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Everything you've heard is true. Lufthansa really is among the world's finest airlines. (I say that as an uncomfortable and often unwilling traveler who has had nothing but perfect flights on Lufthansa), Munich is one of the cleanest, most attractive, and most easily traveled cities in Europe. And Munich High End is, without a doubt and by a stunning margin, the greatest audio show on Earth, period. Nothing I could say—nothing—can prepare you for the sheer scale of the venue, the number and variety of exhibits, the quality of those exhibits, and the exciting, carnival-like vibe of Munich High End: It must be experienced.

This is my first trip to High End Munich, held Thursday–Sunday May 10–13 at the MOC convention center. Besides reporting for Stereophile, I am charged with scouting to make a final determination whether it "would be worth the suffering" for my Brooklyn friend Sphere, who hates to travel more than two hours to get anywhere! "Herb, just tell me, if I only attend one audio show, should it be Munich?"

In this 100th anniversary year of the death of Claude Debussy (1862–1918), one of the finest recordings of his music released so far is Erato's Debussy Sonatas & Trios (Erato C565142). Appropriately recorded in Paris, in two different sounding venues, with an all-star French lineup—Emmanuel Pahud, flute; Gerard Caussé, viola; Edgar Moreau, cello; Marie-Pierre Langlamet, harp; and Bertrand Chamayou, piano—the recording is replete with the unique atmosphere, color, and textures that make Debussy's music so unforgettable.

Saturday night in hipster Brooklyn . . . yet there could have been actual sawdust on the floor. Inside National Sawdust, a youngish crowd, many clearly ready to party, were shuffling, some were full-blown jitterbugging, while onstage the Lost Bayou Ramblers, a progressive young Cajun band who'd at first seemed a bit awed by their futuristic surroundings, were slugging beers, sawing a fiddle, squeezing an accordion, and generally finding their groove.

Pentangle: The Pentangle
Terry Cox (drums), Bert Jansch & John Renbourn (guitars), Jacqui McShee (vocals), Danny Thompson (double bass), Shel Talmy, prod.
Transatlantic TRA162 (English LP), Reprise RSLP63 15 (US LP). TT: 30:52.

The first "pop" recording we've ever reviewed in Stereophile may set a precedent for future reviews if there are others that sound like this. To this untutored ear, the material is rock out of raga, but it is beautifully done and, except for the larger-than-life singer, the sound is almost shockingly good. No filthy fuzzed-up guitars here, and the pickup of the double-bass simply has to be heard to be believed. Get it, at least as a demo.

Herb and Jana were visiting me in Albany, NY, at the 1936 semi-mock-Tudor house I now call home. The real star of this video is my dog, Chatter Dudley, an 8-year-old Jack Russell Terrier with a fierce fondness for Herb Reichert (they had met once before), and who had Jana Dagdagan saying, by the end of the day, "I wish I had a dog." Unfortunately, the cameras weren't running when Chatter took a running leap to sit next to Herb while he was on the couch, listening to the blue-vinyl version of Puente Celeste's Nama.

The Los Angeles Audio Show (LAAS), scheduled for June 8–10 in Orange County, opposite the John Wayne International Airport at the former sites of T.H.E. Show, seems to have been cancelled. Although the LAAS website briefly contained a note that conversations were in progress about the possibility of the show being saved by the Los Angeles & Orange County Audio Society (LAOCAS), that note has now been removed.