This month marks the 60th anniversary of Getz/Gilberto's release by Verve Records. The revolutionary bossa nova album recorded in 1963 and produced by Creed Taylor—with the inclusion of Astrud Gilberto singing The Girl From Ipanema and Corcovado—turned the infectious Brazilian beat into a global phenomenon with the young-adult market. In America, the Beatles and other British Invasion artists by then owned the teen market, and Al Hirt, Percy Faith, Ray Conniff and other older easy-listening artists owned the more senior market. Getz/Gilberto became the decade's first sexy album release.
To mark the occasion, Impex Records, an audiophile company headquartered in Anderson, Ind., that specializes in high-end vinyl reissues, just released Getz/Gilberto as part of its 1STEP series. The 180-gram, double-LP release spins on your turntable at 45rpm—two songs per side on the first LP and two on side 3 and four on side 4. The album was remastered by Bernie Grundman using the original analog master tapes, going from tape to press. No "mother" or "father" pressings and no computers or tricky software were used. The 45 speed exposes more sonic information than 33 1/3.
The 1STEP process is the closest you'll get to hearing the master tapes themselves, without generational loss found on previous releases. The new reissue also includes wonderful liner notes by Chuck Granata and Monica Getz, Stan's second wife, in a 35 page, 12-inch booklet. The Impex product is limited to 7,500 numbered pressings.
I have six different copies of this album on vinyl issued over the years, and I wrote Verve's 50th anniversary edition liner notes. So listening to the Impex release was like running my hand over a polished wood surface feeling for imperfections. There were none. Instead, what I found was a recording of enormous tenderness, with each artist in the ensemble isolated in a bubble of intimacy. Their instruments were mixed perfectly and a lot more audio information has been displayed, especially in the midrange. In fact, it took a bit of adjusting to acclimate my ears to the cozy fidelity. Thanks to 1STEP, you're basically listening to what Creed and engineer Phil Ramone heard in the booth in March 1963. [Photo above of Creed Taylor by Chuck Stewart]
Somehow singer-guitarist João Gilberto sounds more delicate, Astrud Gilberto sounds more innocent and unsteady, and Antonio Carlos Jobim's piano is more seductive. You can even hear Stan Getz's tenor saxophone pads clicking. The only things you won't hear are Astrud applying her lipstick and Jobim flicking his cigarette in an ashtray. All the rest of the audio information is here, carefully remastered. [Photo above from left, tenor saxophonist Stan Getz, drummer Milton Banana, pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim, Don Payne, guitarist, singer-guitarist João Gilberto and his then wife, singer Astrud Gilberto, at A&R Studios in New York in March 1963; for more, go here]
What I realized listening to the Impex release is how Getz vitally united all of the elements with his impossibly beautiful playing. He also added much-needed jazz muscle to the tissue-soft Brazilian approach to the music. [Photo above, from left, of Antonio Carlos Jobim, Stan Getz and João Gilberto at A&R Studios in New York in 1963]
Impex has many more releases on the market, including Earth, Wind & Fire's That's the Way of the World, Michel Legrand's Legrand Jazz and Bud Shank's Barefoot Adventure, and many others in the works. I hope more Stan Getz is forthcoming as well as Bill Evans, Steely Dan and Hampton Hawes's All Night Session! You'll find the current Impex releases at the company's site here.
All of this motivated me to e-interview Abey (pronounced A.B.) Fonn, the founder of Impex Records:
JazzWax: Hi Abey. Where did you grow up?
Abey Fonn: I was born in Taiwan and emigrated to the U.S. when I was 9. For the first few years, my family moved around quite a bit in California. My mom still lives in a community in Los Angeles that she absolutely loves. My dad, David, passed away in 2020. Both of my parents came from large families, but our immediate family included just my parents, my sister and me. Growing up, I was introverted, especially during the earlier part of my youth when I was learning to speak English. At home, we listened to a wide variety of music. My father was the president of Cisco Music’s North American and Jamaican divisions, which were a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Cisco Music International. My mother was a homemaker. [Photo above of Abey Fonn]
JW: Your house must have been filled with music, yes?
AF: It was. On the weekends, music was always playing—Chinese, Japanese, classical and jazz. We also enjoyed concert seats at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Los Angeles Music Center. My mom was a huge supporter of my dad. They were married for 55 years. She’s proud of me and loves the fact that I’m continuing my dad‘s legacy. My mom enjoys music and loves to sing, but it was my dad who had fantastic ears. He studied civil engineering and finance, but music was his passion. [Photo above of Abey with her father, David, at the Newport Audiophile Show in 2012, in Newport Beach, Calif.]
JW: Where did you go to college, and what was your major?
AF: I studied business at Moorpark College and Cal State Northridge, both in Southern California. I’ve loved music my entire life. Music was always my escape. I worked at Wells Fargo Bank through my college years and continued working there after graduation. I had the best boss.
I married young, and my then husband and I started a dental practice. I worked at the office for about two years. Once the practice was established, I left and began working at Cisco Music. I worked in their accounts receivable department.
JW: What did you learn?
AF: At Cisco, I learned a great deal about the audiophile world. I first attended the Consumer Electronics Show in 1993. Initially, I was excited that someone was paying me to go to Las Vegas, but the experience wound up being life- and career-changing. I realized I loved recorded music and wanted it to sound better.
JW: Your father must have been a huge influence on you, yes?
AF: Oh yes. My dad was my mentor, sounding board and business partner, teaching me about working ethically and the hard work needed to build an audiophile label. My other mentor was my father’s good friend, Mr. Takawa-san, from King Records in Japan. In 2008, Cisco closed its doors after 40 years in business, so I left the industry and returned to finance. But it wasn’t long before I was itching to make records again. [Photo above of Abey Fonn with her father, David, in 2004]
JW: What did you do?
AF: My dad and I started Impex Records in January 2010. The name is a combination of import and export. My dad came up with the name after working at Cisco Music. They were doing a lot importing and exporting of various products. Cisco was the first independent dealer to import the Panasonic laserdisc player to the U.S. in 1980. We recruited a few key staff members from Cisco Music, and Impex was able to get off the ground quickly. [Photo above of David Fonn and Abey Fonn at Cisco Music’s 25th Anniversary in 2005]
JW: How did Impex expand?
AF: We became part of Indiana-based Elusive Disc in 2017. This allowed us to focus on the work—licensing, production, quality control, marketing and artist relationships—while Elusive Disc handled sales and distribution. Elusive Disc is a wonderful family-run business that has been in the business for more than 30 years. [Photo above of, from left, Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering with Bob Donnelly and Abey Fonn]
JW: What makes Impex different from the many companies that now produce high-quality vinyl?
AF: Our love of music and presentation and our attention to every detail. We are audiophiles, so we know what it takes to create something that our customer wants. Our packaging tells a visual story that adds narrative and aesthetic value for listeners. The high quality and care we bring to every step of production can be heard by consumers. We attend every mastering session and every early print-press check to verify color and layout accuracy. We also check test references and test pressings multiple times until we’ve eliminated vinyl pressing issues on every new title.
JW: How does this play out in the workplace?
AF: For example, when we issued the Saturday Night in San Francisco LP in 2022 (at JazzWax here), featuring guitarists Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco De Lucia, we took the original 40-year-old session tapes and had them "baked" at Skywalker Sound. A digital fingerprint was necessary to correct the tape speed and fluctuation issues that could not be fixed in the analog domain. Then the digital multitrack master files from Skywalker were fed into an all-analog signal chain (mixing console and outboard processors) board and mixed in an all-analog processor. Finally, Bernie Grundman mastered the album from the ½-inch, 2-track mixed-down tapes. [Photo above of Bernie Grundman]
JW: Many people today, especially younger vinyl lovers, have minimalist, affordable stereo systems. Can they hear the advantage of Impex LPs?
AF: Recently, my art director, Robert Sliger, went to a Valentine’s Day vinyl party hosted by a local radio station. He brought along a copy of our Sing and Dance with Frank Sinatra LP. He got them to play it on what could charitably be called a backyard speaker system. Most of the cool records played afterward that night sounded thin and edgy, and lacked bass. Our 1949-sourced mono LP sounded good even on a DJ turntable, and it absolutely murdered every other record played. Of course, with a minimalist system, you may not hear the full spectrum of dynamics and details a better system would expose, but a great record is a great record, even on less-than-audiophile systems. As for our market, we make records for everyone who loves music and has an appreciation and keen ear and eye for quality and details. [Photo above of Robert Sliger of Impex checking the Getz/Gilberto packaging at Stoughton Printing]
JW: Broadly, how do you reissue albums so that the fidelity is noticeably delicious?
AF: Let’s take That’s the Way of the World by Earth, Wind & Fire. The “noticeably deliciousness” quality was a result of approaching the LP’s sound in a way that best suits the music. That means lots of tight funky bass, a solid backbeat, and punchy horns. If people aren’t up and dancing when that one goes on, we have failed to do our job. Each title we issue takes approximately 12-to-18 months to complete. Typically, we start with the original analog master tapes or a flat non-EQ 1:1 copy of the original analog master tapes. On a few occasions, we also work from a high-resolution digital master. Our team, especially Bob Donnelly, is extremely involved in mastering.
JW: What's Bob Donnelly's philosophy here?
AF: Bob’s guiding principles are three key questions: is it musical, is it emotional and does it connect us to the music? Bob also painstakingly listens to every test pressing made from each lacquer to ensure we eliminate ticks, pops, non-fill grooves and unwanted noises. Even with all the steps we take, it still does not guarantee a perfect or nearly perfect final product. There is an art to plating and pressing a dead silent record that people often take for granted. That’s why we work so closely with our partners, from mastering to cutting lacquers to pressing and printing.
JW: And the wet-looking album covers?
AF: Most of the covers for our reissues are made from scans of the originals. Robert Sliger carefully color and type corrects the scans and layout to capture the original feeling of the art. Impex has often been praised for the added value we include in our releases, such as adding never-seen photos, historical liner notes, interviews with artists and special finishes and treatments. [Photo above of Robert Sliger signing off on Impex's Legrand Jazz 45-rpm set, at Stoughton Printing in 2018]
JW: Give me an example, with reissues?
AF: I can give you a few. Getz/Gilberto 1STEP is being reissued for the first time with full participation of the Getz estate, including new notes by Monica Getz, Stan Getz’s second wife, and another insightful essay by Chuck L Granata. Or our Sing and Dance with Frank Sinatra has dozens of original illustrations, photos and promotional materials and a comprehensive essay by Chuck, a Sinatra historian. For Saturday Night in San Francisco, we used pricey inks and finishes and included a new essay with exclusive interviews with Al DiMeola and recording engineer Tim Pinch, and photos from Al’s personal archive. [Photo above of Abey Fonn and Stan Getz’s son, Nick, prior to presenting Getz/Gilberto test pressings and family stories at the 2023 Audio Expo of North America]
JW: What exactly is the Impex 1STEP process?
AF: We use the same process that was first developed in the late 1970s. Basically, a one-step LP starts by going from the lacquer straight to a convert disc that presses the vinyl, removing the "mother" and "father" stages of traditional vinyl pressing. This process removes two stages of generational loss and brings the listener closer to the master tapes. It’s a difficult and unforgiving process. We use new lacquers after every 500 LPs pressed, which keeps our mastering cutting engineers and plating department very busy. [Photo above, from left, of Robert Sliger, Chris Bellman, Abey Fonn and Bob Donnelly; Impex had just received the 2019 Audiophile Recording of the Year for the reissue of Legrand Jazz at the Los Angeles Orange County Audio Society]
JW: What else separates Impex?
AF: Even non-design package elements receive careful consideration by us. Cisco Music was one of the first labels to use a custom, heavyweight Japanese LP polybag instead of shrink wrapping. We do that as well. If you over-shrink the package, the corners of the jacket might bend. If the LP isn’t wrapped tightly enough, the album looks like it is wearing a sweater that is two sizes too large. Despite the increased cost, we feel this is essential and continue this practice started by Cisco. It’s the right thing to do and our fans really appreciate it.
JW: Impex’s price point is around $40 per LP, which is not unreasonable for a pristine re-issue. But there’s lots of competition today, yes?
AF: Purchasing music comes in all different price ranges, formats, resolutions, and outlets. There are many wonderful re-issue labels in our industry, but as you know, the quality often varies, and online debates spring up all the time over pressings and remastering. When you purchase an Impex album, the only question you need to ask yourself is, "Am I interested in this title?" The quality of our LPs is rarely questioned. Obviously, the better your system, the more you will appreciate the extra efforts we put into our products. But you don’t need to spend a fortune on a system to hear how we’ve restored the music.
JW: Which albums are you releasing in the jazz category in the coming year?
AF: We are issuing Getz/Gilberto 1STEP; a special expanded 1STEP release of Sing and Dance with Frank Sinatra that includes additional bonus tracks, new artwork, expanded notes and those deep, silent VR900 surfaces. We’re also releasing Patricia Barber’s Companion 1STEP; a 60th anniversary 45-rpm set of Duke Ellington's Indigos; and Bud Shank’s gorgeous Holiday in Brazil. Our team works together to find titles and formats we want to re-issue. Bob Donnelly is our in-house jazz advisor and has an extensive record collection that helps with title selections.
JW: What audio system do you have at home?
AF: I truly believe that you want a synergy between the components you purchase. Some work better together than others. Fortunately, when I was looking for a system, I had industry friends who provided me with advice. My system consists of the AVID Acutus turntable with an SME tonearm, a Luxman integrated amplifier and SACD player, and Sonus Faber speakers. I fell in love with the sound and style of Sonus Faber designer Franco Serblin back in the very early 1990s. I also have both AudioQuest and Cardas cables. There’s always more that I desire but I’m happy with my system, though I’m now looking for a digital music streamer to improve the audio of my streams. [Photo above of the AVID Acutus Reference turntable]
JW: What about readers who don’t have industry friends?
AF: For people looking to buy or upgrade an existing system, there are many resources available. My first suggestion is to visit a local audiophile store. In-person visits are always a wonderful way to learn, ask questions and to hear the a setup first-hand. If a local dealer is not available, look to YouTube videos and trusted industry publications, such as the Absolute Sound, Positive Feedback, The Audio Beat and Tracking Angle, to name a few. There are also wonderful committed online audio stores such as Elusive Disc that can help with LP purchase and designing a system within your budget or to discuss trade-in options.
JW: What do you say to the reader who says, "All of this is overkill. Most people can’t hear the details and just want music that sounds big and bright, without having to flip over albums after two songs?
AF: I believe consumers should listen to music in whatever format is most practical and effective for them. We are certainly not against DXD, FLAC and other digital sources. Impex Records has done very well with our Patricia Barber Hi-Rez downloads through NativeDSD and HD Tracks. You should check those out, especially our new release of the Grammy-winning 5.1 mix of Modern Cool. And yes, not everyone can hear some of the sonic differences between various pressings. But most people can hear how much better a well-mixed, well-mastered and carefully pressed album is vs. one that is not well produced. The product we make is for the person who wants the very best audio reproduction available and an interaction with the product that is immersive.
JW: Where can readers purchase Impex LPs?
AF: You can purchase our records directly from the Impex Records and Elusive Disc websites, or at any major audiophile outlets. You can also purchase some titles through Amazon, but I like to urge people to support their local dealers and my online distribution partners.
JazzWax clip: Here's Abey with Nick Getz talking about the new Getz/Gilberto release...
