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here can hardly be a more difficult, or personal, choice in music than to decide on the best studio to record an album in. Of course, no matter how good the kit and engineer are and even if the budget is big enough to blow gazillions on, if the charts and performance on the day aren’t up to scratch then a console the size of a spaceship and engineers with ears the size of a small moon won’t be enough.

So bearing that caveat in mind here’s a selection of popular choices to lay down that jazz masterpiece of your dreams in:

Bauer, Ludwigsburg, Germany
Sixty years of history, Pat Metheny’s Bright Size Life was recorded there in 1975.

Rainbow, Oslo
Practically synonymous with ECM, Rainbow was built by Jan Erik Kongshaug in 1984, and moved to a new location in the Norwegian capital in 2004.

Avatar, New York
Around for some 30 years this is one of Manhattan’s most popular jazz recording studios. Recent albums recorded here include Jakob Bro’s December Song, and Ralph Alessi’s Baida.

Livingston, London
World music and jazz find a home-from-home at Livingston often to spectacular effect. Recent albums recorded here have included Incognito’s Amplified Soul.

La Buissone, France
Used by ECM and the Jazz Village label in recent years, Ahmad Jamal’s Saturday Morning was recorded here.

Real World, England
All sorts of music have been recorded here at Peter Gabriel’s famed studio with jazz musicians choosing the Wiltshire bolthole among them the Bad Plus and Neil Cowley.

Artesuono, Italy
Norma Winstone and Tingvall trio are among the jazz artists to make good use of this Fazioli-friendly facility recently.

La Buissone's Sony MXP-3000 series console, above