audiofest. We hope you had a wonderful time! Unfortunately, we couldn't attend this year, but are hoping to see you at CES in January.

Many of you know that my regular job is that of an engineer and producer for other artists and labels. When I record, I use the highest standards possible, often in a more traditional recording style than the restrictiveness of E.S.E recording. Meaning the use of overdubs, headphones and other typical techniques that are not the live performances as we do for Blue Coast Records. This week, I have two exceptional recordings that I'd like to point out to you.

Last year, Blue Coast artist, Rob Ickes, asked me to engineer a recording in Nashville for his own label, Reso Revolution. Rob and I have recorded many albums for Rounder Records in the past, but this was the first for his label. Rob is an exceptional talent and a 10 time winner of Dobro Player of the Year. On this recording he is performing in the studio live, with Michael Alvey on piano and Robinella on vocals-- the album is called Road Songs. Rob has graciously allowed me to release 3 songs at 96kHz that have uncompressed dynamics. Let us know what you think!
http://robickes.argoarts.com/

Gregory James is a world music artist who's guitar playing crosses into jazz, flamenco, Afro-Cuban and Middle Eastern musics to name a few. Gregory and I recorded this album many years ago with producer/bassist, Benny Reitveld. Benny is most known as the bass player for Carlos Santana and Miles Davis. For this album, Benny wanted to go into a more 'Electronica' genre. We are happy to be re-releasing this album as CD Quality Downloads. We have also uncovered previously unreleased tracks of the Bjork Song, Come to Me , sung in Spanish by Destani Wolf. The 96kHz tracks posted came directly from the 1/2" mixes. It's a 10 minute version complete with a 20 piece string section and incredible musicianship.
http://gregoryjames.com/come-to-me

Many of you have been asking for more variety in our music selection, so, we thought we'd offer you something different from our catalogue at Downloads NOW!
We'll be back soon with more live E.S.E. recordings from Blue Coast Records very soon!

Enjoy the Music!
Cookie Marenco
Blue Coast Records
founder and producer

Blue Coast Artist ROB ICKES on NPR SEPT 3!

2009-09-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

Last year, Blue Coast Records artist, Rob Ickes, recorded a project, Road Songs for his own label with Cookie Marenco engineering. The record is the debut project for Rob's own label, ResoRevolution, and features Rob on Dobro, Michael Alvey on piano and several wonderful additions by vocalist Robinella.

We've just learned that Craig Havighurst's story on Road Song, based in part on interviews with Rob Ickes and Michael Alvey, will air on National Public Radio tonight on All Things Considered. We don't know the exact air time yet.

NPR's "All Things Considered" to air Road Song story tonight!

For details, visit the All Things Considered page at www.npr.org - the "Rundown", posted here at about 4pm, will list today's shows in order of airplay, and you'll also find an audio button to listen online beginning at about 4pm. Check here to find the broadcast time for All Things Considered in your area.

Special Event Reviewed by Bay Area Audiophile Society!

2009-08-17T00:36:00.000-07:00

From BAAS, Thank you!

Yet Another Stunning ‘Blue Coast Session’

Posted on July 29th, 2009 by Bob

Check out the recordings from this great session here. More on Jenna here, and Matt here.

text by Ori

pics by Bob Bergner

What’s always puzzling in a recording session is whether it will produce decent music or truly great music. Ordinary does not count.It takes two to tango and in this case what a great dance it was. Matt and Jenna have known each other in the past, but busy schedules and geographical barriers kept them away for five years or so.

There comes the third person to this party. Cookie Marenco needs no introduction in the BAAS circles and probably by now in the greater audiophile community as well. As it turned out, Cookie knows Matt and Jenna and convinced them to collaborate on this project. Cookie is to the artists what Matt is to Lyle and Ricky Lee-Jones. She plays the subtle role of an enabler, with her musical insight and magical artistry on the mixing console. These are not “filler words” to liven up the review and we will touch on her studio wizardry later.

I should note the assisting staff, working behind the scenes on documenting the studio session, keeping track of the analog tape machine and the web production (some tracks were uploaded to the Blue Cast website).

Frankly, this all came out of the blue. I received an email through BAAS that Cookie invites up to 6 members to a studio session/party. What in the world does that mean?I considered it an adventure. Whatever comes out of it ought to be unique. I mean, how many of you have been invited to a recording session like that?!

This actually takes guts on the part of the studio and performers. Recording good music relies on bringing artists to the point where they “click” and produce art rather than bang notes. Recording sessions in front of a live audience take a mighty effort to put together and not all come out great. How on Earth this one will go?

I know the Blue Coast studio from a previous visit and tried to imagine a small audience sitting around tiny tables with the performers up front. Nah, ain’t gonna happen…

Like I said, not knowing what to expect almost guarantees a “great” adventure. The question in my mind was not if I should attend. The question was if I can afford to miss all that fun!I don’t have a clue what other BAAS members were thinking. I expected this list to close in minutes, yet it took a whole day to fill the few slots. Unbelievable!

Next time when you get such a generous invitation - jump on it. That’s my free advice and you will thank me for it, I guarantee it.I arrived at the session a little early. Matt and Jenna were in the middle of a take and I just tried to get out of the way. Cookie went up the stairs from the control room and stood at the door of the acoustic room, trying not to break the concentration of the performers before the next take. Cookie plays the role of a producer in her subtle way. She knows what she can ask from the two and she does it in the most constructive way. A little advice here, a good word there. There are no bad sessions, just good and better ones… I like her philosophy!

At that point in time, this was still a studio operating as a studio “should”. Then came the mob…BAAS members started trickling in right around 6PM and within an hour it turned into a big party. Matt and Jenna took a break every two or three takes and mingled with the few of us that were there. Cookie produced some munchies and a few visitors brought several bottles of wine. It’s a real party!

During the evening, a few friends showed up, some from the music industry. This was a lively studio session for sure. Now, one might think, how in the world do you make music under the circumstances?

I had my own doubts as well, but heck. It’s a great locale with fine people. Let us enjoy the moment, whatever happens is fine with me!

My hat is off to Matt and Jenna. I don’t know if they were prepared for this or it was dropped on them out of nowhere. Here you are in a recording session. You come out and there is a bunch of strangers wanting to chat with you… I’m sure it felt odd in the beginning.

People started asking Matt about his work with Lyle Lovett and recently with Mark Knopler. Jenna tried to disappear, but we didn’t let her… She is a great vocalist and it was her music we were celebrating. The dynamics of this afternoon was definitely a factor in the outcome, both for the audience and the performers. Of course, having the usually friendly BAAS crowd helps as well…It seemed like everybody was genuinely enjoying the atmosphere and the company. Here and there Cookie drags the duo back into the recording room and they go for another piece while we, the audience, listen in the control room. Usually they’ll have two takes of the piece and we got to “vote” which is better. Not that we know much…

The theme was moody songs (I could not find the tissue Cookie promised!) yet the atmosphere was quite cheerful and full of energy. If singing moody songs requires that the singer and audience will shed tears then this was a complete failure…One thing I noticed is how professional Matt and Jenna are. They switch modes from party time to “work” time in an instant and it’s quite amazing to see this and hear it in person.

Blue Coast recordings are all about musical expression. This session was done without headphones. The placement of the vocal microphone was chosen so that the Matt could see and hear Jenna and they can “work it out” together in the studio. I don’t want to elaborate on the technical aspects but I can tell there was some serious thought about preserving the “feel” of the music and acoustic space in the final recording. Luck has nothing to do with it.

You also come to realize how difficult it is to record this way. Any mistake and the whole track is a waste. “Standard” production would record one instrument at a time. It’s easier to salvage things, but where is the interaction between performers? Clean - sure. Artistic? Rarely.

Reading to this point, now you might think “that sounds really great”, but wait. There is more!Remember my early hallucinations… Audience in the studio, live take, ice cubes hitting champagne glass, smokey dark club… No, that did not happen. I mean, no champagne, smoke and all that. But it was such a great atmosphere that for some reason we found ourselves all crammed into that little recording room and Matt and Jenna hit it with two fresh tracks. What a treat!

There was no second take on these nor was there a need for one!I was standing in there in awe, afraid to produce a squeak. All of us were. It was like a moment of magic. The performers were in their zone. We were just those long-time friends that always are there to support you… And you never know what comes out of such an “experiment”.I heard two artists come together in full support of each other. Jenna is very much into her singing and lyrics. Matt was giving her just enough space to maneuver, musically speaking. The piano did not jump to the front of the stage, the spot light was on the singer, but it was dim. You could see and feel the piano notes caress the singing, flow together in an amazing dance. This duo was not about Tango. It was a ballet at its highest level. Strong in its message, fragile in its delivery. Great pianists find that moment of musical illumination at times. This was one of these moments and I’m glad to have been there to witness the magic.Jenna has a special voice and needs no praise, but in these last two pieces she truly let loose. Maybe it was the wine, maybe the long tiring day, maybe (I’d like to think) it was the place and time and the great atmosphere. She stretched her voice, not being afraid to break or falter. In these two tracks she was soaring effortlessly at the edge of her vocal abilities.It’s not the technique that gets me, but what it does to the overall presentation of the song. I will take an imperfect artistry over polished musicianship anytime!

The geeks that we are… We went down to the control room to hear these takes on the tape. You might wonder “why?!”Well, it happened and I’m glad it did. When you are in the studio, you realize how loud the piano is relative to the vocalist, especially Jenna. I’m sure Janis Joplin or Louis Armstrong would have equalized the levels but that’s not Jenna’s style. She is singing from the heart, to herself actually. Sometimes it’s just a delicate whisper into the mike.When you hear the tape, it’s a whole different song. Levels are much more like you’d want them to be. Tonal balance is great. Music and harmony emerge and they are nothing like what you’ve heard in the recording session!

And that’s my Epilogue to this great musical journey. It started with a colorful pianist, touched on the lyrics and soul of the vocalist and closed the loop at the mixing room, with a great artist in her own right. Without Cookie, this music would not be what it is.If I had to pick one thing that made this evening special, I’d go mad. There was so much to take from it for each and every music lover that I cannot even start. Like I said, don’t miss the next one. I hope there is a next one!

The World Has Lost a Remarkable Innovator and Musician: Les Paul Passes Away at 94

2009-08-13T10:48:00.000-07:00

For Immediate Release:

The World Has Lost a Remarkable Innovator and Musician: Les Paul Passes Away at 94
1915-2009

New York, NY…August 13, 2009…Les Paul, acclaimed guitar player, entertainer and inventor, passed away today from complications of severe pneumonia at White Plains Hospital in White Plain, New York, surrounded by family and loved ones. He had been receiving the best available treatment through this final battle and in keeping with his persona, he showed incredible strength, tenacity and courage. The family would like to express their heartfelt thanks for the thoughts and prayers from his dear friends and fans. Les Paul was 94.

One of the foremost influences on 20th century sound and responsible for the world’s most famous guitar, the Les Paul model, Les Paul’s prestigious career in music and invention spans from the 1930s to the present. Though he’s indisputably one of America’s most popular, influential, and accomplished electric guitarists, Les Paul is best known as an early innovator in the development of the solid body guitar. His groundbreaking design would become the template for Gibson’s best-selling electric, the Les Paul model, introduced in 1952. Today, countless musical legends still consider Paul’s iconic guitar unmatched in sound and prowess. Among Paul’s most enduring contributions are those in the technological realm, including ingenious developments in multi-track recording, guitar effects, and the mechanics of sound in general.

Born Lester William Polsfuss in Waukesha, Wisconsin on June 9, 1915, Les Paul was already performing publicly as a honky-tonk guitarist by the age of 13. So clear was his calling that Paul dropped out of high school at 17 to play in Sunny Joe Wolverton’s Radio Band in St. Louis. As Paul’s mentor, Wolverton was the one to christen him with the stage name “Rhubarb Red,” a moniker that would follow him to Chicago in 1934. There, Paul became a bonafide radio star, known as both hillbilly picker Rhubarb Red and Django Reinhardt-informed jazz guitarist Les Paul. His first recordings were done in 1936 on an acoustic—alone as Rhubarb Red, as well as backing blues singer Georgia White. The next year he formed his first trio, but by 1938 he’d moved to New York to begin his tenure on national radio with one of the more popular dance orchestras in the country, Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians.

Tinkering with electronics and guitar amplification since his youth, Les Paul began constructing his own electric guitar in the late ’30s. Unhappy with the first generation of commercially available hollowbodies because of their thin tone, lack of sustain, and feedback problems, Paul opted to build an entirely new structure. “I was interested in proving that a vibration-free top was the way to go,” he has said. “I even built a guitar out of a railroad rail to prove it. What I wanted was to amplify pure string vibration, without the resonance of the wood getting involved in the sound.” With the good graces of Epiphone president Epi Stathopoulo, Paul used the Epiphone plant and machinery in 1941 to bring his vision to fruition. He affectionately dubbed the guitar “The Log.”
Les Paul’s tireless experiments sometimes proved to be dangerous, and he nearly electrocuted himself in 1940 during a session in the cellar of his Queens apartment. During the next two years of rehabilitation, Les earned his living producing radio music. Forced to put the Pennsylvanians and the rest of his career on hold, Les Paul moved to Hollywood. During World War II, he was drafted into the Army but permitted to stay in California, where he became a regular player for Armed Forces Radio Service. By 1943 he had assembled a trio that regularly performed live, on the radio, and on V-Discs. In 1944 he entered the jazz spotlight—thanks to his dazzling work filling in for Oscar Moore alongside Nat King Cole, Illinois Jacquet, and other superstars —at the first of the prestigious Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts.

By his mid-thirties, Paul had successfully combined Reinhardt-inspired jazz playing and the western swing and twang of his Rhubarb Red persona into one distinctive, electrifying style. In the Les Paul Trio he translated the dizzying runs and unusual harmonies found on Jazz at the Philharmonic into a slower, subtler, more commercial approach. His novelty instrumentals were tighter, brasher, and punctuated with effects. Overall, the trademark Les Paul sound was razor-sharp, clean-shaven, and divinely smooth.

As small combos eclipsed big bands toward the end of World War II, Les Paul Trio’s popularity grew. They cut records for Decca both alone and behind the likes of Helen Forrest, the Andrews Sisters, the Delta Rhythm Boys, Dick Hayes, and, most notably, Bing Crosby. Since 1945, when the crooner brought them into the studio to back him on a few numbers, the Trio had become regular guests on Crosby’s hit radio show. The highlight of the session was Paul’s first No. 1 hit and million-seller, the gorgeous “It’s Been a Long, Long Time.”

Meanwhile, Paul began to experiment with dubbing live tracks over recorded tracks, also altering the playback speed. This resulted in “Lover (When You’re Near Me),” his revolutionary 1947 predecessor to multi-track recording. The hit instrumental featured Les Paul on eight different electric guitar parts, all playing together. In 1948, Paul nearly lost his life to a devastating car crash that shattered his right arm and elbow. Still, he convinced doctors to set his broken arm in the guitar-picking and cradling position. Laid up but undaunted, Paul acquired a first generation Ampex tape recorder from Crosby in 1949, and began his most important multi-tracking adventure, adding a fourth head to the recorder to create sound-on-sound recordings. While tinkering with the machine and its many possibilities, he also came up with tape delay. These tricks, along with another recent Les Paul innovation—close mic-ing vocals—were integrated for the first time on a single recording: the 1950 No. 1 tour de force “How High the Moon.” This historic track was performed during a duo with future wife Mary Ford. The couple’s prolific string of hits for Capitol Records not only included some of the most popular recordings of the early 1950s, but also wrote the book on contemporary studio production. The dense but crystal clear harmonic layering of guitars and vocals, along with Ford’s close mic-ed voice and Paul’s guitar effects, produced distinctively contemporary recordings with unprecedented sonic qualities. Through hits, tours, and popular radio shows, Paul and Ford kept one foot in the technological vanguard and the other in the cultural mainstream.

All the while, Les Paul continued to pine for the perfect guitar. Though The Log came close, it wasn’t quite what he was after. In the early 1950s, Gibson Guitar would cultivate a partnership with Paul that would lead to the creation of the guitar he’d seen only in his dreams. In 1948, Gibson elected to design its first solidbody, and Paul, a self-described “dyed-in-the-wool Gibson man,” seemed the right man for the job. Gibson avidly courted the guitar legend, even driving deep into the Pennsylvania mountains to deliver the first model to newlyweds Les Paul and Mary Ford.
“Les played it, and his eyes lighted up,” then-Gibson President Ted McCarty has recalled. The year was 1950, and Paul had just signed on as the namesake of Gibson’s first electric solidbody, with exclusive design privileges. Working closely with Paul, Gibson forged a relationship that would change popular culture forever. The Gibson Les Paul model—the most powerful and respected electric guitar in history—began with the 1952 release of the Les Paul Goldtop. After introducing the original Les Paul Goldtop in 1952, Gibson issued the Black Beauty, the mahogany-topped Les Paul Custom, in 1954. The Les Paul Junior (1954) and Special (1955) were also introduced before the canonical Les Paul Standard hit the market in 1958. With revolutionary humbucker pickups, this sunburst classic has remained unchanged for the half-century since it hit the market.

“The world has lost a truly innovative and exceptional human being today. I cannot imagine life without Les Paul. He would walk into a room and put a smile on anyone’s face. His musical charm was extraordinary and his techniques unmatched anywhere in the world,” said Henry Juszkiewicz, Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar. “We will dedicate ourselves to preserving Les’ legacy to insure that it lives on forever. He touched so many lives throughout his remarkable life and his influence extends around the globe and across every boundary. I have lost a dear, personal friend and mentor, a man who has changed so many of our lives for the better.”

“I don’t think any words can describe the man we know as Les Paul adequately. The English language does not contain words that can pay enough homage to someone like Les. As the “Father of the Electric Guitar”, he was not only one of the world’s greatest innovators but a legend who created, inspired and contributed to the success of musicians around the world,” said Dave Berryman, President of Gibson Guitar. “I have had the privilege to know and work with Les for many, many years and his passing has left a deep personal void. He was simply put – remarkable in every way. As a person, a musician, a friend, an inventor. He will be sorely missed by us all,”

With the rise of the rock ’n’ roll revolution of 1955, Les Paul and Mary Ford’s popularity began to wane with younger listeners, though Paul would prove to be a massive influence on younger generation of guitarists. Still, Paul and Ford maintained their iconic presence with their wildly popular television show, which ran from 1953-1960. In 1964, the couple, parents to a son and daughter, divorced. Paul began playing in Japan, and recorded an LP for London Records before poor health forced him to take time off—as much as someone so inspired can take time off.
In the 1977, Paul resurfaced with a Grammy-winning Chet Atkins collaboration, Chester and Lester. Then the ailing guitarist, who’d already suffered arthritis and permanent hearing loss, had a heart attack, followed by bypass surgery.

Ever stubborn, Les recovered, and returned to live performance in the late 1980s. Even releasing the 2005 double-Grammy winner Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played, featuring collaborations with a veritable who’s who of the electric guitar, including dozens of illustrious fans like Keith Richards, Buddy Guy, Billy Gibbons, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Joe Perry. In 2008, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame paid tribute to Les Paul in a week-long celebration of his life which culminated with a live performance by Les himself. Until recently Les continued to perform two weekly New York shows with the Les Paul Trio, at The Iridium Jazz Club in New York City, for over twelve years where a literal who’s who of the entertainment world has paid homage. It has been an honor to have Les Paul perform at The Iridium Jazz Club for the past twelve years hosting such luminaries as Paul McCartney, Keith Richards and others and is a tragic loss to owner Ron Sturm both personally and professionally. Iridium intends to celebrate Les Paul's music and legacy every Monday night.

Les Paul has since become the only individual to share membership into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Les is survived by his three sons Lester (Rus) G. Paul, Gene W. Paul and Robert (Bobby) R. Paul, his daughter Colleen Wess, son-in-law Gary Wess, long time friend Arlene Palmer, five grandchildren and five great grandchildren. A private Funeral service will be held in New York. A service in Waukesha, WI will be announced at a later date. Details will follow and will be announced for all services. Memorial tributes for the public will be announced at a future date. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Les Paul Foundation, 236 West 30th Street, 7th Floor, New York, New York 10001.

CONTACTS:
Caroline Galloway GIBSON GUITAR 615-423-4904 o 440-318-1202 caroline.galloway@gibson.com

Jim Eigo IRIDIUM 845-986-1677 jazzpromo@earthlink.net

Michael K. Braunstein Braunstein & Co. 212-687-3939 mkb@braunsteinandco.com

Blue Coast Records Joins Forces with China Based HiFiTrack.com in 96 kHz Digital Music Downloads

2009-08-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

San Francisco, CA

Blue Coast Records announces they have signed a distribution deal with Hong Kong based online music company, HiFiTrack.com. The two companies have been releasing 96 kHz audio files to fans around the world who prefer this new format to mp3s. The marks the first digital distribution deal the Blue Coast Records has inked having only sold the downloads from their home based site www.bluecoastrecords.com.

Founder of Blue Coast Records, Cookie Marenco states, "We are thrilled to be able to reach fans in China with this new relationship. The Asian community has been very receptive to our high performance acoustic music and seems to truly respect the work we are doing. Alan Choy and Dominque Tu from HiFiTrack.com have been a pleasure to work with."

For their debut, Blue Coast Records chose to release the Blue Coast Collection with HiFiTrack at the Hong Kong High End Audio Visual Show this weekend, August 7th, 8th and 9th. Two tracks, Looking for a Home (Keith Greeninger and Dayan Kai) and Slow Day (Jane Selkye and Chris Kee), will be featured singles to demonstrate the E.S.E. proprietary recording technique that Blue Coast Records uses. Among the vendors demonstrating the 96 kHz downloads are Bladelius, Chapter, Linn, NuForce, PS Audio and Wavelength.

The Hong Kong High End Audio Visual Show, organized by Audiotechnique magazine, is an annual event for hi-end audio, music and home theater lovers in Hong Kong and South East Asia. The 7th edition of the Hong Kong High End Audio Visual Show will be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The 2009 Show will definitely be one of the most important events in the audio and visual industry in Hong Kong.

Blue Coast Records has already met with success and the Blue Coast Collection with their highly acclaimed SACD that has been distributed by CNA Music since 2007. For audiophiles, manufacturers and people who enjoy acoustic music, the Collection has been praised as some of the most realistic sounding recordings available combined with top musicianship skills. Founded by Cookie Marenco (formerly of Windham Hill Records and Liquid Audio), and Jean Claude Reynaud (son of French speaker manufacturer, Jean Marie Reynaud) the label has achieved incredible success worldwide through word of mouth and 5 star reviews. In April 2009, Blue Coast Records began releasing 96 kHz downloads that were recorded live in the studio, uploaded within 3 hours of performance and distributed worldwide.

HiFiTrack is an offshoot of Music Powerhouse, a company started in 2007 that aims to apply the latest digital music technologies to help transform the music industry. Music Powerhouse won the Ubiquitous City - Hong Kong Government WiFi application award and continues to develop products for independent artists and music labels.

For more information or interviews, please contact:

AcousticArtsInternational / Patrick O'Connor / 650 759 1357

patrick@acousticartsinternational.com

Party With the World-- A Special Live Recording Event Upload 96K to the Internet in 3 hours!

2009-07-22T21:56:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, July 25 at 9pm, Blue Coast Records will release music recorded live by Jenna Mammina and Matt Rollings just hours before launch. Cookie Marenco will engineer and produce the sessions that will be available as 96K downloads at Blue Coast Records. Jenna Mammina is well known for her pop vocal stylings and emotionally gut wrenching arrangements of tunes from Warren Zevon to James Taylor to Duke Ellington. Matt Rollings, the keyboard genius behind the scenes with the likes of Lyle Lovett and Mark Knopfler, will be accompanying Ms Mammina on piano.

Blue Coast Records is sponsoring the recorded event using their critically acclaimed proprietary technique called Extended Sound Environment. E.S.E captures a sound more lifelike and holographic than most recordings of today. Recording to analog multitrack and mixing to a high resolution digital format called DSD, these live in the studio recordings will have a limited audience of friends and audiophiles present to experience the sound first hand.

Anticipated are songs by Warren Zevon, George Harrison, John Mayer and others, several of which will be uploaded immediately after recording and available for sale at 9pm. The Bay Area Audiophile Society will have representatives at the session along with friends of the artists.

From Saturday night to Monday morning, we will put the new 96K singles on sale for $2 per song. After that, they will return to $3. You can check out Jenna's previous recordings with Matt at http://www.bluecoastworld.com/jenna-mammina/meanttobe and http://www.bluecoastworld.com/jenna-mammina/undertheinfluence

For more information, please contact 650 595 8475.

Performing Songwriter Bids Us A Fond Farewell.

2009-06-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends, June2009 marked the final issue of Performing Songwriter. The magazine, founded by Lydia Hutchinson, was one of our favorites. Well written and well made, the magazine featured articles on artists at all stages of their career. It was unbiased in its approach and revolutionary for its time.

In a heartfelt editor's note, Lydia bids a gracious thanks and farewell after 16 years of publishing one of the top music magazines. I am sad to hear it is closing, but happy to hear that Lydia made the decision on her own terms. Just as she started the magazine as and independent, she closed it as an independent. Truly the end of an era.

This is Lydia's goodbye note to all of us.

I remember meeting Lydia at the Planet Bluegrass Folks Fest, Lyons, CO.... I don't even remember the date, except that she was on the 3rd issue of the magazine. We met through a mutual friend and I helped her 'flog' a few subscriptions. We had a great time on that day and though we don't see each other nearly enough, I consider her a friend. We practically grew up in our careers together in music.. a sister entrepreneur.

Last summer, during a stay in Nashville, was the last time I saw her. We chatted briefly at her offices about the 15 years that had passed. She told tales of keeping the magazine away from the corporate buyout. The magazine was her art, her baby, her own. She kept it independent, she kept the quality. Lydia made it happen on her terms. I'm so damn proud of her.

This upside down economy has taken a hard toll on all of us... music industry and print publishing are just a few industries affected. It's the end of an era for sure, but not the end for Lydia.

Lydia, my friend, here's to you, your future and all the people who's lives you touched.
Cookie

Special Event 060509 Live in the Studio with Kai Eckhard.. Compositions for Solo Electric Bass

2009-06-06T08:39:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends!

We had a very special guest performing for our Special Event this month. His name is Kai Eckhardt, one of the most extraordiary electric bass players in the world. He is an internationally know bass player whose credits include touring and recording with Billy Cobham, John McLaughlin, Trilok Gurtu, Stanley Clarke, Wayne Shorter, Patrice Rushen, Dewey Redman, Donald Byrd, Bela Fleck, Victor Wooten, Robert Walter, Karl Denson, Michael Franti, Larry Coryell, Warren Hill, Al Di Meola, Zakir Hussain, Vital Information , John Scofield and Bill Frisell. In the last five years, Kai can be seen as a regular with Garaj Mahal a well known ensemble playing high powered instumental music in the jamband circuit.

We were delighted to have him perform for a Blue Coast Records Special Event-- Live in the Studio yesterday. Kai picks up where Jaco Pastorius left off as a solo bassist-- and now challenges how we think of this instrument. His approach is like an acoustic guitarist melding arpegios and intricate time signatures into a beautiful weave of sound.

For this session, the recording team at OTR Studios, helped setup a unique E.S.E. microphone placement. While Kai utilized his 3 instruments we used a 5 microphone setup that captured the entire room as it vibrated with the sound of his instrument. Kai's interpretations of his songs uses full dynamic range and we chose not to use compression in this recording. As we have more time, we'll include more descriptions and photos at our website.

Let us know if you have any questions for us or Kai about this recording session. For the weekend, the singles will be available at $2/96K and $1/44.1 and as always, you can stream all the songs at 192kbps. On Monday, the prices will go to $3/1.5 respectively. Next week, we will be releasing more music from the vaults, either Thursday or Friday.

Sign up for our new twitter feeds @bluecoastworld for the latest information. Our next scheduled Special Event is in July with Matt Rollings.

We want to thank all of you who participated in our listening events! And especially thank those of you who are taking the time to write about us on forums throughout the world. We are all amazed and at the warmth you are giving us. Thankyou!

Enjoy the music!
Cookie Marenco
Blue Coast Records

Blue Coast Collection Reviews and Forums in China!

2009-05-31T07:49:00.000-07:00

Check this out!
Baidu.com is like google in China, so on a whim, we decided to search for the Blue Coast Collection and to our suprise, there were hundred of listings (more than 457 as of this writing)! We used the google translator to see what it was they were saying about us and it seems we're very well received!

Most of the forums seem to be generated by colleges kids, both men and women. We've heard reports that acoustic music is well received by 30% of the population... We're beginning to believe it!

Blue Coast Records Opens Up a New Section called Tidbits! New Music From Art Lande! 96K downloads on a whim!!

2009-05-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends! Thursday is a tough day to get anything done, so we've moved our new music offerings this week to Friday.

Our contest from last week brought HUGE response and great reviews for all three songs presented. Jane Selkye's rendition of Ascension Day, brought the most favorable accolades, but we will offer all three as downloads next week at 96K. Those that participated, will get a free 96K version of all three songs when they are mixed.

This week, we had Blue Coast Artist, Art Lande in the studio recording with Bruce Williamson, his long time friend and musical companion for more than 15 years. These two fine musicians performed 3 Duke Ellington songs followed by their IMPRESSIONS of the same song.

The Ellington Challenge!
This week the challenge is to figure out which Duke Ellington piece these 3 IMPRESSIONSISTIC songs spawned from. You'll need to figure out the songs in the correct order and submit to me before 11pm PST on Saturday.

If you guess correctly, on Sunday we'll send you the original improvisation of the Duke Ellington piece as Art and Bruce performed them in the studio last week! It's not easy to figure out. Here's a hint for one piece... shiny material/Children play with these... :D

You don't need to purchase to be part of the contest. The whole song can be streamed as an mp3. If you like the music, our 96K

Tidbits will be priced at $2 per single... less than the cost of my triple espresso!

Art Lande and Bruce Williamson--Tidbits

Join us at Twitter.com BlueCoastWorld

Have a wonderful weekend!

Cookie Marenco
Blue Coast Records..

If It's Thursday, It Must be NEW MUSIC TIME at Blue Coast Records

2009-05-14T08:06:00.000-07:00

Since the wonderful response of our 96K downloads, we decided to release music every Thursday on this high rez format!

This week we'll release the final 3 songs from the Blue Coast Collection at 96K at a special price of $3 per download. The songs will remain discounted until June 1 when they'll go to our regular price of $4 per song and $40 for the entire album bundle.

We have so many special 'treats' in the vault recorded using our E.S.E technique, we're not sure which to release first. Come back every Thurs to find out.

We also have a number of 44.1 downloads available at
www.bluecoastworld.com
and are adding new music all the time. These are recordings produced for the artist (mostly by me and some of my producer friends) that we've made available for downloads. They don't pass the test for us to be released as 96K downloads (either because they were recorded at 44.1 or mixed to 44.1..... ) because we don't believe in upsampling.

Tell your friends, visit forums and let us know where you're talking about us.
We love your comments.

Enjoy the Music,
Cookie

High Resolution Downloads Three Hours After Performance

2009-04-15T04:57:00.000-07:00

Special Event 09 April 2009

On April 9, 2009, Blue Coast Artists Keith Greeninger & Chris Kee were joined by world-class drummer Brain for a one-time only performance and live recording at the request of Blue Coast Records' producer and founder, Cookie Marenco.
Some of you know Brain's incredible drumming skills from his work with Primus, Tom Waits, Buckethead, Guns N' Roses and many others. Keith Greeninger's familiar voice is heard in the lead-off track on the Blue Coast Collection - Keith is a stunning performer. Chris Kee, also featured on the Blue Coast Collection, is playing acoustic bass. Chris plays bass on Jane Selkye's Blue Coast Collection pieces, though recently he's becoming known for his work with Houston Jones and Peter Rowan.

The recordings took place at OTR Studios, homebase for Marenco. In house IT specialist and General Manager for OTR, Patrick O'Connor, handled all the details for creating the site, uploading and backend support. Tim Jones, house engineer at OTR Studios, assisted Marenco with the E.S.E. setup. E.S.E. (Extended Sound Environment) is the proprietary technique created by Marenco and Jean Claude Reynaud for use with Blue Coast Recordings.

The music was recorded to 2" analog tape and mixed to the Sonoma Systems DSD (direct stream digital). From the DSD, the music was tranferred to 96K and 44.1 .wav files for uncompressed downloads. The full song can be streamed at 124kbps mp3 quality. "These are big files, but not as big as DSD, which we are hoping to release soon," says Marenco. "The DSD sounds incredible. If there is enough demand, we may release the multitrack as .wav files for people to make their own mixes at home."

Response to the high resolution downloads has been remarkable. Computeraudiophile.com commented on the event calling it "one of the coolest releases so far in 2009". Fans are choosing the 96K download 8 out of 10 times. Plans are in the works to release the Blue Coast Collection, the flagship recording, for 96K downloads before the end of the month.

Marenco adds, "The recording with Keith, Brain and Chris was a tremendous success on a musical level as well. Considering the musicians had never met prior to the session, let alone played together, this is a remarkable achievement. We are planning on another live session before Brain leaves to tour with Guns N Roses and Keith and Chris have their summer festivals."

The event was created for visitors, Ed Martin and Andy Gilbert, who flew from Oklahoma to visit Blue Coast Records. Other guests in attendance were Merl Saunders Jr, Mike Newman, Anne Vrolyk, and Scott Thompson. Blue Coast offers special thanks to Andrew Doyle and Mike Howle assistants at OTR who helped but were not at the event.

From Recording to Worldwide Distribution within 3 hours... AMAZING!

Blue Coast Records - High Resolution Downloads Three Hours After Performance

2009-04-12T02:52:00.000-07:00

We want to thank our fans at The Computer Audiophile site for posting our story on the front page! If you want to join in on the forum, please click here.

Fri, 04/10/2009 - 15:05 — The Computer Audiophile

Wow, this is one of the coolest releases so far in 2009. I'm so impressed I couldn't let this one disappear into the forum black hole if nobody saw it in time. Thus, a front page story. Blue Coast Records founder Cookie Marenco assembled artists Keith Greeninger, Chris Kee, and drummer Bryan “Brain” Mantia for a performance and live recording last night (April 9, 2009). Three hours after the performance Blue Coast offered 16/44.1 and 24/96 WAV downloads of the recording! Blue Coast Records is known for great artistic talent, great sound quality, and its Extended Sound Environment (E.S.E.) recording technique. At Blue Coast Records sound quality and musical enjoyment are not mutually exclusive. Read more for details and a link to download two of the tracks.

From BlueCoastRecords:

"Special Event 09 April 2009

Earlier this evening, Blue Coast Artists Keith Greeninger & Chris Kee were joined by world-class drummer Brain for a one-time only performance and live recording at the request of Blue Coast Records' producer and founder, Cookie Marenco.

Recorded using the E.S.E (Extended Sound Environment) proprietary style these pieces and are incredible in sound, music and magic. The prices will be $1.50 for CD Quality and $3 for 96K quality downloads.

Some of you know Brain's incredible drumming skills from his work with Primus, Tom Waits, Buckethead, Guns N' Roses and many others. Keith Greeninger's familiar voice is heard in the lead-off track on the Blue Coast Collection - Keith is a stunning performer. Chris Kee, also featured on the Blue Coast Collection, is playing acoustic bass. Chris plays bass on Jane Selkye's Blue Coast Collection pieces, though recently he's becoming known for his work with Houston Jones and Peter Rowan.

From Recording to Worldwide Distribution within 3 hours... AMAZING!

Cookie Marenco, the Blue Coast Artists and the team at Blue Coast Records sincerely thank you for showing your support for high quality music and performances!"

Link -> http://www.bluecoastrecords.com/special-event-09-april-2009

Special Package Price and New Music to Check Out!

2009-04-02T09:07:00.000-07:00

Hi friends, hope all is well with everyone! Spring is here and the sun is out. The economy is still taking it toll around the world, but we're hoping for brighter days very soon.

We thought this was good time to offer a very special package price for both the Blue Coast Collection and the new Art Lande disc! Time for friends, time for gifts, time to enjoy the music and relax in their sound. Check out the website for more details!

Garett Brennan fans (Blue Coast Collection artist) has released a new CD. It's under Garett's own label, Threepin.com. We mastered the project for him at OTR Studios and loved the music. Great songs in a contemporary bluegrass/folk/rock genre. OTR/ArgoArts built the CD Quality download site. You can preview all the songs as mp3 streams. The disc, called Huckleberry Tree, will be available later this month. Garett's continuing his work as an environmentalist. Hats off to him!

We have more recordings coming. Mid April, be looking for a 96K piece from jazz pianist, Vijay Iyer. Let us know what you're listening to!

Cheers!
Cookie Marenco
producer/founder

Vinyl? 1/4" tape? Possibly on the way for 2009

2009-03-28T06:34:00.000-07:00

Hi all!
Many of you received our newsletter by email a few weeks ago asking the question about our releasing vinyl and 1/4" tape of our Blue Coast Collection. We were thrilled by the responses and hope to announce streets for later this year. Add your name to our mailing list to be the first to know!

Last week, Keith Greeninger and Jane Selkye were both in our studios (at different times) working on side projects and sounding as fantastic as ever. Fans will be happy to know there are talks of more recording for both of them,

If you haven't been to our website in awhile, you'll notice our recent updates. We've added sponsor modules to help offset our costs. If anyone is interested in sponsoring our site and some of our projects, please contact us at

sales@bluecoastrecords.com

Thanks, all!

Blue Coast Records
www.bluecoastrecords.com

Happy Valentine's Day from Blue Coast Records!

2009-02-13T20:02:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day Weekend is here. We'd like to help you celebrate with a special treat for a special weekend.

During the month of February, we will be offering the Art Lande solo piano recording at a discounted price. Many of you are familiar with his solo piano recording that has already won much critical acclaim by audio professionals and fans,

While She Sleeps, Piano Lullabies

This is a great opportunity to buy the recording for a friend or special person in your life. If you purchase the SACD during the next 3 days, (February 13th, 14th and 15th) we will also include a free download of the entire album for you to enjoy while you wait for the arrival of your disc.

We also invite you to download Jason McGuire's beautiful solo guitar recordings of two Flamenco pieces recorded for our BAAS group. These are free for you to enjoy. Those of you with a home studio might want to try mixing your own version using our multitrack versions. If you are new to audio recording, the multitrack mixes include all 7 tracks of microphones and efx used to get our Blue Coast 'sound'. Most of you will want to download the stereo version only for home listening.

-Blue Coast Records

Art Lande Disc on Blue Coast Records Included in Best Discs of 2008

2009-01-17T00:42:00.000-08:00

Audiophile Audition announced their Best Discs of 2008, in a January news flash. This year, Blue Coast Records is happy to announce the Art Lande solo piano disc, While She Sleeps, is listed among the carefully selected releases. John Sunier, the editor of Audaud.com, gave the recording high praise in a review from Dec, 2008.

"This is truly a piano recording for piano lovers; I’m sure it’s going to get plenty of playing at CES and other audio shows. Even the standard CD layer sonics are exemplary."
Audaud.com, John Sunier, review Dec 2008

The premier webzine devoted to Music, Audio and Home Theater chooses discs from Classical, Jazz and Pop that demonstrate exceptional quality in sound and music. "It's an honor for us to be included among all the releases. It's nice to know our efforts haven't gone unnoticed and helps justify our commitment to sound combined with excellent musicianship," says founder and producer, Cookie Marenco.

While She Sleeps (BCRSA 2012), has received critical acclaim for its sonic purity which demonstrates the sound of an 1886 Steinway piano. No equalization, reverb or other enhancements were used to make the recording. Like the first project from Blue Coast Records, this new solo piano recording is being used by many speaker companies to demonstrate the ability of their products to reproduce sound. Both recordings were produced and engineered by founder Cookie Marenco and Jean Claude Reynaud, son of renown audiophile speaker manufacturer, Jean Marie Reynaud.

Art Lande, a veteran of jazz piano, has recorded with Charlie Haden, Joe Hendersen and Jan Garbarek, with several titles under his name at ECM Records. Currently living in Colorado, he is often found touring the world with many jazz luminaries.

Marenco notes, "Not only is he an incredible musician, but he was my teacher and friend, who opened my eyes, ears and senses to the world of possibilities. It was a natural choice for him to be our first solo artist on Blue Coast Records. I like to say this record took 12 years to make because it required both Art and I to have a sense of purpose, not just another release. The recording became a personal concert of requests performed in a quiet tone that showed his mastery of the instrument. Every note has intention while stretching the boundaries of improvisation. There is no one more capable than Art. This is the recording his fans have been waiting for."

The recording is an SACD/CD hybrid disc and has only been released at selected online audiophile retailers and at the Blue Coast Records website as a disc or CD Quality wav file. It is scheduled for a traditional street date in Spring 2009.

Marenco's recording techniques are also featured in the January 2009 issue of Stereophile.

For more information, please contact,
Patrick O'Connor, 650 759 1357.

Stereophile profiles Marenco's Recording Techniques from BAAS Workshop

2008-12-24T23:08:00.000-08:00

The January 2009 Stereophile magazine includes a feature article on how Blue Coast label founder, Cookie Marenco, records and mixes acoustic guitar. On hand to perform was Jason McGuire, flamenco guitarist extraordinaire, while Marenco position microphones to achieve a classic Blue Coast 'sound'.

Two workshops took place in September 2008 at OTR Studios sponsored by the Bay Area Audiophile Society. Bob Walters organized the event that allowed attendees to experiment in the control room to achieve various soundscapes. Downloads of the music are available in stereo and multitrack versions at a special page...
http://www.bluecoastrecords.com/baas.html

Special thanks to Jason Victor Serinus for his attention to detail in the writing of the article.

Currently, the article is only available in print copies. We'll keep checking for the online version to appear.

96K Downloads from Blue Coast Records

2008-12-02T07:10:00.000-08:00

A previously unreleased track from Keith Greeninger and Dayan Kai is now available from Blue Coast Records. Waiting for the Rain has been posted to our new Downloads Now! page. We hope to add a new single every month for our fans to enjoy. Visit our website and go to "singles" under the Music Menu Item each month and see what we've added!

Downloads Now! is a new services from our sister company, OTR Studios.
We hope you enjoy it!

If you're interested in other CDQD* or HRD**, please visit
Blue Coast World

*CD Quality Downloads
** High Resolution Downloads

Rocky Mountain Audiofest a Great Success!

2008-10-30T17:20:00.000-07:00

Hi friends, we had a great turn out in Denver at Audiofest!. Sharing the room with FestivaLink.net and LSA Group helped bring lots of activity to the room. The panels were interesting and informative. Art Lande and Justing Saragueta brought live music to the Marriot under the Blue Coast banners. The Art Lande release was wonderfully received, as was our flagship recording, Blue Coast Collection.

Hope to see you all at CES!

Blue Coast Records Schedule at RMAF Oct 10-12, Come Visit Marriot Rm 414

2008-10-07T18:50:00.000-07:00

BLUE COAST RECORDS www.bluecoastrecords.com
Schedule of Events and Activities

WELCOME RMAF 2008 Oct 10-12 Marriot Denver Tech Center

Blue Coast Records is pleased to announce our next SACD Release
Art Lande―solo piano While She Sleeps

Celebration for the release includes a performance by Art Lande
Saturday Oct 11, 2008 at the Marriot Denver Tech Center, 7pm

Followed by "Meet the Artist and Producer" reception and disc signing

Purchase a pre-release copy of the SACD at the Blue Coast Records Marriot room 414

If you are a dealer, please come to Marriot room 414 for Show Special Wholesale Pricing.
Discs also available at the Digital Pavilion Expo, Hyatt Tech Center, Mesa Verde B

or at the Acoustic Sounds booth.

MORE BLUE COAST RECORDS EVENTS at RMAF

New Blue Coast Artist, Justin Saragueta, guitar and vocals
Friday Oct 10, 2008, 8pm at the Lobby of the Marriot Denver Tech Center

Cookie Marenco, Founder and Producer, Blue Coast Records
Panelist at the Digital Pavilion, 4 pm Friday Oct 10, "Let's Get Digital"
Panelist at the Digital Pavilion 1:30 pm Saturday Oct 11, "The New Record Label"

AND MORE BLUE COAST RECORDS ACTIVITIES at Marriot Room 414
See room schedule for more details

Loaded iPod Drawing!
In conjunction with FestivaLink.net
Come to Marrior room 414 and sign up for the drawing

Blue Coast World debuts CD Quality Downloads for Electronic Distribution
Hear the Music as the Artist, Producer and Engineers Intended

FestivaLink.net Live Performance Concert Downloads of your Favorite Roots and Acoustic Music

Audio provided by LSA Group and High Resolution Server by Exemplar Audio

Special Thanks to Rick Young, Kurt Bauer and Audiotion

Original DSD recordings of The Blue Coast Collection provided by Gus Skinas of Super Audio Center

Curated preloaded iPod from Walker Media for jazz and classical music enthusiasts

Milk, Cookies, Free Wifi and Much More!

Blue Coast Records Announces New Release from Art Lande and a Live Performance at Rocky Mountain Audiofest

2008-10-01T21:12:00.000-07:00

New from Blue Coast Records!
Art Lande, solo piano SACD, While She Sleeps

SACD release party 7pm, Rocky Mountain Audiofest
Denver Marriott Tech Center
4900 S. Syracuse Street
Denver, Colorado 80237 USA

The long awaited SACD from Blue Coast Records featuring Art Lande will make its debut at the Rocky Mountain Audiofest, Oct 10-12.

Art Lande, the masterful jazz pianist from Boulder, Colorado recorded this very special selection of pieces with producers Cookie Marenco and Jean Claude Reynaud. Songs range from the Beatles, to Stephen Foster to Duke Ellington intertwined with compositions of Lande’s own. The audiophile quality release uses a modified recording style of the ESE technique developed for Blue Coast Records.

To celebrate the release, Blue Coast Records will host an event at the Rocky Mountain Audiofest show with Art Lande performing solo piano pieces from the recording. The event takes place on Saturday, Oct 11, 7pm at the Denver Marriott Tech Center. Blue Coast is also hosting a room at the Marriott for Audiofest where attendants can listen to the recording on an incredible speaker system provided by the LSA Group.

Blue Coast Records will also showcase one of its new artists, Justin Saragueta, performing on Friday at 8pm. “Gueta” is a singer/songwriter from Huntington Beach, CA. A former golf pro turned surfer turned musician, Gueta brings his unique view on life to his songs with effortless cruising grooves and international flavors.

Sharing the room at Audiofest with Blue Coast Records is FestivaLink.net. The high rez live download company is sponsoring an iPod giveaway with preloaded music from FestivaLink.net and Blue Coast Records. The LSA Group will be providing the sound system for the event. As part of Blue Coast ‘World’, there will be a dozen or more CD quality downloads available at bluecoastworld.com from various new labels.

If you bought the advance download, we are sending out the disc this week. If your address has changed, please contact us with your new address!

For more information, please contact: Blue Coast Records - Patrick O’Connor, 650-759-1357
Visit BCR in room 414 at the Marriott Tech Center, Denver, during Audiofest.

For press, radio and other promotional questions, please contact us.

Thanks for your support of High Quality Music
Blue Coast Records

New SACD from Blue Coast Records features Art Lande, Solo Piano

2008-09-21T21:49:00.000-07:00

The long awaited recording of Art Lande on solo piano is scheduled to ship from Blue Coast Records at the beginning of Oct. The official debut of the SACD with take place at the Rocky Mountain Audiofest (audiofest.net) starting on Oct. 10.

The new release features extraordinary performances of master jazz pianist, Art Lande. At the request of producer, Cookie Marenco, Art played the music of the Beatles, Stephen Foster, Duke Ellington and other standards with a soft touch and control over the 100 year old Steinway at OTR Studios. Performances also included several new compositions of his own.

A concert is planned to celebrate the release at Rocky Mountain Audiofest on Oct 11, 2008 7pm at the Denver Marriot Tech Center.

Check back at the Blue Coast website for more details on the concert and advance purchase of the disc.

Blue Coast World debuts High Resolution Downloads and New SACD's at Rocky Mountain Audiofest, Oct 2008

2008-08-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

Blue Coast Records, a west coast label known for exceptional acoustic recordings, will be hosting a room at Rocky Mountain Audiofest Oct 10-12, called Blue Coast World. Joining Blue Coast Records will be Festival Link and other high fidelity music companies. The LSA Group and Exemplar Audio is outfitting Blue Coast World with incredible gear that will make Room 414 at the Marriot in Denver one of the 'must hear' rooms at the show.

Unique music from known high quality recordings will feature artists from various genres. "Garbage in, garbage out", says Marenco, "what's the point of high fidelity music if the original recording is less than stellar".

Blue Coast Records will also host a special evening of solo piano with legendary talent, Art Lande. The performance will be a celebration of the Blue Coast Records release called, While She Sleeps, a solo piano recording featuring Mr. Lande. The performance is at 7pm at the Marriot Tech Center in the Lobby and is a free concert followed by a signing and reception party with Lande and producer, Cookie Marenco.

Blue Coast Records will also be highlighted in the Audiotion room at the conference. Other events include Marenco as a panelist at the Digital Pavillion on Friday.

For more information contact Blue Coast Records, 650 591 6857 or visit the websites...
www.bluecoastrecords.com
www.audiofest.net
www.festivalink.net
www.thelsagroup.com
www.audiotion.com

In Nashville Recording with Blue Coast Artist, Rob Ickes!

2008-08-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

Rob Ickes, one of the few Dobro masters and Blue Coast artist extraordinare, brought Cookie Marenco to Nashville to record the debut project for his label, Resorevolution Records. The recording features Rob on Dobro, Michael Alvey (piano) and RobinElla (on vocals). The music was played live in the studio and will have a unique 'jazz/country/swing' to it.

Rob chose Wildwood Recording in Franklin, Tennessee to capture the performances being one of the few studios that has 2" tape, a great sounding grand piano and wonderful acoustics in the room. Cookie brought her arsenal of proprietary silver cable and Rob's 'special' mics to the session. She was assisted by facility owner, Brendan Harkin, a well known engineer/producer/musician in his own right.

Cookie will return to OTR with the tapes en route for mixing and high res files for backup. The album should be completed and available later this year. We're all looking forward to some sneak peeks of this recording!

Blue Coast Records Announces a Contest with Sonicbids to find New Talent

2008-07-14T20:09:00.000-07:00

Hi all, below is the link to Sonic Bids where we have an open contest for new talent to debut at Blue Coast Records Collection 2. The disc will be recorded in 2009 and released later that year. For details, please click on the link below.

Sonicbids.com

Through the years, we have been exposed to extraordinary talent. It's overwhelming at times. We believe Sonic Bids provides us an interesting solution to organizing the talented artists for us and reaching beyond our usual group. If you have a friend you think is capable of extraordinary studio performances, please send them to our link.

We'll be announcing a decision at the end of Sept 2008.

thanks again!
Cookie Marenco

Blue Coast in China!

2008-07-02T23:56:00.000-07:00

KC Lau is doing a terrific job for us distributing our Blue Coast Collection in China. We would like to thank him for his efforts and share this review and ad he sent us.
Thanks, KC!

Is the World Ready for a $40 Disc?

2008-06-06T17:18:00.000-07:00

From Press Release June 4, 2008

Blue Coast Records and Burnside Distribution announced the debut of the critically acclaimed music disc, Blue Coast Collection, making it now available via brick and mortar and online music outlets for the price of $40 USD. While some have balked at the cost of the disc, the audiophile community has embraced it as some of the most realistic acoustic music recorded to date. Using a proprietary recording technique, Extended Sound Environment (E.S.E.), the newly founded San Francisco label creates audio that is holographic. The release is an SACD hybrid disc that has the stereo CD layer, a surround sound SACD layer and an SACD two-track layer on one disc.

read more

Incredible Review and Response on Home Cinema.fr Blog!

2008-02-27T20:00:00.000-08:00

Home Cinema in English
Hi Friends, one of our fans, Guy Bollore, bought the Blue Coast Collection SACD from what he read on this French website and forum. I found the google translator and asked Guy to post a note for me in French to offer thanks for all the kind words about the disc.

The power of the internet is amazing! People responded so positively to my visit, Jean Claude Reynaud wrote in. It brought an incredible flurry of activity for both Jean and myself and amazing responses that led to France becoming the number one country to visit our site overtaking even the USA! Amazing.

The fans at Home Cinema especially like Jane Selkye and Garret Brennan. I expect they had d flurry of activity at their website, too.

The internet is an incredible tool. It brings together people from around the world to unite in what they are passionate about. Music has no language barriers.

Mid February Blue Coast Newsletter

2008-02-18T19:08:00.001-08:00

Hello friends! I hope the New Year finds you well! The last month has been incredible with so much energy. CES and THE Show were spectacular. In early February, our friend, Brenda Vaughn visited us from Japan. She's an American native now living in Tokyo. On that same day, we had the largest number of Japanese visitor since our website debuted. For the first time, Japan overtook France as the country where we received the most visits. Next week, we will debut our website in 9 languages, including Japanese, simple Chinese and Korean.

This morning I woke to a flurry of activity from our online store. A review came out in France online.
French Review on Home Cinema
As I do with all purchases online, I respond with questions about how they heard about us and was given the link by a wonderful person named Guy. I found a google translator and managed to read the review and write a response. Guy was kind enough to post if for me since I didn't know how to join in French. What better day than to be surrounded by many adoring French men who buy my disk! There are certainly a lot of problems with our lives dominated by computers, but having so many friends in a community who loves your music is not one of them!

More updates at my personal blog:
www.cookiemarenco.com
You can receive an RSS feed, if you like. There I discuss all kinds of topics that are on my mind.

We're looking forward to our 2nd release in Spring 2008. Check back to our website often. Please feel free to send emails and stay in touch!

Cookie

Photos from CES 2008

2008-01-15T23:01:00.000-08:00

Backstage at Cirque de Soleil with Derek Jones

2008-01-15T22:29:00.001-08:00

Top left to right, John La Grou (founder Millennia Media), Derek Jones (bassist, KA, Cirque de Soleil), Patrick O'Connor (manager, Blue Coast Records),
Front, Cookie Marenco (founder, Blue Coast Records).

During CES, Derek invited us to a performance of KA. The show is visually stunning and magical as you watch floating stages move sideways over 12 stories of open air. Derek gave us an incredible tour behind the scenes and detailed the mechanics of how it was done. We met monitor engineer, Mike Atwood, who showed us how he tracks 230 individual wireless monitors.

KA is playing at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas.
Derek can be heard on hundreds of recordings, having been on many OTR sessions and touring with Nickel Creek and Jerry Douglass. He's recorded with Blue Coast artists Rob Ickes and Tony Furtado.

See You at THE SHOW! Laufer Teknik booth! Unreleased material debut!

2008-01-05T16:42:00.000-08:00

Hi All, come look for us at the Laufer Teknik booth and introduce yourself! Our fans come from countries all over the world, and while we may not understand what you're saying, we all speak the same language. We LOVE great music and sound.

A 5 song disc with 3 unreleased songs will be available at the Laufer Tekniks booth. Pick one up, drop off a business card, have us sign your Blue Coast Collection disc. We'll be there.

Cookie

Welcome Visitors from Moscow!

2007-12-30T16:10:00.000-08:00

Blue Coast Records would like to give a warm hello to the many visitors from Moscow who have visited our site today! We'd love to know how you heard about us! Please send a note to comments@bluecoastrecords.com and tell us how you found our website!

Please come again soon!

Happy Holidays to All! See you at CES!

2007-12-25T10:29:00.001-08:00

Thank you to all the contributing artists, distributors and supporters, our loyal fans, pro audio and audiophile manufacturers who have made Blue Coast Records debut a success this year. I would especially like to thank our devoted staff for their devoted work. Patrick, Andrew, Tim, Josh, Ezra, Nick and Nick at OTR Studios, thanks for doing double duty at Blue Coast. And as always, thank you Jean Claude Reynaud for urging on this dream.

We are looking forward to releasing more Exceptional Acoustic Recordings next year. We'll be at T.H.E. Show with our gracious sponsor, Laufer Teknik. Contact us directly if you will be there. We'd love to give you a preview of our upcoming releases.

All the Best in 2008!

Cookie Marenco
founder and producer
Blue Coast Records

2007-12-22T07:58:00.001-08:00

Blue Coast Collection Thread at SA-CD.net

2007-12-22T07:21:00.001-08:00

There are still alot of fans of the SA-CD format. We'd like to tell you about a site called SA-CD.net who have a forum of dedicated fans that come from around the world. There's been quite a buzz going on for the Blue Coast Collection that we'd like to share with you. Hope you join and support the site!
Happy Holidays

SA-CD.net

Blue Coast Collection Goes to Japan!

2007-12-03T10:01:00.000-08:00

The last month has seen a flurry of activity in Japan. Philip O'Hanlon, representing Luxman audio gear used our disc for demonstrating the fine quality of his speakers in Tokyo. A wonderful musician, Brenda Vaughn, has also been involved with us. She's been in Japan for 9 years delighting audiences with her voice. Paul Hanson, and incredible bassoonist we have had in the studio recently, will be traveling there to join the Cirque de Soleil for two years in their Tokyo show. The excitement led to Japan becoming the #3 country that has visited our website. Today we made our first online sale and look forward to building our community there and in all parts of the world.

Alex de Grassi free download Available only till Dec 1

2007-11-25T04:34:00.001-08:00

Windham Hill Recording artist, Alex de Grassi, was in the studio of Blue Coast founder, Cookie Marenco, recording a piece of music for an upcoming video. De Grassi played a museum piece instrument built by Fred Carlson. The harp guitar, called The New Dream, is a stunningly beautiful, one of a kind 39 stringed instrument.

Marenco recorded and produced the session which Blue Coast is offering as a download free for the month of December. It is a holiday gift of thanks for its fans supporting the new acoustic label.

The technique for recording was a modified version of Blue Coast's proprietary technique Extended Sound Environment, E.S.E.

Greensleeves

4700% Increase in Visits From Japan Moves it to the #3 Country Visiting the Blue Coast Site

2007-11-18T08:25:00.000-08:00

The activity to our website has been incredible the last month showing an increase of 48% new traffic worldwide. United States, followed by France still hold the 1 and 2 positions for most visitors with a surprise increase from Japan of 4700%. Moving from number 10 position to number 3, Japan overtook China's recent third position. Still China showed an increase of 48% over last month. Australia showed tremendous growth with a 333% increase over last month, moving it to the #7 position.

Currently, the visitor list by country is...
1. United States
2. France
3. Japan
4. China
5. Canada
6. Netherlands
7. Australia
8. Italy
9. Norway
10. Belgium

We suspect the increase from Japan stems from airplay of our friend, Philip O'Hanlon, who was giving a presentation on behalf of his company, On a High Note, representing Luxman and other wonderful brands. Philip uses one of our songs, "On a Slow Day" as part of his audio demonstrations. Also of note, Brenda Vaugn, an amazing vocalist who had worked with founder Cookie Marenco, contacted us a few weeks ago mentioning her involvement in the Japanese music scene. Brenda has been living in Japan for 9 years. Brenda and Cookie are in initial discussions to move label efforts in Japan farther as well as welcoming Brenda as a potential artist for Blue Coast future releases.

Blue Coast Collection Goes to Brazil

2007-11-18T08:24:00.001-08:00

We're very excited to announce the first purchase from our website to Brazil. While we have had many visitors from South America to our website, this marks the first purchase. It's exciting to watch our enthusiastic community grow worldwide.

Stereophile Comments about the Blue Coast Collection--Sept 2007

2007-11-10T18:54:00.000-08:00

"--The E.S.E. Sessions is a spectacularly natural presentation of acoustic instruments and voices in a rich, defining ambience that envelops the listener.---"
Kalman Rubinson,
Stereophile

For the rest of the Stereophile quote, check out our press page at
Blue Coast Press

We're grateful to those listeners who are helping us spread the word in magazines, blogs and to their friends. Thanks to all of you.

Blue Coast at Far West Folk Alliance

2007-11-08T19:17:00.000-08:00

Patrick and I traveled to Vancouver, Washington to attend the Regional Folk Alliance. Happens Patrick was playing showcases with Mick Overman and the Maniacs (an artist I'm looking forward to going into the studio with very soon) and many of the Blue Coast Artists are from Portland.

We heard some talented musicians, met with old friends, and strategized to bring great music music and sound back to the masses.

We wanted to thank all the great folks we met and hope to record and stay in contact with you all!

Cookie

China Moves to #3 for Visitors to our Blue Coast Website

2007-11-01T19:58:00.000-07:00

Up from the #6 position last month, China has jumped above Canada for visitors coming to our website. Following the United States and France, China now holds the #3 position in the list of 48 countries who visit our website, a rise over 900% in the last 6 months.

All in all, Blue Coast has now touched down in Australia, Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America. Who will be the first visitor from Antartica? We'll let you know!

Blue Coast at Rocky Mountain Audiofest

2007-10-08T14:17:00.000-07:00

We're delighted to be heading to Denver for the Rocky Mountain Audiofest and look forward to greeting all of you we met in New York, those we haven't met before and all of our friends from around the globe. We will be presenting our Blue Coast Collection, the E.S.E. Sessions, for you to enjoy what some call the Ultimate Acoustic Music experience.

Several exhibitors will be featuring the Blue Coast Collection for demo purposes. We encourage you to hear the disc at the Amherst Audio booth featuring Jean Marie Reynaud speakers. Jean Claude Reynaud, my co-producer on the project, brought several versions of these speakers to the Blue Coast sessions for use in recording and mixing. On the JMR speakers, you will hear the sound as near as possible to what we experienced during the recording. The Extended Sound Environment ( E.S.E.) technique uses no headphones, no digital effects and no overdubs -- just the pure sound of skillful musicians playing live in the studio. An incredibly life-like experience.

Many of you manufacturing products for the audiophile sensibility may want to consider using this disc for reference purposes.

We welcome reviewers and questions from fans.
We'll have press kits and will be available throughout the show to meet with you. Look for us to be at the Acoustic Sounds booth much of the time.

Those interested in buying the disc in bulk quantities may contact us in advance about special show pricing.

We will have a limited quantity our Blue Coast Collection Private Reserve at the show for those purchasing 50 or more units. It's an incredible 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Alexander Valley of Northern California. Please call us in advance to make arrangements for purchase and for receiving our gift.

Good music + good wine + good friends = A GOOD LIFE!

Blue Coast Records’ Audiophile Acoustic Music To Be Available Via Burnside Distribution

2007-09-25T11:10:00.000-07:00

New Agreement Will Place Blue Coast’s SACD/CD In a Variety of Channels

San Francisco, CA, September 1, 2007 – Blue Coast Records, a label dedicated to preserving and marketing audiophile-quality recordings of acoustic music performed live in the studio, today announced a new distribution agreement with Portland, OR-based Burnside Distribution, a top distributor of independent record labels in the U.S.

“Blue Coast Collection, The E.S.E. Sessions,” will be the first release and highlights the proprietary recording Extended Sound Environment (E.S.E.) process developed by Blue Coast for advanced sonic reproduction with precise detail and accurate imaging.

“Frankly, we weren’t prepared for the incredible success of “Blue Coast Collection’” said Cookie Marenco, Founder and President of Blue Coast. “We sold out the first pressing of 1,000 copies in just six weeks, which is pretty incredible when you consider that it was offered through our web site exclusively with no great fanfare and a $40 price tag. However, we know that music lovers who appreciate true audiophile sound are willing to invest in recordings that touch them, which is why we’re thrilled that such an esteemed distributor of independent artists and labels will get the Blue Coast message out to an even wider base of fans of acoustic music.”

“It’s a thrill to be working with a company like Blue Coast Records,” commented Bill McNally, Vice President/General Manager, Burnside Distribution. “I have worked many years with Cookie Morenco, a remarkably talented woman who, with her staff, has put together a real music lover’s label. The sonic quality of the recordings is unsurpassed. Their music will certainly appeal to music lovers and high-end audio enthusiasts alike. More important, at least to me, is that it’s something I enjoy listening to when I’m in the mood to hear simply beautiful music.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Burnside Distribution will be the distributor of, “Blue Coast Collection, The E.S.E. Sessions,” a 5.1-channel SACD/two-channel CD hybrid disc.

“Blue Coast Collection” is a collection of various artists performing live in the studio without the use of headphones or digital effects that are common in today’s recordings. Blue Coast’s patented Extended Sound Environment (E.S.E.) recording process captures the essence of a performance with remarkable accuracy, communicating the openness and sense of detail that is absent from most CD and even high-resolution audio recordings.

Produced by Marenco and Jean Claude Reynaud, “Blue Coast Collection” features veterans and emerging artists alike, including Keith Greeninger, Tony Furtado, Glen Moore, Rob Ickes, and several others.

Added Marenco: “There was no shortage of opportunities to sign with the big distribution companies, but their specialty is selling entertainment, not necessarily skilled musicianship or audio quality. Bill McNally at Burnside is a maverick in this respect, since he is always there to champion the work of independent artists and labels. You need a real ‘music guy’ like Bill to understand the value of our music while working hard to make sure it’s widely available and promoted.”

Blue Coast Records was founded by Cookie Marenco, a producer/engineer with more than 20 years experience in the development of recording techniques that enhance the listener’s enjoyment. Marenco and Reynaud designed the E.S.E. recording process to accommodate the evolving field of surround audio with an impeccable blend of traditional and new recording technologies.

Blue Coast Records Welcomes Visitors from China

2007-09-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

Last February marked the first visits to our website from China. Since that time, China has risen to the number 4 position of the 46 countries visiting our website. The countries most visiting our website are USA, France, Netherlands, China and Canada.

Alexander Valley Cabernet is chosen for the Blue Coast Collection Private Reserve

2007-09-14T15:23:00.000-07:00

The sun was sinking and the fog rolling over the Belmont hills Wednesday night as many Friends of Blue Coast arrived to help us choose a wine for our new Blue Coast Collection Private Reserve, which will be part of the music and wine gift packages we are preparing for this holiday season.

Scott Thompson and Ezra Crowley were on hand early to prepare finger foods to sustain the judges in their night of wine tasting. The Blue Coast Collection (and other records produced by our founder, Cookie Marenco, proved the sonic backdrop as Cookie presided over the ceremonies. Six California varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon from Windsor Vineyards were passed around, discussed and ultimately consumed by the lively and enthusiastic crowd. In the end a variety from the Alexander Valley region of Northern California emerged the winner…

The judges were also asked to help us choose the artwork for the custom label that will adorn bottles of the Blue Coast Collection Private Reserve. Rain Palace, a painting by Simone Raoux, which also graces the cover of the Blue Coast Collection SA-CD, will be featured on the label.

Everyone had a great time, by all accounts, with some staying into the early hours. After the event, Cookie said "Some of the smartest people I know were in that room drinking a lot of wine! There was determination to complete the task at hand—DRINK, DECIDE, DRINK!"

Many thanks to all who attended….

Adam Lundeen
Anne Vrolyk
Bob and Lisa Peek
Brain and Elizabeth Mantia
Cookie Marenco
Ezra Crowley
John Johnsen and Maritza Vande Voorde
Maeve Daugharty
Mark Anders
M.I.R.V.
Patrick O'Connor
Rob Modeste and Jean Manocchio
Sebastien and Simone Rauox
Scott and Susan Thompson

Our sincere apologies if we forgot anyone or misspelled a name. We were not diligent with the guest book.

Blue Coast in Australia!

2007-09-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

Small beginnings maybe, but we have sold our first copy of the Blue Coast Collection in Australia! We want to thank SA-CD.net for listing the Blue Coast Collection and promoting the SA-CD format...

Upcoming New Release with Art Lande!

2007-08-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

Jean Claude Reynaud and founder, Cookie Marenco travelled to Boulder, Colorado to master an upcoming solo piano release from Art Lande. Best known for his ECM recordings, Art Lande is a master improviser and jazz pianist. This recording is shows his skill for tone production and mastery of restraint. Recorded live in one evening, it beautifully weaves a poem of songs into a night's lullaby.

As well, the recording shows the character of the 1885 Steinway with no use of effects. For audio enthusiasts and engineers, this will be a study of how a great piano can sound. As if a child sitting in your fathers arms, the delicacy of Art's playing reaches around you with warmth and sincerity. Art transforms songs from the Beatles to Stephen Foster, from jazz classics to improvisations, into gentle lullabies.

The original tracks were recorded using the Sonoma System on Direct Stream Digital. The same tracks were recorded on analog, but in this case, the producers found DSD and one bit recording to best show the tone of the music. Working at Airshow Mastering with Dave Glasser the masters were prepared for eventual release on SACD/CD disc.

The release date has not been planned, although, a high resolution download is being prepared for release by the end of this year.

Blue Coast would like to thank all involved for their contributions, especially Gus Skinas for the use of his Sonoma System and Jean Marie Reynaud for the use of his incredible speaker and wire. More details will be coming about the recording as we near release.

Sign up for the mailing list to get more information on this release.

Blue Coast Records debuts First Release at the Home Entertainment Show

2007-05-13T15:21:00.000-07:00

The Blue Coast Collection made its debut at the Home Entertainment Show in New York City May 11-13. Online distributor, Acoustic Sound, hosted their debut giving them an opportunity to meet with audiophiles from around the world and offer samples of the acoustic recordings to many of the speaker companies. The Blue Coast Collection was well received and became part of the demonstration cycle for many of these companies.

You can purchase the cd through many of our online distributors around the world. We will be posting a list of dealers very soon.

Plans are in the works to attend the Rocky Mountain Audiofest in Denver Oct 12-14. Let us know if you are planning to attend! We'd love to meet with you.

We welcome your comments!

2007-04-20T09:06:00.000-07:00

We're new to the blogging community and hope to have a place for you to make comments about acoustic music and our releases. You can post your comments here. Thanks for your support!

Blue Coast Collection SA-CD has Arrived!

2007-04-17T13:10:00.000-07:00

The Blue Coast Collection, The E.S.E. Sessions SA-CD has arrived and is now available for sale here and at acousticsounds.com

Thank you for your patience. It was well worth the wait for the incredible sonic quality that seemed to enhance even the CD layer. The Extended Sound Environment (E.S.E.) can be fully heard as we intended if you have a nulti channel SA-CD player.

We want to know what you think.... your experience of the sound and music..... your favorite songs... if you can hear the realism in the surround version.

hope you enjoy!
Cookie Marenco
founder and producer, Blue Coast Records