| Order | Get the album |
| About the album | Americas |
| About the artist | Paul Beaudry & Pathways |
| Personnel | The players |
| Tracks | Hear samples |
| Critical Acclaim | Quotes from reviews |
| Session Photos | See photos from the recording sessions |
| Blog Entry | Read about the sessions and the gear |
| Release Party Photos | See photos from the release party |
| SR Interview | Paul Beaudry |
Soon after their Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad tour in 2010 to Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, Nicaragua and Honduras (co-sponsored by Jazz at Lincoln Center and the U.S. Dept. of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs), Paul Beaudry & Pathways decided to record a whole album of music celebrating North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. The result is Americas.
Paul Beaudry: bass
Tim Armacost: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
Bennett Paster: piano
Tony Jefferson: drums
"Latin jazz sounds resplendent in high resolution and without studio trickery... The overall sonic image is entirely different from most jazz albums—more open and realistic... Americas is an engrossing, euphoric jazz album with topnotch audiophile credentials."
- Read John Sunier's review at Audiophile Audition
In the July/August 2012 issue of Music Emotion, reviewer Werner Ero used Americas to evaluate equipment he was reviewing. In his review of the Thiel CS3.7 loudspeakers, Werner said:
"Where I was already excited about Markus Schwartz & Lakou Brooklyn's Equinox [used to evaluate components from Spectral and Avalon in the May 2012 issue], Americas takes the quality even further...honest acoustic jazz... [Listening to "Every Time Ah Pass"] from the very first second, I imagined I was actually in the Osborn in New York. In addition, I immediately felt the air circulation in the recording space and the physical pressure of the piano strings. When the sax, bass and drums joined the party, it was simply impossible to sit still... All the instruments are stunningly projected in three dimensional space and have their original proportions and dimensions. The micro position variations of the instruments and the distinction between the different timbres are almost shockingly realistic."
- Read Werner Ero's review (in the original Nederlands) at Music Emotion
"Overall this is [a] joyous collection of different musical flavours that make the album extremely fun to listen to...it sounds just like live music, lively, strong and communicative as only the real thing can be. No special effects, just an extremely realistic performance. What I call the out of the room test is jaw-dropping with this recording: just walk outside the listening room, go upstairs (or downstairs) or simply "outside" and listen to the sound: if it seems a jazz band is playing somewhere inside your house (I was outside, in the garden, for example) then the recording - and your HiFi system! - are doing what they are meant to do. Not even a trace of artificial or electronic sound! Just the illusion of real instruments playing somewhere for you.... The piano parts deserve a special mention, because the sound is extremely realistic, clean, natural... I don't know whether this is the perfect jazz recording, for sure it is one of the best I've ever heard. There are several excellent jazz recordings (especially from Reference Recordings and Chesky) but nothing comes close to Americas in terms of realism and presence effect. Need I say more?"
- Read Lucio Cadeddu's review at TNT-Audio
"A very enjoyable disc with wonderful music and state-of-the-art high resolution sound... Highly recommended."
- Read the review at Positive Feedback
Paul
Tim plays "El Bananero"
Tony checks the score for "El Bananero"
Paul and Tony playing "El Bananero"
Paul plays "D'Leau"
Tim plays "D'Leau"
Paul and Tony
Bennett, Paul, Tony and Tim run down "Zamba Allegre"
Tony
Bennett gets the feel for "Zamba Alegre"
Bennett