Enescu: Octet, Mendelssohn: Octet, Quatuor Ébène, Belcea Quartet; Unsuk Chin: Unsuk Chin, Ensemble Intercontemporain; Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin, Concerto For Orchestra, Lebel: The Sediments, Toronto Symphony Orchestra; 25 × 25, Sõ Percussion/

Since founding Ojas in the 1990s and applying the name to his audio components, Devon Turnbull has mined a young audience that the traditional hi-fi industry has struggled to reach. Those who know about him receive his speakers, amplifiers, and turntables as if they were gifts delivered from on high.

In the Rolling Stones' long history, the Mick Taylor era was a peak, if not the peak. Taylor, who replaced cofounder Brian Jones in the late 1960s, proved a great musical foil for Keith Richards. He was a technical wizard on the guitar; those fluid higher-octaves riffs and runs were the perfect counterpoint to Richards's jabbing and stabbing and growling style.

As the jazz buyer for Tower Records's Lincoln Center (66th St.) location in the early 1990s, I held a unique vantage point on New York City, its music and culture. My position guaranteed daily encounters with an eclectic variety of unforgettable characters. Between regular visits by the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (grouchy), Kathleen Turner (pushy), and Michael J. Fox (perpetually running from the store's female staff), I saw a lot.

Like many aging American music lovers, my earliest memories include watching the televised supernova that was The Beatles performing on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. Immersion in various British pop groups followed, including the melodically graceful Chad & Jeremy, the polished Peter and Gordon, and sentimental pop purveyors Gerry and the Pacemakers.