Chesky Records
One World One Music

The first thing I like about Chesky Records One World One Music is that it does not behave like a typical audiophile sampler. Released by Chesky Records on February 10, 2017, this 18-track compilation moves through Brazilian music, African percussion, Latin jazz, acoustic guitar and more contemporary world music without making recording quality the only reason to listen. The names alone show how broad the selection is: Babatunde Olatunji, Ana Caram with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Mongo Santamaria, Badi Assad, John Abercrombie, Larry Coryell, Dave Liebman, Candido and several younger artists all appear. David Chesky is credited as producer, Norman Chesky as executive producer, with Bob Katz, Barry Wolifson and Nicholas Prout among the engineers. For me, however, the real strength is that the collection works musically before it starts showing off what a good system can do.

More than an audiophile sampler

One World One Music reaches quite deeply into the Chesky catalogue. I Ching’s “Running Water”, for example, originally appeared on Of the Marsh and the Moon in 1996, while Ana Caram’s “Anos Dourados” comes from her 1989 Chesky album Rio After Dark. At the other end of the timeline is City of the Sun’s “La Puerta Roja”, taken from their 2016 album To the Sun and All the Cities in Between. That spread of almost three decades gives the compilation more character than a set assembled simply to demonstrate spectacular bass or an enormous soundstage. Recording techniques and musical styles change from track to track, yet there is a recognizable Chesky preference for performances that feel open and relatively unforced.

“Anos Dourados” is one of my favourite examples because the music is so easy to enjoy without analysing it. Ana Caram’s voice carries the melody with a relaxed Brazilian phrasing, and Antonio Carlos Jobim joins her on the recording, playing piano and contributing vocals. There is nothing aggressive about the performance, which actually makes it a useful test of a system. I listen to how naturally the voice separates from the accompaniment and whether the piano has body instead of becoming a collection of bright notes. On revealing speakers or headphones, the beauty here comes from small changes in phrasing and timing rather than spectacular dynamics. It is a track that tells me much more about midrange transparency and vocal realism than many recordings designed specifically as demonstrations.

Another highlight for me is “Seu Jorge e Dona Ica” by Badi Assad, John Abercrombie and Larry Coryell. The track originally appeared on Three Guitars, recorded in late 2002 at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in New York and released by Chesky in 2003. Coryell and Abercrombie play steel-string acoustic guitars, while Assad uses nylon-string guitar and also brings her voice and characteristic body percussion into the performance. That combination immediately gives the track its own identity. I enjoy following the differences in attack and tone between the guitars, especially when one instrument becomes more rhythmic while another moves forward melodically. A good stereo setup makes those individual parts easy to follow without pulling the performance apart, which is exactly how I think detailed reproduction should work.

Rhythm is the real connection

The title One World One Music could easily have resulted in a compilation that feels too carefully organised around the idea of “world music”, but the rhythm section repeatedly prevents that from happening. Babatunde Olatunji’s “Saré Tete Wa” and Mongo Santamaria’s “Mambo Mongo” bring percussion much closer to the centre of the experience. These are tracks where I stop thinking about genre and start listening to timing, physical impact and interaction between musicians. Percussion should not simply produce a large thump from the speakers. I want to hear the initial strike, the body of the drum and the decay afterwards, with enough separation that several rhythmic patterns can exist together without becoming one thick mass.

That becomes especially interesting with a resolving DAC, amplifier and pair of speakers because this compilation can expose systems that emphasise detail but lose musical flow. The percussion-heavy tracks need speed and control, but the quieter Brazilian selections need warmth and believable voices. Then Dave Liebman’s “Danza del Pájaro”, originally part of his 2014 Chesky album Ceremony, changes the perspective again. Liebman uses wooden flute on this piece, supported by musicians including Willy Rodriguez, Paolo Stagnaro, Gabo Lugo, Marcos López and Oscar Stagnaro. The combination of flute and percussion has an immediate, earthy quality that I find much more interesting than a polished studio showcase. The air around the flute and the different percussion textures give the recording plenty of information, but the performance remains the important part.

There are moments when the wide stylistic range makes One World One Music feel more like a journey through the Chesky catalogue than a conventional album, and I do not think every listener will connect equally strongly with all 18 selections. Personally, I see that as part of the appeal. “La Puerta Roja” by City of the Sun sounds very different from Ana Caram, and Carla Lother’s “Jaelish”, originally released on her 1999 album Ephemera, takes the collection in another direction again with voice, strings, percussion and a more contemporary singer-songwriter approach. Instead of trying to create one consistent mood, the compilation demonstrates how different musical traditions can benefit from the same basic recording philosophy: capture musicians, instruments and the acoustic space with as little unnecessary interference as possible.

What I value most about Chesky Records One World One Music is therefore not one spectacular test track. It is the contrast between Ana Caram’s understated Brazilian elegance, the acoustic guitar conversation of