Back when Steve Urkel (in the sitcom Family Matters, portrayed by Jaleel White) was showing everybody the best way to dress (and do property damage), my friend Ken Kessler, the high-level audio scribe at Hi-Fi News & Record Review, explained to me the secret of how to write a proper audio review: "Herb, the secret of writing an effective review is not to lose the reader in the middle." I took that to mean, put all the technological meat—and some tawdry stories—in the product description. Then sneak some spicy double entendre into the setup part.

Unfortunately, that strategy hasn't worked for me.

United Strings Of Europe: Renewal, Brahms: Violin-Piano Sonatas 1–3; F-A-E Sonata: Scherzo, Florence Price: Symphony No.3; The Mississippi River; Ethiopia's Shadow in America and Matthew Aucoin: Orphic Moments.

Isaiah J. Thompson: Composed in Color, Oscar Peterson: A Time for Love: The Oscar Peterson Quartet—Live in Helsinki, 1987, John Zorn: New Masada Quartet and Andrew Cyrille, William Parker, And Enrico Rava: 2 Blues for Cecil.

David Bowie: Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001) and The Accidentals: Vessel.