Thanksgiving week with Maria Schneider

Thanksgiving week with Maria Schneider

Maria Schneider and her 18-piece orchestra play their annual Thanksgiving week gig at the Jazz Standard starting Nov. 25 and continuing till the 30th (except for Thursday, when the club is closed), and if you’re in the tri-State area, you should reserve seats now, as her shows usually sell out. Regular readers of this blog may recall my previous ravings about Schneider. A former student of Gil Evans and Bob Bookmeyer, she is the most sumptuous jazz arranger on the jazz scene today, having absorbed her teachers’ penchant for lush stacked harmonies and added a flair for Latin rhythms, a propulsive sway, and a dry wit. Her pieces are lyrical, even rhapsodic, but also taut, even muscular. Much of the band has been playing with her for over a decade, to the point where they’re nearly Basie-tight. Her most recent CD, <I>Sky Blue</I>, topped my 2007 list of best jazz albums (except for Charles Mingus’ previously unreleased <I>Cornell 1964</I> concert-recording). I’m told she’ll be playing many songs from it and from her 1996 album, <I>Coming About</I>, which she’s just re-mastered and re-released. All of her albums are on the ArtistShare label, the artist-owned music collective, and are available only through her website, mariaschneider.com.

how do you decide what to upgrade first in your system?

i've had my first "hi fi-ish" system for about a year and a half...been really enjoying it...

would obviously like to get some better components, but from now on it will probably have to be upgrading one piece at a time...anyway here's my system:

Cambridge Azur 540A amp

Cambridge 540P phono stage

Rega P1 turntable (upgraded with glass platter and Denon DL-160 cartridge)

NAD 5220 CD Player (really old model, 89-ish, got off craigslist for $30)

EPOS Els-3 minimonitors

Nirvana S-X Ltd. interconnect Associated Equipment

Nirvana S-X Ltd. interconnect Associated Equipment

Recently, I caught myself smiling at a tiny ad for Nirvana cables that proclaimed them to be "the quiet cable." My smile wasn't because the claim was outlandish, which it wasn't, but because it was so typical of Nirvana Audio Products&#151;small, understated, and all too easy to miss. The ad could just have easily and just as accurately have read "Nirvana...the quiet company."

Nirvana Audio
P.O. Box 448
Lynbrook, NY 11563
(516) 593-4700
www.nirvanaaudio.com

Nirvana S-X Ltd. interconnect Specifications

Nirvana S-X Ltd. interconnect Specifications

Recently, I caught myself smiling at a tiny ad for Nirvana cables that proclaimed them to be "the quiet cable." My smile wasn't because the claim was outlandish, which it wasn't, but because it was so typical of Nirvana Audio Products&#151;small, understated, and all too easy to miss. The ad could just have easily and just as accurately have read "Nirvana...the quiet company."

Nirvana Audio
P.O. Box 448
Lynbrook, NY 11563
(516) 593-4700
www.nirvanaaudio.com

Nirvana S-X Ltd. interconnect Page 2

Nirvana S-X Ltd. interconnect Page 2

Recently, I caught myself smiling at a tiny ad for Nirvana cables that proclaimed them to be "the quiet cable." My smile wasn't because the claim was outlandish, which it wasn't, but because it was so typical of Nirvana Audio Products&#151;small, understated, and all too easy to miss. The ad could just have easily and just as accurately have read "Nirvana...the quiet company."

Nirvana Audio
P.O. Box 448
Lynbrook, NY 11563
(516) 593-4700
www.nirvanaaudio.com

Nirvana S-X Ltd. interconnect

Nirvana S-X Ltd. interconnect

Recently, I caught myself smiling at a tiny ad for Nirvana cables that proclaimed them to be "the quiet cable." My smile wasn't because the claim was outlandish, which it wasn't, but because it was so typical of Nirvana Audio Products&#151;small, understated, and all too easy to miss. The ad could just have easily and just as accurately have read "Nirvana...the quiet company."

Myryad MDP 500 preamplifier-processor Measurements

Myryad MDP 500 preamplifier-processor Measurements

In my <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/hirezplayers/201">February 2000 review</A> of Meridian's multi-talented, multichannel, multi-kilobuck Digital Theatre system, I fumed about the lack of a medium for discrete multichannel music. Even more loudly, I railed against the irresponsible mastering of many Dolby Digital and DTS discs, which place the listener in the middle of an ensemble and swirl the voices around his or her head with little concern for musical or artistic coherence.

Myryad Systems Ltd.
US distributor: Artech Electronics, Ltd.
P.O. Box 455
Williston, VT 05495
(514) 631-6448
www.artech-electronics.com

Myryad MDP 500 preamplifier-processor Associated Equipment

Myryad MDP 500 preamplifier-processor Associated Equipment

In my <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/hirezplayers/201">February 2000 review</A> of Meridian's multi-talented, multichannel, multi-kilobuck Digital Theatre system, I fumed about the lack of a medium for discrete multichannel music. Even more loudly, I railed against the irresponsible mastering of many Dolby Digital and DTS discs, which place the listener in the middle of an ensemble and swirl the voices around his or her head with little concern for musical or artistic coherence.

Myryad Systems Ltd.
US distributor: Artech Electronics, Ltd.
P.O. Box 455
Williston, VT 05495
(514) 631-6448
www.artech-electronics.com
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement