LATEST ADDITIONS

Prediction: The visionary new music, system-testing percussion, and virtual rainbow of colors that distinguish Dawn to Dust, the latest hybrid SACD in Reference Recordings' Fresh! series, guarantee that it will become a hit among music-loving audiophiles who dare play tracks beyond 3 minutes in length. The inventive genius that courses through the recording's three compositions—Control (Five Landscapes for Orchestra) by Nico Muhly, 34; Switch by Andrew Norman, 37; and Eos (Goddess of the Dawn), a ballet for orchestra by Augusta Read Thomas, 52—is, in and of itself, enrapturing, formidable, and breathtaking. But when combined with the spectacular coloristic and percussive effects captured by the Soundmirror engineering team, you have a recording virtually certain to earn Dust to Dawn at least one Grammy nomination and countless airings at audio demos.

“Well, Dylan will be here at four.”

If this doesn't wind up as the year's archival jazz find, I can't wait for the treasure that beats it. In Paris: The ORTF Recordings (on the Resonance Records label) is dazzling, riveting stuff—previously unissued sessions by Larry Young, made during a brief stay in Paris, from December 1964 to February 1965, just before his string of Blue Note albums established him as the modern innovator on the Hammond B-3 organ.

In conversation with Bonnie Raitt these days, one word continually jumps out: groove. She's speaking of her music, of course, but the blues singer and guitarist—her gifts as commanding as ever on her latest, Dig In Deep—has also survived some family struggles in the past decade that nearly forced her out of her personal groove.

Our mail, in recent months, has brought a number of comments (some of them printed in this issue) from professional audio men who decry the fact that developments in the audio field seem to have come to a screeching halt.

There would seem to be some justification for believing this, too. There hasn't been a new kind of loudspeaker, amplifier, pickup, or tuner for the past five years or so. The professional engineering journals, once loaded with juicy articles about research and developments in music reproduction, are now devoted largely to public-address techniques and new methods for the "creation" of electronic music.

Saturday April 9, from noon until 5pm, Metro Washington DC's Command Performance (115 Park Avenue, Suite #2 in Falls Church, VA) welcomes Kazutoshi Yamada and Eric Pheils of Zanden Audio for a special event. Mr. Yamada and Mr. Pheils will premier Zanden's flagship electronics: the Mk.II versions of the Model 9600 KR845 monoblock amplifiers (above) and the Model 3000 preamplifier.

On Wednesday and Thursday, April 6 & 7, 5:30pm–8:30pm, The Audio Salon (Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Avenue, Unit F1, Santa Monica) will present the first public demonstration in California of Wilson Audio's new Alexx loudspeaker. John Quick from dCS will be discussing and demonstrating the new Rossini Player, Rossini Clock, and the Vivaldi 2.0 Playback System. . .