🎼 THE SOUND OF TAPE
ALBUM EDITOR REVIEW
PILTCH & DAVIS + FRIENDS
TAKE ONE - 2xHD MASTER-TAPE EDITION
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Some recordings impress with complexity. Others impress by removing everything that stands between the musicians and the listener.
Take One belongs firmly in the second category.
This intimate acoustic-jazz session brings together Canadian bassist David Piltch and pianist Aaron Davis, two musicians whose exceptional understanding was developed during their years as founding members of the celebrated Holly Cole Trio.
Working without a vocalist places their musical relationship fully in the spotlight. Piano and acoustic bass become equal voices—questioning, answering, supporting and occasionally challenging one another. Every pause, resonance and spontaneous change of direction contributes to the performance.
THE MUSICIANS
David Piltch — acoustic bass and bass percussion
Aaron Davis — piano and piano percussion
With their friends:
Rob Piltch — guitar
Kevin Breit — guitar
Mark Kelso — drums
Rob Piltch appears on “Arpeggio,” its alternative take, “Last Day of Summer” and “Newsoundland.” Mark Kelso joins the duo on “Horizontal Blue,” while Kevin Breit contributes guitar to “Taj.”
Piltch and Davis produced and arranged the session themselves, allowing the music to develop around their long-established intuition rather than a rigid studio construction.
RECORDED OFF THE FLOOR
Recorded at McClear Pathé in Toronto in 1996, Take One captures the musicians playing together in the recording space.
There were:
• No overdubs
• No Dolby noise reduction
• No digital assembly of separate performances
• No attempt to manufacture perfection afterwards
The session was recorded directly onto ½-inch analogue tape at 30 ips, reportedly using a Telefunken M15 recorder with Saki head. Jeff Wolpert recorded and mixed the album, with engineering credits also naming Denis Tougas and Greg Robertson.
That recording method is fundamental to the album’s character. The musicians could hear, anticipate and respond to each other in real time. The resulting performances possess the energy and subtle unpredictability of a private concert.
It is less about flawless isolation than the coherent sound of an ensemble sharing one musical moment.
THE MUSIC
“Arpeggio” opens the programme by establishing the language of the recording: Davis’s carefully articulated piano figures create space for Piltch’s deeply resonant bass. The alternative take later in the programme offers a fascinating opportunity to hear how two improvisers can approach the same musical idea differently.
“Dance from Down Under” reveals the duo’s rhythmic confidence. The movement feels conversational rather than mechanical, with the bass carrying both melodic and percussive responsibilities beneath Davis’s fluid piano playing.
Steve Earle’s “My Old Friend the Blues” brings an Americana influence into the programme. Without vocals, the melody acquires a reflective, late-night quality.
“Horizontal Blue” is one of the album’s defining performances. With Mark Kelso on drums, the duo expands into a beautifully balanced trio. The recording’s openness makes it especially effective for evaluating bass definition, piano tone, rhythmic placement and the acoustic dimensions of a playback system.
“Last Day of Summer,” written by Kirsty MacColl and Mark E. Nevin, becomes a graceful instrumental meditation, coloured by Rob Piltch’s guitar.
“Newsoundland” carries a distinctly Canadian identity in its title while displaying David Piltch’s gifts as both bassist and composer.
The traditional “Black Is the Colour of My True Love’s Hair” is treated with simplicity and respect. Its familiar melody provides one of the album’s most emotionally direct passages.
Finally, “Taj” introduces Kevin Breit’s characterful guitar voice and closes the programme with warmth, imagination and understated ensemble chemistry.
TRACKLIST
1. Arpeggio — 4:59
2. Dance from Down Under — 5:48
3. My Old Friend the Blues — 3:15
4. Horizontal Blue — 6:06
5. Arpeggio (Alternative Take) — 3:58
6. Last Day of Summer — 3:20
7. Newsoundland — 5:27
8. Black Is the Colour of My True Love’s Hair — 3:00
9. Taj — 4:34
THE 2xHD MASTER-TAPE EDITION
The original analogue recording was remastered by René Laflamme, whose 2xHD work is widely associated with carefully restored historic recordings and high-quality Nagra-based analogue playback chains.
Catalogue number: 2XHDAR-T1036
Format: ¼-inch analogue reel tape
Speed: 15 ips
Tracks: Two-track stereo
Equalisation: CCIR
Reference level: 320 nWb/m
Tape stock: Recording The Masters SM900
Reel: 10.5-inch metal reel
Edition: Limited and numbered
Origin: Canada
Source: Original ½-inch, 30 ips analogue recording
Duplication: Pure analogue transfer using Nagra equipment
Presentation: One reel in an archival box
The distinction is worth noting: the original session was captured at 30 ips, while this collector’s edition is reproduced at 15 ips for compatible two-track open-reel machines.
SOUND QUALITY AND LISTENER FEEDBACK
The qualities repeatedly praised by reviewers and listeners are precisely those this recording method should preserve: natural instrumental timbre, convincing depth, immediate dynamics and clear communication between the performers.
Writing for Positive Feedback, Rushton Paul observed that Piltch and Davis’s decades of musical familiarity are immediately apparent in their exchange of ideas, yet the performance still sounds fresh and entirely of the moment.
NativeDSD listeners have praised the album’s timbral depth and fine detail, while feedback on the vinyl edition has highlighted the substantial bass response and exceptionally clear piano reproduction.
Those observations make sense. The bass is not reduced to a vague low-frequency foundation—it has body, wood, string texture and pitch. The piano retains both its initial attack and the harmonic decay that follows. The guitars enter without disrupting the acoustic balance, and the drums on “Horizontal Blue” sound naturally integrated rather than artificially enlarged.
EDITOR’S VERDICT
Take One demonstrates why a simple acoustic session can become a serious audiophile reference.
Its appeal does not depend only on impressive sound. Beneath the technical excellence is an engaging musical relationship: two experienced artists listening carefully, taking risks and allowing each composition to develop without unnecessary decoration.
The recording feels close, honest and wonderfully unforced. Through a properly aligned reel-to-reel system, the listener is presented not merely with bass and piano, but with the scale, air, resonance and spontaneous spirit of musicians performing together.
An intimate analogue jazz recording, a compelling demonstration of ensemble communication and a master-tape edition worthy of a revealing high-fidelity system.
⭐ THE SOUND OF TAPE EDITOR’S RATING: 5/5
Available from The Sound of Tape:
Piltch & Davis With Friends — Take One 15 ips Reel Tape
Which performance would you play first: “Arpeggio,” “Horizontal Blue,” “Black Is the Colour” or “Taj”?
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