Entertainment Group’s Silverline Records has begun shipping the first available 24 bit/96kHz DVD-Audio disc, Swingin“ For The Fences by Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band. The release, a big band swing/jazz recording, is hitting traditional and online music retail stores this week and is the first software commercially available to support the DVD-Audio players being introduced by several consumer electronics companies now and later in the fourth quarter.

Devotion by Grammy Award-winning artist Aaron Neville will follow on Silverline slated for an October 24 release. On Silverline’s sister label, immergent Records, Venice Underground featuring cutting edge guitarist, Peter DiStefano (Porno For Pyros) is scheduled for an October 10 release.

“Venice Underground”” is the first album recorded in 5.1 surround sound specifically for the DVD-audio format. Aaron Neville’s “Devotion” will be the first DVD-Audio release by a major recording artist.

On November 7, Silverline will release 26 classical music titles on DVD including Handel’s Messiah and Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker by the London Symphony Orchestra. Also included in this release will be several compilation series featuring works by Mozart, Beethoven, Ravel, Schubert, Elgar, Rachmaninoff and others performed by the London Symphony and London Philharmonic Orchestras. All titles were created from the original multi-track recordings and remixed in 5.1 audio using 24 bit/96kHz sampling, the highest quality multi-channel audio available today.

On January 9, 2001, Silverline will release an additional ten DVD-audio albums including compilations featuring major artists in the genres of classic jazz, classic rock, classic country, new age and surf music. Following this, Silverline and immergent will have a release schedule of 10 titles per month every month.