Jazzbacks make professional jazz backing tracks for professional, semi-professional, and amateur end users. Our tracks are, and have been used by signed and unsigned recording artists, Britain's Got Talent contestants, music teachers, students, and working musician-entertainers around the world.
We have developed a format based on what we like to use when we play in a restaurant or at a function gig using backing tracks.
1. Arrangement Choice
Firstly, we want a well thought out arrangement that doesn't have too much going on, just a good rhythm section laying down a good solid groove, using well thought out chord changes, with good intros and endings, and not too many choruses of solos, just enough to keep an audience engaged.
2. Live Musicians
Secondly, we only use live musicians for our Jazz Standards, bossa novas, modern jazz, and blues backing tracks. We want the sound of a real band of musicians, with all of its subtle ambience playing behind us on these tracks.We do not use midi files or sampled sounds to produce any of our backing tracks at Jazzbacks.
For our smooth jazz, R&B, and Soul tracks we sometimes mix live musicians with loops to achieve a certain style.We want human beings, not alga-rhythms, and the musicians we use are accomplished and experienced professionals who have been carefully selected for their ability to fit into the kind of sound and feel that we aim to achieve.
3. Professional Production
Thirdly, our production tools and recording and mastering techniques are a balance between the best of the old and the best of the new. We tend to use well maintained and serviced professional vintage ribbon microphones going into modern, hi-quality preamps to record our instruments.