Dance, Don't Swing: the New Jazz Scene in London and the UK

Dance, Don't Swing: the New Jazz Scene in London and the UK

Over a long weekend in late August 2021, DJ, broadcaster, and contemporary music scholar Gilles Peterson and his Brownswood recordings label hosted the We Out Here (WOH) festival in Abbots Ripton, Cambridgeshire, 80 miles north of London. 20 stages. 15,000 attendees. Peterson called it "the British Jazz Woodstock."

Analog Corner #275: Bergmann Audio Galder turntable & Odin tonearm

Analog Corner #275: Bergmann Audio Galder turntable & Odin tonearm

Bergmann Audio (footnote 1) launched its first turntable—the Sindre, which featured an integrated tonearm—in 2008. The Sindre's acrylic platter and tangential-tracking tonearm both floated on air bearings; it had an outboard motor controller, a separate air pump for the air bearings, and cost $21,000.

Capital Audiofest 2021: It's a Wrap

Capital Audiofest 2021: It's a Wrap

Capital Audiofest 2021 was a fantastic show. Everyone I spoke to—vendors, visitors, the helpful Hilton staff—was jazzed to be there. Everyone was in good spirits. While I didn’t see as many attendees in total as at the 2019 CAF show pre-Covid, every room I visited was full, and in many midday cases, standing-room-only.

Tarheel Hi-Fi: Arion Audio, VPI, Audio Research, and Nordost

Tarheel Hi-Fi: Arion Audio, VPI, Audio Research, and Nordost

Next door to the VPI room showing Harry Weisfeld’s rock ‘em, sock ‘em JBL Everest horns, another system with a VPI source was complemented by a colossal pair of Arion Audio line-array towers and subwoofer columns. The speakers were brought to Rockville by Charlotte, North Carolina’s Arion Audio and Arion's designer/owner Mike Kalellis.

Tenacious Sound: Audio Hungary, Canton, Weiss, Audience. Plus Innuos, AVM, and Perlisten

Tenacious Sound: Audio Hungary, Canton, Weiss, Audience. Plus Innuos, AVM, and Perlisten

Tenacious Sound had several systems at the show, including those in Room 325 and the Montrose ballroom. Sunday morning, I stumbled into the smaller room, where good sounds were being made by an Audio Hungary X200 integrated tube amplifier ($6499) powering Canton Reference 7K loudspeakers ($6995/pair). A Microsoft Surface Pro laptop streamed Qobuz to a Weiss DAC. Cables were from Audience.

Infigo Audio (plus Alta Audio and Resonessence)

Infigo Audio (plus Alta Audio and Resonessence)

In the room of British Columbia’s Infigo Audio at the Capital Audiofest, CEO/founder Hans Looman was playing Michael Oldfield’s Tubular Bells II. Not quite new age, not “folk-tronica,” the music’s flowing, acoustic melodies and circular rhythms suited Looman, whose ponytail and pleasant banter recalled a taller, younger Obi-Wan Kenobi espousing wisdom and good vibrations. I quickly fell under the spell of Looman, Oldfield, and these attractive Infigo devices.

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