RECORD OF THE YEAR:
Winner: Joe Lovano, Folk Art.
My Pick: Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Infernal Machines. Lovano’s quintet album was excellent, but Argue’s debut approached the astonishing. (My choice in the first round of voting was Keith Jarrett’s…
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The Jazz Journalists Association held its 2010 awards bash at City Winery, a warm, spacious eatery (with an excellent wine list) in the SoHo section of New York this evening. Below are most of the winners, followed by the musicians for whom I cast my ballot. The awards covered the period from April 15, 2009, to April 15, 2010.
The July 2010 issue of Stereophile is now on newsstands. It had been far too long since we received a letter complaining about our love of reviewing insanely expensive products, so we decided to make this our “Special Aspirations Issue,” featuring, almost exclusively, products you’d have to be CEO of BP to afford.
I’m kidding. Sort of. “Special Aspirations” does not only reflect the price of the components we review, but also refers to their quality. And we like quality. The loudspeakers from Vivid, Wilson, and Focal, as well as the phono preamps from Boulder, AMR, and Vitus…
I took her advice and went for a walk, but didn’t get more than half a block from the office before spotting two large, green dumpsters filled to their brims with paperwork, notebooks, and other office supplies. As I approached, something else caught my eye. Atop the pile of stuff were two fully-stocked, wooden cassette shelves in very good condition.
The very moment I decided to inspect the goods, two other music nerds, wrapped up in headphone cables and iPods, suddenly appeared.
Vultures.
“Anything good?” one music nerd asked.
“Nah,” I replied. “Just a…
“These are pretty,” she wrote. Attached to the e-mail was a picture of the new Davone Ray loudspeaker. Pretty, indeed.
Introduced at the popular and successful Munich High End Show, the Ray is the second offering from Denmark’s Davone. Like its predecessor, the striking Rithm, the Ray employs a coaxial driver configuration: A 1” tweeter is situated at the center of an 8” woofer. Sensitivity is specified as 89dB. The speaker measures approximately 28” H x 23” W x 18” D and weighs just 25lbs. With its unusual elliptical shape and sleek steel stands, the Ray resembles a pair of…
Tris McCall has some trouble getting a hold of Joanna Newsom. Apparently, he’s not the only one. Photo: Annabel Mehran
Friend and neighbor, Tris McCall, reviewed Joanna Newsom’s massive three-disc set, Have One On Me. It’s a very good read, and I hope you’ll take the time to enjoy it. When I reached the end of Tris’ review, I felt like I should stand up and applaud. Funny: The same thing happens when I get to the end of Newsom’s album.
Here’s a little bit of Tris’ review:
Have One On Me isn’t the first album to blame sociobiology for the breakdown of a…
Keith Jarrett’s “Standards Trio” played Carnegie Hall Thursday night, to predictable glories.
The concert—which lasted over two-and-a-half hours, including an intermission and three encores—started with “It Could Happen to You” and ended with “I Thought About You,” bracketing, among others, an ethereal “My Funny Valentine,” maybe the most heartbraking take on “All the Sad Young Men” since Anita O’Day's, and a startlingly funky “God Bless the Child” with K-Jay laying down a fierce backbeat while still carving serpentine solos of vast sophistication.
This time, he didn’t yell at the…
I was in some sort of mood. Must’ve been the heat. I listened to:
1. Neil Young: Zuma (1975)
2. Flying Burrito Brothers: The Gilded Palace of Sin (1969)
3. Gram Parsons: Sleepless Nights (1976)
4. Flying Burrito Brothers: Burrito Deluxe (1970)
5. Bob Dylan with The Band: Planet Waves (1974)
6. Bonnie Raitt: Give It Up (1972)
7. Manassas: Down the Road (1973)
Dear Uncle Omar in Italy,
You missed a fine party. Though we were downright heartbroken that you could not attend, we managed to nevertheless have some fun. Fortunately, Uncle Norbert brought his new video camera, and we were able to capture much of that fun on tape! For your convenience, I've attached my favorite bit of footage, which came during one of our spontaneous sing-alongs.
You missed a fine party. Though we were downright heartbroken that you could not attend, we managed to nevertheless have some fun. Fortunately, Uncle Norbert brought his new video camera, and we were able to capture much of that fun on tape! For your convenience, I've attached my favorite bit of footage, which came during one of our spontaneous sing-alongs.
In this piece, you'll see my dad handling lead vocals, while Titi Ida sings back-up. The docs had said that my dad's knee surgery would prevent him from much strenuous activity, but, as you can…
Are taken, yes they are.
This video is just like my life. Sing it, brother.
This video is just like my life. Sing it, brother.
I can’t believe she puts the cassette in the toaster. Heartless.