Contigo en La Distancia
– With You in the Distance –

Naoki Kita x Nobumasa Tanaka

That slight “pull” you feel when you first listen soon becomes addictive, drawing you back again and again… The eleventh release from RME Premium Recordings is an album with just such a mysterious allure. The secret behind that “pull” is in the use of gut strings. Made from sheep or cow intestines, gut strings have been widely used in stringed instruments since ancient times. Susceptible to changes in temperature and humidity and prone to stretching, they made tuning difficult and had a short life span. These factors prompted a gradual shift to using steel and nylon strings. Gut strings are rarely used now in modern classical music. But their distinctive warmth and exquisite, almost human-like husky tone lend performances an indescribable expressiveness that captivates listeners.

The featured artist, violinist Naoki Kita, builds his performances around the tango he mastered in Argentina, fusing it with his accumulated musical knowledge and experiences. He is one of very few violinists capable of fully coaxing out the charm of gut strings. This album, a collaboration with the up-and-coming pianist Nobumasa Tanaka, comprises a selection of South American classics chosen and arranged by Kita. It is an artistic compilation interwoven with improvisations where the thrill and comfortable stability of Tanaka’s piano co-exist. The recording engineer is Mick Sawaguchi, who has released numerous high-resolution sound works on the UNAMAS label. With a microphone arrangement designed for immersive 9.0-channel audio, combined with the familiar RME MADI system, he has fully captured the abundant overtones of the gut strings, the rich resonance of the New York Steinway piano, and the hall’s natural reverberation. This forms the very foundation of the recording artistry embodied in the album.

Presented here is a collection of Latin American gems performed by the soulful violinist Naoki Kita and the unparalleled pianist Nobumasa Tanaka. Featuring New World classical music from Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, and Mexico, including tracks by Piazzolla and Jobim, the album resonates with overwhelming expressiveness and the distinctive tones of the gut-stringed violin—rarely used in contemporary classical music. Please enjoy the album Contigo en La Distancia (With You in the Distance).

Contigo en La Distancia
– With You in the Distance –

Naoki Kita x Nobumasa Tanaka

This album was awarded the Grand Prize in the High-Resolution Category at the 24th Japan Professional Music Recording Awards.

Engineer: Mick Sawaguchi
Assistant Engineer: Tomomi Aibara

Streamings

Stereo and Dolby Atmos versions of this collection can be enjoyed on all types of music subscription services.
*Services that provide this collection are subject to change at the distributor’s discretion.

Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Amazon Music
Listen on Spotify
Listen on YouTube Music
Listen on Other Streaming Service

MQA-CD 192kHz/24bit

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The CDs are mastered in HPL and MQA so the music is in high-resolution 3D which can be played on a normal CD player. If your player supports MQA, it automatically decodes the CD so you can enjoy the music at PCM 176.4kHz/24bit. If your player does not support MQA, you can still enjoy the music at 44.1kHz/16bit in the normal CD format.
The CDs have been fine-tuned with HPL processing so you can enjoy realistic sound, whether via binaural listening over headphones or over normal stereo speakers.
(When using speakers, we recommend a listening environment with as little reflected sound as possible.)

MQA-CD is a breakthrough audio technology that allows music fans to stream original master recordings into their home, car, or on their mobile device. This award-winning British technology is based on the latest neuroscience research and it captures every element of a recording’s resolution and energy.
Capturing this level of detail recreates a natural sound of the audio source, enables enabling the listener to perceive the instruments and performers vividly through a rich and immersive audio experience and build a sonic 3D picture that captures the depth of the sound.
MQA’s proprietary “origami” enfolding technology makes sure the data containing the musical information is packaged efficiently and that it retains all the information from the studio recording.

https://mqa.jp/

Track List

1Naufrágio (Shipwreck)
Cecília Meireles / Alain Robert Bertrand Oulman (Brazil)
2Olha Maria (Look, Maria)
Vinícius de Moraes / Antônio Carlos Jobim & Chico Buarque (Brazil)
3Soledad (Solitude)
Enrique Fabregat Jodar (Mexico)
4Chorinho Pra Ele (Little Cry for Him)
Hermeto Pascoal (Brazil)
5Chiquilín de Bachín (Little Boy of Bachín)
Horacio Ferrer/Astor Piazzolla (Argentina)
6O Voo da Mosca (The Flight of the Fly)
Jacob do Bandolim (Brazil)
7Eu te amo (I Love You)
Antônio Carlos Jobim & Chico Buarque(Brazil)
8Alfonsina y El Mar (Alfonsina and the Sea)
Félix Luna/Ariel Ramírez (Argentina)
9Contigo en La Distancia (With You in the Distance)
César Portillo de la Luz (Cuba)
10*Cancion para Mi Guitarra Sola (Song for My Guitar Alone)
Juanjo Dominguez (Argentina)

*Track 10: Bonus track available only in the digital version (not included on the OTTAVA CD)

Credits

  • Violin: Naoki Kita
  • Piano: Nobumasa Tanaka
  • Recording Date and Location: November 29-30, 2016, Mitaka City Arts Center
  • Recording: Mick Sawaguchi
  • Mixing and Mastering: Mick Sawaguchi (Mick Sound Lab)
  • Recording Format: PCM 192kHz/24bit
  • Recording Equipment
    Microphones – NEUMANN KM-133D, Sanken CO-100K, Sanken CUW180
    MADI Recording Systems (all RME): DMC842 M, Micstasy M, MADIface XT, Fireface UFX+, MADI Router
    DAW Software: Merging Technologies Pyramix 10, MAGIX SEQUOIA 13
More detailed information about the recording

Album Promotional Video: Contigo en La Distancia

Soledad (Solitude) Naoki Kita x Nobumasa Tanaka

Naufragio (Shipwreck) Naoki Kita x Nobumasa Tanaka

Naoki Kita

(violin)

After graduating from the Kunitachi College of Music, Naoki Kita went to the United Kingdom, where he studied composition and jazz theory. He later traveled to Argentina to study under tango violinist Fernando Suarez Paz (violin), before joining groups led by artists such as Natsuki Kido (guitar), Yuji Tsunemi (oud), and Keiki Midorikawa (cello). In 2011, he launched his main project, the Naoki Kita Quartet. The unique world created by combining his tango roots with diverse musical styles has earned Kita high praise for its profound spirituality. He also performs in a duo with pianist Kyoko Kuroda, creating unique arrangements for film scores, and has participated in numerous projects by Tetsu Saitoh (contrabass), who focuses on improvisational performances. He has collaborated with dancers and traditional Asian musicians, and frequently performs in Europe, too.
www.naoki-kita.com

Nobumasa Tanaka

(piano)

Having begun learning the electric organ at the age of four, he switched to classical piano at sixteen. He later entered the Faculty of Composition at Kunitachi College of Music but left before completing his studies. He studied classical piano with Yuko Konada, and jazz piano with Eiichi Fujii, Ichiko Hashimoto, and Masahiko Satoh. In 1993, he won the Grand Prix and the Best Individual Player Award at the inaugural Yokohama Jazz Promenade Competition. His free-flowing improvisational performances, created with his collaborators, span a wide range of genres beyond the jazz format. He currently participates in live performances and recordings as a member of numerous ensembles. His solo piano performances, featuring original, creative arrangements, have been highly acclaimed as being truly unique and unparalleled. In 2014, he started a new project, the powerful unit Nobumasa Tanaka Trio Operation Failure (with Kosuke Ochiai on bass and Manabu Hashimoto on drums), and they released the CD Operation Failure in November 2015.
www.tnobumasa.com

Mick Sawaguchi

(engineer)

Graduated from Chiba Institute of Technology’s Department of Electronic Engineering in 1971 and joined NHK in the same year. As a mixer for dramas, he worked on some award-winning productions that received the Arts Festival Grand Prize, the Hoso Bunka Foundation Award, the IBC Nombre d’Or Award, and the Vatican Hope Award, among others. Since 1985, he has been engaged in surround sound production, earning him the nickname “Surround Shogun” overseas. In 2007, he established the high-quality music production UNAMAS label. To further promote surround music software, he launched UNAMAS-HUG/J in 2011, providing high-quality music streaming and CD production services with 24-bit/96kHz and 24-bit/192kHz formats. At the 20th Japan Professional Music Recording Awards in 2013, Jun Fukamachi’s Reimei (UNAHQ-2003) won the Excellence Award in the newly established Non-package 2CH category. In 2015, at the 22nd Japan Professional Music Recording Awards, The Art of Fugue won the Excellence Award in the High-Resolution Multi-channel Surround category, with Death and the Maiden also winning the Excellence Award at the 23rd Awards. Contigo en La Distancia won the Grand Prize in the same category at the 24th Awards, making for an amazing three consecutive wins for Sawaguchi. Continuing to lead the field, Sawaguchi embodies how software production should be approached in the high-resolution era.

The 24th Japan Professional Music Recording Awards Ceremony

Contigo en La Distancia
With You in the Distance

No moment exists of the day
In which I can separate you from me
The world seems different
When you’re not next to me

There’s no beautiful melody
In which you don’t come up
Nor do I want to hear it
If you’re not listening to it

It’s that you’ve become
A part of my soul
Nothing consoles me
If you’re not consoled too, ooh oh

Beyond your lips
Of the sun and the stars, oh ooh
With you in the distance
My beloved I am

It’s that you’ve become
A part of my soul
Nothing consoles me
If you’re not consoled too

Beyond your lips
Of the sun and the stars
With you in the distance
My beloved I am

With you in the distance
My beloved, I am
With you

Lyrics: César Portillo de la Luz

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