Jim Anderson and Ulrike Schwarz (Anderson Audio NY) Earn GRAMMY Nomination for Best Immersive Audio Album with ‘Picturing the Invisible: Focus 1’ by Jane Ira Bloom

Named “An Audiophile’s Dream” Recording by Stereophile Magazine

December 8, 2022: With more than 30 GRAMMY-nominated recordings and a host of international awards and honors between their storied resumes, Jim Anderson and Ulrike Schwarz of Anderson Audio New York stand as two of the most revered and cutting edge figures in the world of acoustic audio engineering and production. Their latest recording with GRAMMY-Award winning soprano saxophonist and composer Jane Ira Bloom - Picturing the Invisible: Focus 1 - is nominated for Best Immersive Audio Album at the 65th Annual GRAMMY Awards®. The 8-song collection, inspired by the science photography of NYC photographer Berenice Abbott and recorded completely over the internet in Ultra High Resolution (384kHz/32bit), has been called “an audiophile’s dream” by Stereophile. With tonmeister Ulrike Schwarz at the helm, and Bloom’s unique ability to “convey more of the human spirit than most remote collaborations” (Downbeat), WBGO writes that “the distance was no match for their musical bond.”

During the pandemic, Schwarz set up a computer in Bloom’s tiny home office in Manhattan. She controlled the sessions with recording systems at the individual homes of percussionist Allison Miller, koto player Miya Masaoka, and bassist Mark Helias throughout New York City. The flawless, three-dimensional recording was mixed by Jim Anderson, co-produced by Schwarz and Bloom, and mastered by Schwarz and Morten Lindberg. Supported by the New York City Women’s Fund for Media, Music, and Theatre, Picturing the Invisible: Focus 1 represents the intersection of audio science and improvisational art in an all-encompassing, “state of the art” (Absolute Sound) musical experience.

“Trying to Picture the Invisible we had to Imagine the Impossible,” says Schwarz. “We had to create an environment to improvise and make music together in different homes over the internet while keeping the imagination of a three-dimensional experience alive. The chance to work with such master performers and improvisers made me want to rise to the challenge and provide them with the technical solutions they deserved to do their craft. I am immensely proud of what we have achieved under challenging circumstances.”

Listen to

Picturing the Invisible: Focus 1

in Stereo, 5.1 Surround Sound and Immersive Audio

HERE.

Album credits and liner notes

HERE.

Since their marriage in 2015, Ulrike Schwarz and Jim Anderson’s pristine, high definition stereo and surround sound recordings have been fixtures at the GRAMMY Awards and on critics’ Best Of lists. While Schwarz often acts as producer and Anderson as engineer, the pair regularly reverse roles depending on the project at hand, and their versatility across genres and settings has proven unparalleled. In just the last few years alone, the two have garnered GRAMMY nominations with their recordings of contemporary Norwegian composer Gisle Kverndokk and American jazz stalwart Patricia Barber; captured the score for Shaka King’s critically acclaimed film Judas and the Black Messiah; collaborated with artists as diverse as Chinese vocalist Min Xiao-Fen and Pomplamoose singer/songwriter Nataly Dawn; and recorded Afro-Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba’s GRAMMY-winning collection Skyline, which took home the award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album in 2022.

More on Anderson Audio NY HERE.

“In the face of the most challenging issues of the pandemic, the NYFA Women’s Music Fund gave us the flexibility and inspiration to reimagine our project to reach a vision for recording that pushed us to the peak of our creative limits.”

- Jane Ira Bloom

Funding for this project was made possible by the NYC Women's Fund for Media, Music, & Theatre by the City of New York's Mayor's Office of Media & Entertainment in association with the NY Foundation for the Arts.