Pictured at Rocket Carousel Studios are (L-R) producer Greg Wells and recording artist Jamie Cullum.

Los Angeles, CA — The new album by British artist Jamie Cullum, produced by Greg Wells, utilizes a pair of Telefunken | USA Ela M 250E mics, faithful reproductions of the classic microphone originally marketed in 1959.

"This new microphone has all the warmth, the body, and the depth of the original," remarks Greg Wells. "But the detail and the resolution of the high end has some extra quality that is especially appealing. They figured out a way to have it all, but it isn't toppy; it doesn't feel hyped at all. It's a huge sounding microphone."

Grammy-nominated Greg Wells has produced, written and/or recorded with Mika, OneRepublic, Katy Perry, Deftones, Pink, Rufus Wainwright, Otep, The Pussycat Dolls, Jewel, Michelle Branch, Hillary Duff, Celine Dion, The Veronicas, Ozzy Osbourne, and legendary music figures Aerosmith, Elton John, and Ahmet Ertegun. He produced "'Apologize" by Timbaland featuring OneRepublic, which recently became the most played Top 40 hit of the past 20 years within a one week period.

"I was on the hunt for a vintage microphone, an original, and I was ready to throw down and buy," recalls Wells. "But Darren Findley at Vintage King Audio strongly suggested that I check out Telefunken | USA, that I should really hear what they are doing."

Originally sold in 1959 by Telefunken of Germany, the new Ela M 250E is a two-pattern (cardioid and omni) version of the famous Ela M251, and shares the same sonic performance and circuitry as one of the most sought after of vintage tube microphones.

"Alan Veniscofsky sent me out the mic for a test," Wells continues. "I rented my favorite 250 and I had my own vintage Neumann U-47 up as well. We tried Jamie on all three and this new mic was the clear winner. Jamie loved it so much that he got one too."

Rising star Jamie Cullum released his debut album in 1999, followed by Pointless Notstalgic in 2001. His third album, 2003's Twentysomething, went Platinum and became the #1 selling studio album by a jazz artist in the United Kingdom. Primarily a jazz artist, Cullum performs in a wide range of styles and is generally regarded as a "crossover" artist with his musical roots firmly based in jazz. Cullum is well known not only for his abilities on the piano, but also for his striking musical presence. His fourth album, Catching Tales, was released in late 2005.

"We had a lot of fun messing around with different mics," says Cullum. "We put them all up and we messed around with some old ones, some new ones, some classics, some non classics and this 251 just sounded really great. We did a lot of A-B ing and it really suited what we were doing, had a great vibe about it, and it just sounded really good."

The Ela M 250E comes complete with a European made ECC81 tube, a new CK12 dual membrane capsule, custom wound Haufe transformer, vintage style Ela M 950 power supply, 10 meter Gotham Audio cable, locking leather bound flight case, wooden microphone box, owner manual, and a fully transferable lifetime warranty.

ABOUT TELEFUNKEN ELEKTROAKUSTIK

TELEFUNKEN | USA acquired the TELEFUNKEN Trademark for North America in 2001, and in 2009 the company was named the Elektroakustik (translation: Electrical Acoustics) arm of TELEFUNKEN and awarded the exclusive rights to manufacture a wide variety of professional audio products and vacuum tubes bearing the TELEFUNKEN name, in over 27 countries worldwide. Recreating the classic TELEFUNKEN microphones has been a labor of love for the company CEO, Toni Fishman and the pursuit of that dream has culminated in the manufacture of what we at TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik believe are the finest microphones currently available in the world today.

Along with meticulously manufacturing historic replicas of classic microphones by hand in the USA, TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik is now marketing the R-F-T series of microphones that take advantage of the globalization of technology, in order to offer recording microphones with professional sonic performance at reasonable prices.

Our latest additions to the TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik product line include a revolutionary new capsule design based on Alloy 2213™, an exceptional dynamic microphone [the M80], and a vacuum tube replacement for the original TELEFUNKEN VF14 which offers comparable performance in our U47 and new U48 microphones.

TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik continues to expand, and research and development of new products is an ongoing process. Although based firmly on classic designs, TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik is continuously looking forward. Important changes in our company and further expansion of our product line are slated for the immediate future.

For more information about TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik, call 860.882.5919 or e-mail info@t-funk.com.