Grimm Audio aspires to making the full chain from microphone to listener more transparent. Sometimes we come across a music project that resonates with that same wish and the UNIFONY project by Minco Eggersman and Theodoor Borger is a good example. Their idea was “to see if they could come towards a deeper understanding of music by letting go off structures and routines”, and making sure to “record at a very high level of quality to keep the ideas flowing”. Theodoor already selected our LS1’s, TPR, CC2 and MP1’s in the past so Grimm Audio would be part of this journey in any case. But when we saw a mutual chance to expose our passion for conveying musical ideas in the best possible way we decided to take on a sponsorship.
The first UNIFONY album project grew larger than Minco and Theodoor ever imagined (you can read their longread blog about it here). It encouraged them to continue their journey with even more faith. The UNIFONY II album again offers an ‘ambient’ style of music that at first listening sounds like background music. Upon closer listening however, you hear musicians searching for the right directions, improvising their notes, inviting the listener to become part of their process. This offers an extra depth that rewards more focussed listening.
UNIFONY is like fragile ambient jazz. To achieve this, Minco and Theodoor invite established jazz musicians to contribute. On UNIFONY this was trumpet player Mathias Eick, on UNIFONY II Pianist Aaron Parks and saxophone player Oskar Gudjonsson joined the team. These well known musicians truly have something to tell and make UNIFONY II a record that you easily replay after it’s finished. The sound is open, well balanced and mature, which is a testament to Theodoor Borgers mixing skills, but no doubt the hand of mastering legend Bob Ludwig helped a little too. Graphic artist James Marsh again made an impressive design for the cover art. We are proud to contribute to all this from the side line!
