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Rogue Records Reissues Primed for 96kHz Downloads NOW! Release

Gregory James "Come To Me" Download Available in 96kHz High Resolution Digital Audio.

San Francisco, CA (Billboard Publicity Wire) November 1, 2009 -- Gregory James' 2004 release "Come To Me" (http://gregoryjames.com/come-to-me) is a sonic treat for fans of jazz, funk and world music. Best known for his contemporary jazz guitar stylings, this recording was James' seventh of 8 in a catalog that spans the last decade. Produced by Benny Rietveld, known for his bass work with Santana and Miles Davis, the CD features the San Francisco guitarist's soulful nylon-string, amazing sax and flute work by Baron Shul and Rita Thies, percussion energy from Raul Rekow, Karl Perrazo, Jason Lewis, Celia Malheiros and Deszon Claiborne, spoken word, djs, strings and much more.

"Come To Me" prompted one critic to write, "From tablas to turntables, the James band melds many styles - Latin, flamenco, trip-hop - yet pushes the boundaries of jazz." Jazzreview.com summarized, "It could be album of the year in many circles," labeling it a "must have."

Thanks to Rogue Records and Downloads NOW! (http://argoarts.com/) music fans can now download a CD quality 44.1 .wav file of "Come To Me" as singles or the entire album. "People can burn their own CDs or listen through their iTunes or Media Player of choice," says engineer Cookie Marenco. "The title track, 'Come To Me' is going to have a special release in 96kHz with Destani Wolf's vocal available in Spanish and English mixes. The integrity is there for audiophiles, unlike many recordings that are 'up-sampled' from 44.1."
            
"Come To Me" is a particularly good candidate for high resolution digital release because of the care taken recording the original masters. "We originally recorded on analog tape for optimum sound," Marenco explains. "Then Benny had the masters converted to digital wav files so that he could work on the parts while he was on the road with Santana. We mixed to ½" tape to preserve the sound."

"This is exciting," says Benny Rietveld. "I can't wait to hear all the air and width and beauty that was originally there in Cookie's pristinely recorded tracks restored."

Marenco's own Blue Coast Records (bluecoastrecords.com) started releasing 96kHz files last April through Downloads NOW!. "As a producer, I've maintained a high standard in my work by recording to tape and mixing down to analog to DSD files," she says. "Gregory's recordings that I've engineered have been recorded to analog tape and mixed to analog. I approached Gregory about re-releasing his titles as high resolution downloads, and he thought it was a terrific idea. "Samsara" (http://gregoryjames.com/samsara) was re-released in August 2009. This is an opportunity to resurrect recordings that deserve international exposure."

Gregory James describes his past dilemma with having material released for download. "Until recently downloads sounded horrible. I have yet to hear acceptable quality from a phone, no matter how many 'Layla' downloads are on it," he laughs. "The bandwidth and computing power necessary for CD Quality downloads has really only been feasible in the last few months. In truth, now a 96kHz download can be better than a cd. So finally we can join the download bandwagon with a clear conscience."

To test out this big bandwidth downloads, several songs are available at James' site (www.gregoryjames.com) as free downloads. You can also visit the Artist Connex Rotating Module (ACRM) box on the Downloads NOW! on any artist web page to access other artists featured on DN! pages. The cost for singles is $1.50 for the 44.1kHz files, and $3 for the 96kHz singles. The complete album is specially priced at $12, and album art is available for free download.
        
For more information on Gregory James, Rogue Records and Downloads NOW! please call 650 595 8475 or send an email to press(at)argoarts(dot)com

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