Lyn Stanley has had a remarkable career in music. With the late pianist Paul Smith and singer-vocal coach Annette Warren as her mentors, she began her career out of nowhere in 2010. Her debut recording Lost In Romance ranked in the top 100 albums played by American radio stations and, virtually by herself, she has built up a large worldwide following (particularly among audiophiles) and released such popular albums as Potions {from the 50s}, Interludes, The Moonlight Sessions Volumes One and Two, and the Julie London Project, all of which have been big sellers. She was awarded Female Jazz Vocalist of the Year for 2018 by Saul Levine, programmer for KKJZ-FM, Los Angeles' top jazz radio station.
Her secret, beyond her unique sultry voice and her impeccable taste in picking out gems from the Great American Songbook, has been her planning and attention to details. Whether it is the packaging, the sound quality, the material, the arrangements, the always-danceable tempos, the top-notch musicians or the producer, Lyn always goes first class. Following up on the success of her Julie London Project, Lyn Stanley decided to take a chance and record London With A Twist as a direct-to-disc album. Direct-to-disc recording is a process that bypasses the use of magnetic tape, recording audio directly onto an analog disc. The sound quality is impeccable but it can be a very difficult process that requires nerves of steel. There is no opportunity to "fix" mistakes later on, to change the balance, use overdubbing, or to do any editing. The music is recorded live, one song after another. If a mistake is made, either the entire process stops or the musicians continue playing. While all recordings prior to the Lp's debut in 1949 were direct-to-disc, since 78s usually only held around three minutes of music, stopping and doing a second take was easy. When Lps, which held 15-20 minutes of music, took over, most recordings were made utilizing magnetic tape and engineers could repair any mishaps. In the 1970s and '80s a handful of direct-to-disc albums were made for the audiophile market who wanted much better sound quality. While some of those projects were successful, because the musicians had to play nonstop until a side of an Lp was filled, much of the time they played it safe to avoid last-minute mistakes.Videos