We’re proud to announce a new partnership between Abbey Road Studios and Hennessy Very Special, designed to create one-off moments in our new studios, leaving both artists and fans with a unique legacy piece of music.
Entitled ‘Masters of Potential’ the programme will blend together unexpected artists from different genres and backgrounds, to create truly unique musical recordings at Abbey Road. Hennessy Very Special has long been intertwined with music culture and referenced within the rap lyrics of some of the most prominent urban artists today. The programme will see a panel of the music industry’s most respected insiders (headed up by Island Records’ Alex Boateng, music journalist Hattie Collins, music influencer Ralph Hardy and Abbey Road’s Christian Wright) bring together artists to blend their sounds, musical histories and skill sets, as well as give them studio time to record rare ‘live-to-vinyl’ tracks in our new Gatehouse and Front Room studios.
The first artists to be brought to the table by Masters of Potential are Mancunian soul singer JP Cooper and musical poet Kojey Radical. The artists came together along with JP Cooper’s ten-piece band to exclusively record the first and only live performance of Party as the first instalment in the Masters of Potential series. The double-sided vinyl will also feature a live performance of She’s On My Mind, the latest single from JP Cooper.
As music and studio aficionados will be aware, the technical skill required of the recording and mastering engineers to capture live-to-vinyl recordings is incomparable. For a fan, the resultant product is an intimate piece of imperfect perfection; played back as a limited-edition vinyl or watched visually as behind the scenes video content, the one-off performance offering an insight into a level of artistry often lost in a modern day release. Abbey Road recording engineer John Barrett and mastering engineer Christian Wright were the team responsible for capturing the sound.
Abbey Road’s Head of Partnerships & Events, Jeremy Huffelmann said: “Our new studios are a platform for the next generation of creativity and innovation at Abbey Road, and our partnership with Hennessy is designed to launch a new era of unforgettable moments and unique collaborations at the studios. The two brands not only share a mutual heritage of excellence, coupled with generations of refined craftsmanship, but also a spirit for the bold and the new which promises to deliver some incredible performances in the years to come.”
All photography by Abbey Road Studios’ artist in residence Jill Furmanovsky.
