Venus – The Amazing Super Audio CD Sampler Vol. 7: Fifteen Jazz Performances in Search of the Perfect Sound

Some jazz albums invite the listener into a single room, where one band develops its own language over the course of an evening. Venus – The Amazing Super Audio CD Sampler Vol. 7 takes a different route. It opens fifteen doors, each leading to another ensemble, another atmosphere and another interpretation of the jazz tradition. The result is not merely a compilation, but a carefully arranged journey through the richly coloured catalogue of Venus Records.

Released in Japan on August 19, 2015, The Amazing Super Audio CD Sampler Vol. 7 appeared under catalogue number VHGD-97. The collection gathers fifteen representative performances drawn from Venus Records albums numbered VHGD-81 through VHGD-96 and offers an unusually generous running time of approximately 87 minutes. (venusrecord.com)

The seventh volume enters quietly and elegantly with the Eddie Higgins Trio performing Cole Porter’s “I Concentrate on You.” The selection originally appeared on A Fine Romance, and it immediately establishes the qualities associated with the Venus Records sound: intimacy, warmth and a strong sense of presence. Higgins never needs to force the melody. His playing allows Porter’s composition to unfold with patience, while the trio creates the sensation of musicians performing only a few metres away from the listener. (venusrecord.com)

That polished opening gives way to the darker harmonic landscape of Oliver Nelson’s “Stolen Moments,” performed by the Super Trio and taken from the album Super Standard. The shift is significant. Where Higgins creates romance through restraint, “Stolen Moments” introduces tension, blues feeling and rhythmic weight. The familiar composition becomes an early demonstration of the sampler’s purpose: to reveal how dramatically the character of a recording can change when a different group enters the studio. (venusrecord.com)

The atmosphere expands with Nicolas Montier and Saxomania performing George Gershwin’s “Summertime.” Selected from Lullaby, the recording transforms one of the most frequently interpreted songs in jazz into a showcase for saxophone textures. Instead of treating “Summertime” as a predictable standard, the ensemble uses its melody as the foundation for a broader conversation between reeds, rhythm and silence. (venusrecord.com)

Then comes one of the collection’s most graceful encounters. Vocalist Alexis Cole joins guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli for Michel Legrand’s “Watch What Happens,” originally included on A Beautiful Friendship. Cole’s controlled phrasing and Pizzarelli’s elegant guitar accompaniment give the song an atmosphere closer to a private after-hours performance than a conventional studio production. The recording demonstrates why vocal jazz remains so effective on an audiophile SACD: the smallest breath, pause and change in tone becomes part of the emotional story. (venusrecord.com)

With “Felicidade,” George Garzone and Trio da Paz bring Brazilian light and rhythmic movement into the programme. Drawn from Night of My Beloved, the Antonio Carlos Jobim composition carries the collection away from the American songbook and into the flowing world of bossa nova. Yet the performance is not simply relaxed background music. Garzone’s saxophone introduces a more exploratory voice, while Trio da Paz keeps the underlying rhythm supple and alive. (venusrecord.com)

The David Hazeltine Trio follows with Bud Powell’s “Danceland,” selected from Cleopatra’s Dream. Hazeltine’s appearance changes the pace once again. His trio approaches the material with precision and forward momentum, reminding the listener that the piano trio can be both intellectually refined and physically exciting. The performance carries the energy of bebop without losing the full-bodied tonal presentation that defines many Venus Records releases. (venusrecord.com)

After the movement of “Danceland,” the room seems to empty. Eddie Higgins returns alone at the piano for “It’s Magic,” taken from Standards by Request 1st Day. Without bass or drums, every detail of his touch becomes exposed. The resonance of the instrument, the space between chords and the gentle decay of individual notes become as important as the melody itself. It is one of the moments on Amazing Super Audio CD Sampler Vol. 7 that most clearly explains the attraction of high-resolution jazz recordings.

The story then moves toward something more contemporary with vocalist Tessa Souter and “Brand New Day,” from Beyond the Blue. Credited to Souter and Gabriel Fauré, the composition connects the language of jazz singing with classical influence. Souter’s voice enters as a new dramatic character, widening the collection’s emotional range and showing that the Venus Records catalogue was not limited to traditional standards. (venusrecord.com)

Cole Porter returns with “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To,” interpreted by the Ted Rosenthal Trio and originally released on My Funny Valentine. The composition has appeared in countless jazz sessions, but that familiarity is precisely what makes it useful in an audiophile sampler. The listener already knows the road; the fascination lies in hearing how Rosenthal changes the scenery. His trio balances sophistication with swing, preserving the song’s charm while finding fresh spaces inside its harmonic structure. (venusrecord.com)

The tenth performance, “As Time Goes By,” comes from the Eric Alexander Quartet album My Favorite Things. Alexander’s tenor saxophone gives the famous Herman Hupfeld song a deeper and more muscular voice. The melody, forever linked with cinematic nostalgia, is no longer merely sentimental. In the hands of a modern jazz quartet, it becomes a platform for improvisation, rhythmic dialogue and tonal richness. (venusrecord.com)

Nicki Parrott changes the temperature with “Autumn in Rome,” taken from her album Autumn Leaves. Her performance brings together voice, bass and an unmistakable sense of romantic nostalgia. Parrott has long been one of the most recognisable artists in the Venus Records catalogue, and her presence gives the sampler a warmer, more intimate centre. The song feels less like a formal performance than a memory being recalled slowly, with affection and just enough melancholy. (venusrecord.com)

Rain arrives softly through the Eddie Higgins Trio’s interpretation of Luiz Bonfá’s “Gentle Rain,” originally released on A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening. Higgins appears for the third time on the collection, but each performance reveals a different side of his musical personality. Here, his lyricism feels especially natural. The Brazilian character of the composition is never overstated; it enters through subtle rhythmic gestures and a relaxed melodic flow. (venusrecord.com)

The mood becomes more passionate with the Sharel Cassity Quartet performing “Besame Mucho,” selected from Manhattan Romance. Consuelo Velázquez’s famous song has travelled through popular music, Latin music and jazz for generations. Cassity’s quartet approaches it not as a museum piece, but as living material. The melody remains immediately recognisable, yet the arrangement adds enough rhythmic and improvisational freedom to prevent the performance from becoming overly familiar. (venusrecord.com)

“Autumn Leaves” follows through the Massimo Faraò Trio, drawn from the album of the same name. The official Venus page contains the typographical spelling “Autamun Leaves,” but the composition is the standard universally known as “Autumn Leaves.” Faraò’s trio gives the melody a polished European sensibility while maintaining the swing and harmonic movement that have made the song an essential part of the jazz repertoire. (venusrecord.com)

The collection ends not with a light encore, but with spiritual depth. The Pharoah Sanders Quartet performs Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood,” taken from Crescent with Love. Sanders is often remembered for the intensity and searching power of his work, yet here he reveals tenderness. His tenor saxophone carries the melody with a vulnerable, almost vocal quality, bringing the album to a conclusion that feels reflective rather than final. (venusrecord.com)

That closing track also connects the sampler to an important Venus Records production. Crescent with Love featured Sanders on tenor saxophone with William Henderson on piano, Charles Fambrough on bass and Sherman Ferguson on drums. The session had originally been recorded at Sear Sound Studio in New York in October 1992, with the later Venus edition mixed and mastered by Tetsuo Hara. (venusrecord.com)

Behind the entire compilation stands producer Tetsuo Hara, who also handled its mixing and mastering. The album was prepared using the label’s Venus Hyper Magnum Sound Direct Mix, with design credited to Artplan. These production details are central to the identity of the Venus Records SACD catalogue, where the presentation of instrumental tone is treated as part of the musical performance rather than a technical afterthought. (venusrecord.com)

As a single-layer Super Audio CD, the release was designed for SACD playback and presents fifteen jazz interpretations featuring artists including Eddie Higgins, David Hazeltine, Tessa Souter, Ted Rosenthal, Eric Alexander, Nicki Parrott, Sharel Cassity, Massimo Faraò and Pharoah Sanders. (supersonido.es)

For audiophiles, Venus – The Amazing Super Audio CD Sampler Vol. 7 offers numerous opportunities to examine piano weight, vocal presence, saxophone texture, double-bass definition, cymbal decay and the dimensions of the recorded space. Yet reducing the album to a demonstration disc would miss its real achievement. The technical quality serves the music, not the other way around.

The sampler works because its sequence feels like a night of changing scenes. It begins with the sophistication of Cole Porter, travels through bebop, bossa nova, vocal jazz and cinematic standards, and ends with Pharoah Sanders standing inside an Ellington ballad. Each performance carries its own history, but the production gives the collection a recognisable unity.

For listeners searching for a Venus Records SACD, an audiophile jazz compilation, a high-resolution jazz reference album or one of the finest introductions to the Japanese label’s catalogue, The Amazing Super Audio CD Sampler Vol. 7 remains a compelling choice. It captures jazz as both tradition and transformation: familiar melodies returning in new voices, recorded with enough clarity to make every breath, chord and cymbal stroke feel newly discovered.

When the final notes of “In a Sentimental Mood” disappear, the silence that follows seems larger than before. That is the sampler’s real magic. It does not simply reproduce fifteen recordings. It makes the listener feel that fifteen different rooms have briefly opened, each containing its own musicians, memories and light.