New York, NY—During "Classic Album Night," scheduled for 6:30PM on the second Thursday of each upcoming month, a Lyric high end specialist will play albums that have become standards, LPs when possible, on mid-six-figure reference systems in the main listening room of the firm's Manhattan store at 1221 Lexington Avenue, a unique acoustic space designed for optimum music playback. Admission is free, but reservations are required and can be made by calling Bob Herman or Mike Deutsch at (212) 439-1900. While supplies last, each attendee will…
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As I was scrolling through the offerings at TDF a few weeks ago, I spotted a performance by the McCollough Sons of Thunder Brass Band. Hmmm, I thought I remembered my old friend Michael Cogswell mentioning to me that I ought to check them out. Actually, what he told me was that if I was ever able to hear them, I should cancel everything I could be doing and hie myself hence at oncely.
The MSOT are a "shout" band, performing a form of ecstatic sacred music at the United House of Prayer for all People on Frederick Douglass Boulevard and 125th St. Founded in 1919 by Bishop "Sweet Daddy"…
They're saying five to seven inches in the city.
Some people actually like this crap. Managing editor Elizabeth Donovan, for instance, is all about it. She'll come into my office on an unusually warm winter day with a frown on her face and say, "I wish it would snow."
"You wish it would snow?! Are you frigging out of your mind, woman?" That's what I say to her.
My mom is another one. She actually called me up today to tell me it was snowing, like I couldn't tell. I slogged through the gray and sloppy mess on my way to the train station and listened to her syrupy…
Disaspora Suite is the 4th in a series of albums recorded by trumpeter-composer Steven Bernstein for John Zorn’s Tzadik label (the others were Diaspora Soul, Diaspora Blues, and Diaspora Hollywood). It’s also the most ambitious, far-flung, and satisfying. The band is a nonet that includes the versatile Nels Cline on electric guitar (strumming, plucking, and occasionally wailing), Peter Apfelbaum on saxes, and Ben Goldberg on clarinet. This is by no means simply “Jewish music.” The sounds and influences drift in from everywhere. The first track starts with an electric guitar riff and bongos…
From NYT Arts section ads:
"...evokes the masterpieces of silent cinema and Orson Welles' Citizen Kane."
"...bears comparison to the greatest achievements of Griffith and Ford."
God help critics. Citizen Kane!!!!
Some just like so much that the joy blinds 'em. That and their desire to be quoted in hysterical newspaper ads. 'Course the flip side is, there's nothing worse than critics who hate: their job, their salary, what they're supposed to review, themselves. When critics go permanently dark, it ain't pretty.
For proof that critics are just…
I spent some time last night listening to Joanna Newsom's Ys. Tangent CDP-50, Tangent AMP-50, Totem Arro loudspeakers. I know and love the Totem speakers, but the Tangents are new to me and, with Joanna Newsom's help and harp perhaps, they sounded better—more capable—than ever before in my small living room. The sound was fleshy and fast and detailed, whereas (earlier on and with other material) it had been thin and mechanical and uninvolving. I don't know if this has to do with the electronics breaking-in—they've now been in the system for about 200 hours…
As our summer intern, Ariel Bitran proved tireless, helping to make the 2008 Stereophile Buyer's Guide our biggest, most beautiful, and most comprehensive yet. His spirit—youthful, enthusiastic, passionate, curious, goofy—was stimulating and infectious. It was great to have him around, and I've enjoyed watching as his interest in hi-fi grows.
I'll be keeping an eye on his new blog: Cognitive Frequency: Music and Thoughts About It.
Shaking his head and smiling, he says:
"I'm just having so much fun. Digging through my records, finding albums that I'd forgotten about, picking anything that might sound good, listening to everything from jazz to blues to rock to metal to classical...."
He pauses, and then:
"The system just sounds great. I'm hearing things in new ways. It changes everything."
Two founding fathers of salsa, Johnny Pacheco and Eddie Palmieri, discuss the history of their wonderful musical style and the birth of the Fania record label in this interesting and entertaining interview with Latino USA's Maria Hinojosa.
Starting with only $2500, Johnny Pacheco and his partner, Jerry Masucci, built a family of musicians that would sell out venues as large as Yankees Stadium and Madison Square Garden, and go on to travel around the world with their exciting new music.
Pacheco recalls traveling to Zaire for a performance during the historic Muhammad Ali-…
I loved the way the band worked together—how each member lifted every other, and how each member excelled during solos—but I was most impressed by the locked-in rhythm section, and especially Pedro Martinez on congas. His hands turned into light, racing across the conga heads, speeding away from everything else—the stage, the room, the cold night—while remaining right on time.