mixing jazz

[yeahyeah]

hi folks,


i'm recording a jazz band right now. it's got drums, double bass and a saxophone.
everything is recorded live in the same room.
as i have never recorded or mixed jazz music (i'm a rock guy) i'm wandering what to do with the dynamics...
sometimes things go very loud and then very quit. i know this is typical for jazz and should be kept this way, but should i use as little compression as possible or what is the normal procedure with jazz??
any help would be very nice
thanx

[tptman]

You've got to use your ears. I've used some light compression on individual tracks in a jazz session, but I'm definitely not trying to remove overall musical dynamics, just tonal things.

You can ask the band what some of their favorite albums are and check the recordings out.

As a benchmark, check out some Rudy Van Gelder recordings and try to match that sound.

Good luck.