LATEST ADDITIONS

I reviewed Sonny Rollins’ <A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/20/arts/music/20roll.html">Carnegie Hall concert</A> last Tuesday for the <I>New York Times</I>. Short version: The first half, when Rollins played in trio with drummer Roy Haynes and bassist Christian McBride, was wondrous; the second half, with his usual sextet, had its moments but was comparatively a drag. I only hinted at this in the review, but the concert typified the puzzle that is Rollins’ career: why, in the past 40 of its 50-plus years, has this titan of the tenor saxophone—the most inventive living improviser in jazz—chosen to play so often with musicians so clearly beneath him?

Philip O'Hanlon, formerly US marketing director for Halcro, has a new project. His distribution company, <A HREF="http://www.onahighernote.com">On a Higher Note</A>, is bringing Japanese high-end company Luxman back to the United States.

The Goldman Sachs Capital Partners/Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. <A HREF="http://stereophile.com/news/043007harman/">$8 billion buyout of Harman International Industries, Inc.</A> announced last April may not go through, according to "two people familiar with the matter," <I>Bloomberg.com</I> reported September 21.

I had intended that my recent exploration of what was available in the world of high-performance minimonitors&mdash;the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/107era">Era Acoustics Design 4</A> ($600/pair) in January, the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/361/index12.html">Stirling LS3/5a V2</A> ($1695/pair) and <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/1293harbeth/index5.html">H… HL-P3ES2</A> ($1850/pair) in April, the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/507psb">PSB Alpha B1</A> ($279/pair) in May&mdash;was to end in July, with my review of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/707aad">American Acoustic Development Reference Silver-1</A> ($1550/pair). But there was one more real-world&ndash;priced, stand-mounted model that piqued my interest before I return to cost-no-object floorstanders in the substantial form of Sonus Faber's new Cremona Elipsa ($20,000/pair): the Gold Signature GS10 from Monitor Audio ($1495/pair).

Carl Kennedy, director of JL Audio's Home and Professional Sales division, leaned forward and quietly asked, "Would you like to review our Fathom f113 subwoofer?"

Philip Freeman argues that the "demise of the album" is a lazy trope.

To those who say the Bush Administration hasn't added anything meaningful to American society I say pshaw. He and Cheney have turned lying into an artform. Not lying exactly but a finer, more refined version of not telling the truth. It's still completely self-serving and wrong but now, if you have little or no education and/or sense of any kind, and you’re easily scared, these pronouncements sound vaguely plausible. It's all about the spin. The truth, in that view, is now relative. Everything is shaded and prismatic. Move several steps to the left and everything seems to look different. Looks like the truth. Sounds like the truth. There's a victory to be had in Iraq! Is it any wonder that we've become a more polarized society under the great decider.