THE SOUND OF TAPE - ALBUM EDITOR REVIEW
THE L.A. NETWORK - ELLA ON OUR MIND
A TRIBUTE TO ELLA FITZGERALD - RECORDED LIVE TO TWO-TRACK ANALOGUE TAPE
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How do musicians honour Ella Fitzgerald without simply attempting to imitate her?
The answer offered by Ella on Our Mind is to preserve the elegance, swing and emotional intelligence associated with Ella while allowing five contemporary musicians to speak in their own voices.
Featuring the remarkable Aubrey Logan and Bill Cantos, this is a warm, spontaneous and beautifully performed collection of seven standards closely associated with the world of Ella Fitzgerald.
Rather than treating these songs as untouchable museum pieces, The L.A. Network returns them to their natural environment: musicians playing together, responding to one another and taking creative risks in real time.
THE RECORDING
Ella on Our Mind was recorded on 5 November 2019 at Resonance Studios in Beverly Hills, California.
The musicians performed “off the floor,” directly to two-track ¼-inch analogue tape running at 15 IPS. There were no overdubs and no subsequent edits.
That is important.
With no multitrack safety net, every entrance, solo, vocal phrase and rhythmic decision became part of the master performance. The balance had to be achieved in the room, and the musicians had to listen to one another with the concentration of a live ensemble.
The result has an immediacy that cannot easily be manufactured later. Piano, bass, drums, vocals and trombone occupy a shared acoustic space instead of sounding like isolated components assembled during post-production.
THE MUSICIANS
• Aubrey Logan — vocals and trombone
• Bill Cantos — vocals, keyboards and piano
• Josh Nelson — piano
• Chris Colangelo — double bass
• Jamey Tate — drums
• George Klabin — original recording engineer
• René Laflamme — 2xHD mastering
AUBREY LOGAN
Aubrey Logan is the album’s magnetic centre. A gifted vocalist and trombonist, she brings theatrical personality, rhythmic confidence and considerable technical control to the programme.
Her interpretations possess the agility demanded by these standards, but she does not try to reproduce Ella Fitzgerald’s phrasing note for note. Instead, she uses the songs as frameworks for conversation—between voice and rhythm section, between melody and harmony, and sometimes between her singing and trombone.
The trombone is not employed merely as a novelty. It becomes an extension of her musical personality: bold, playful, lyrical and occasionally mischievous.
BILL CANTOS
Bill Cantos contributes vocals, keyboards and piano, playing acoustic piano on “We’ll Be Together Again” and “Hernando’s Hideaway.”
His partnership with Logan gives the album much of its charm. Cantos understands how to support a singer without crowding the vocal line, but he is equally capable of stepping forward with harmonic invention and an easy, naturally swinging presence.
JOSH NELSON AND THE RHYTHM SECTION
Josh Nelson plays piano on tracks 1, 3 and 5–7. His work is refined and harmonically imaginative, adding colour without disturbing the directness of the arrangements.
Bassist Chris Colangelo provides the ensemble’s foundation with weight, definition and melodic intelligence. Jamey Tate completes the group with drumming that is alert, dynamic and responsive rather than excessively forceful.
Because the recording was made directly to two-track tape, their interaction is fundamental. Every adjustment in tempo, dynamics or phrasing is audible as part of a living performance.
THE MUSIC
1. Our Love Is Here to Stay — 5:03
The George and Ira Gershwin standard provides a graceful opening. The performance establishes the album’s character immediately: sophisticated but relaxed, affectionate without becoming sentimental.
2. We’ll Be Together Again — 5:33
A more intimate performance, allowing the ensemble to explore space, timing and emotional restraint. Cantos’s piano gives the music a warm, late-night atmosphere.
3. Lush Life — 5:09
Billy Strayhorn’s masterpiece demands both technical control and emotional maturity. The arrangement respects its melancholy sophistication while avoiding theatrical excess. This is one of the album’s most revealing vocal performances.
4. Hernando’s Hideaway — 4:41
The programme changes character with this rhythmically charged Adler and Ross composition. Its theatrical Latin-inflected pulse gives Logan, Cantos and the rhythm section an opportunity to become more playful and dramatic.
5. How Long Has This Been Going On — 4:24
Another Gershwin classic, interpreted with tenderness and understated sensuality. The spacious recording allows the smallest inflections of voice, piano and bass to register naturally.
6. Too Darn Hot — 3:09
Cole Porter’s song brings wit, speed and exuberance. The performance is compact, energetic and full of personality—an excellent demonstration of the ensemble’s rhythmic precision.
7. Summertime — 4:17
The album closes with one of the most frequently interpreted songs in the American repertoire. Instead of overwhelming it with unnecessary decoration, the musicians concentrate on atmosphere, tonal colour and emotional communication.
Total playing time: 32:16
THE ANALOGUE SOUND
This is the kind of recording that demonstrates why direct two-track analogue production remains so compelling.
Listen for:
• The physical presence and natural texture of the voices
• The body and metallic character of Logan’s trombone
• The attack, harmonic colour and decay of the acoustic piano
• The pitch definition and resonance of Colangelo’s bass
• Tate’s cymbal texture and subtle dynamic changes
• The stable positioning of the musicians across the soundstage
• The absence of an artificial, heavily processed studio character
The 2xHD transfer process uses an original ¼-inch master played on a modified Nagra-T with tube playback electronics, OCC silver wiring and a Nick Doshi tube head preamplifier. The listening copy is duplicated at 15 IPS on a Nagra IV-S.
REEL-TAPE EDITION
• Catalogue number: 2XHDRE-T1168
• ¼-inch, two-track stereo
• 15 IPS / 38 cm/s
• IEC/CCIR equalisation
• 10.5-inch metal reel
• Single-reel edition
• Pure analogue source
• No overdubs or edits
• 2xHD mastering by René Laflamme
• Made in Canada
CRITICAL AND LISTENER FEEDBACK
Reviewing the high-resolution edition, James Parker praised the recording’s immediacy, lack of artifice and musicianship - qualities directly connected to its live two-track production.
The reel edition presently holds an average rating of 5/5 from four Discogs ratings. That is encouraging, although the sample remains too small to represent a broad critical consensus. Written owner reviews specifically addressing the 15 IPS tape are still scarce.
This is therefore an album whose strongest recommendation comes from the music, the documented recording method and the calibre of the musicians rather than from a large collection of online testimonials.
EDITORIAL VERDICT
Ella on Our Mind succeeds because it is a tribute rather than an imitation.
It acknowledges Ella Fitzgerald’s enduring influence while allowing Aubrey Logan, Bill Cantos and The L.A. Network to approach these standards with freshness, humour and individual personality.
The performances feel polished but never over-rehearsed. The direct-to-two-track recording preserves the small gestures that make jazz believable: a musician reacting to a vocal phrase, a bass note changing the direction of a passage, or a drummer subtly altering the energy beneath a solo.
For vocal-jazz listeners, it is an engaging and affectionate journey through the Great American Songbook. For analogue enthusiasts, it is also a serious demonstration of immediacy, instrumental texture, natural dynamics and coherent stereo imaging.
⭐ MUSIC: 9/10
🎙️ PERFORMANCE: 9.5/10
📼 ANALOGUE RECORDING: 10/10
🎧 AUDIOPHILE APPEAL: EXCEPTIONAL
Available from The Sound of Tape:
https://www.thesoundoftape.com/products/the-l-a-network-ella-on-our-mind-15ips-tape
Which performance would you play first - “Lush Life,” “Too Darn Hot” or “Summertime”?
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