Patricia Barber: Higher
Patricia Barber, piano & vocals; Patrick Mulcahy, bass; Jon Deitemyer, drums; Neal Alger, acoustic guitar; Jim Gailloreto, tenor saxophone
ArtistShare AS01712 (CD). 2019, Patricia Barber, prod.; Martha Feldman, assoc. prod.; Jim Anderson, rec. and mixing eng.; Bob Ludwig, mastering eng. DDD. TT: 55:18
Performance *****
Sonics ****½

As a singer and writer, Patricia Barber has never been easy to define. In the audiophile world, she's too often defined—and her brilliance obscured—by her ubiquity at audio shows and her regrettable membership in a sorority of generic, well-recorded "female vocalists." But in what idiom?

Register to win one of five actual pieces of the original 1969 Woodstock stage (Value $99.00 ea) or a Back To The Garden - 50th Anniversary Collection 5 Vinyl LP set (Value $124.98) we are giving away.

According to the companies:

"Peace Pendant: Always have a piece of Woodstock magic around your neck and close to your heart, with this Peace Pendant, that is encased with a piece of the original and authenticated stage from the 1969 Woodstock Festival.

Acrylic Frame: Ideal for display and connecting with the festival magic, this touchable piece of the original 1969 Woodstock stage is surrounded by rainbow colors with the concert dates and location, Peace of Stage logo, and a tamper-proof hologram certifying its authenticity.

Woodstock 50 – Back To The Garden - 50th Anniversary Collection features 42 of the finest performances recorded at the legendary festival, on 5 vinyl LPs."

[This Sweepstakes is now closed.]

I was saddened to learn that Jack Renner, renowned recording engineer and cofounder with producer Robert Woods of Telarc Records, died on June 19, 2019, age 84, at his home in Rhode Island. Mr. Renner is survived by his wife, Barbara, three children, and six grandchildren.

One of the most firmly-established audio platitudes is the one which says "The specs don't tell the whole story." One reason for this, of course, is the fact that most manufacturers, preferring to sell their products on the basis of emotional appeals in ads rather than on hard, cold performance claims, do not attempt to make their specs tell the whole story.

It is not at all unusual these days to find manufacturers producing "matched" speakers and amplifiers that are designed specifically for one another. But it is very unusual to find this being done by an amplifier manufacturer who doesn't make loudspeakers. The Futterman H3-A is one of these rarities—an amplifier designed primarily to complement one of the best, and one of the hardest-to-drive loudspeakers on the market: the KLH Model Nine.

We tested two samples of the ADC-1 phono cartridge, both of which were taken from a dealer's stock. One was a demonstrator that had been in use for some months. The other was brand new, right off the shelf. Both were tested in an Empire 98 tonearm and in a Gray 108-C tonearm with its damping lightly adjusted, but results with both cartridges were for all intents and purposes identical in both arms.