Daniel J SaitBluesound and MQA have teamed up with two influential music organisations, Jazz re:freshed and British Underground, to present The Master Sessions – a series of live concerts, streamed in real time using MQA sound, to over 100 audio retailers around the world through Bluesound’s hi-res audio players.
To mark the campaign launch, a dedicated microsite TheMasterSessions.com has been published with full details on the participants and activities.
A brace of live events sits at the heart of the campaign, one UK-based, the other to be held in the United States during the annual SXSW festival. The Master Sessions will see two British acts, selected by Arts Council England-funded organisations Jazz re:freshed and British Underground, each perform a live set which will be streamed in real time in MQA audio, direct from the studio to listeners in Bluesound’s dealer networks across the UK, Europe and North America.
On 5 February 2020, Mercury Prize nominees SEED Ensemble will perform live at London’s British Grove Studios, and on 19 March 2020, rising star Theon Cross will play live at Orb Recording Studios in Austin, Texas. Music fans will be invited to visit a local Bluesound dealership to experience the concerts, streamed in real time on a Bluesound powered sound system and in MQA studio-quality audio.
“As accomplished live musicians, the idea that high resolution audio technologies like Bluesound and MQA can offer a studio experience at home was something both SEED Ensemble and Theon Cross were keen to support,” says Jazz re:freshed co-founder and co-chief executive, Justin McKenzie. “They believe, as we do, that technologies like these bring artists closer to their fans by literally delivering the sound of the studio.”
The London performance will be supported by an invitation-only panel discussion, themed around music and tech and featuring McKenzie. The Jazz re:freshed movement has played a pivotal role in the emergence of the UK’s current vibrant jazz scene since the early 2000s, making McKenzie an ideal choice as one of the panel participants.
The Master Sessions team will work closely with Bluesound’s UK, EU, US and Canadian dealer networks to help support and promote the public listening sessions.