LATEST ADDITIONS

Vivid speakers change the game. But first a great piano recording: <I>Tributaries: Reflections on Tommy Flanagan</I> (CD, IPO IPOC1004), from the late Sir Roland Hanna (his title was an honorary knighthood granted by Liberia). I missed this wonderfully crafted solo-piano recording when it first came out in 2003, and still would not have known about it today except that a publicist sent me an e-mail saying that he was cleaning out his shelves of leftover promotional copies. I quickly sent back a request, in large part because one of my Desert Island recordings is Jim Hall's <I>Concierto</I>, originally released in 1975 on the CTI label, and on which Hanna had played. <I>Concierto</I> has since been reissued in digital form many times, most successfully, as far as I can tell, by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab on an SACD (UDSACD 2012) that includes new tracks, as well as alternate takes of tunes on the original release.

<I>Never Stop</I> (on the E1 label) is the album from The Bad Plus that many of us have been waiting for—the first of their albums to consist entirely of original material.

I’ve never been crazy about Ahmad Jamal. His piano style has struck me as patio-cocktails jazz—nice harmonies and rhythm, but soft-spoken, too precious, de-sensualized.

<B>The Neville Brothers: <I>Yellow Moon</I></B>
A&amp;M CD 5240 (CD). Malcolm Burn, eng.; Daniel Lanois, prod. AAD. TT: 53:01

Axpona lives! The Audio Expo of North America, the consumer high-end audio show whose <A HREF="http://blog.stereophile.com/axpona2010">successful 2010 launch</A> in Jacksonville, Florida, established it as the premier high-performance audio show on the East Coast, has moved to the far more accessible and convention-friendly Sheraton Atlanta, in Georgia. Scheduled for April 15&#150;17, 2011, with a special four-hour trade preview on April 14, the show is cosponsored by <I>Stereophile</I> and <I>Goldmine</I>.

<i>Inside Box Number One: Sumiko’s new <a href="http://www.sumikoaudio.net/okki_nokki/idx_products.htm">Okki Nokki</a> record cleaning machine ($549)!</i>

<i>Photo: John Atkinson</i>