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Rudy Van Gelder is the most important engineer in the history of jazz. He is famous for creating "the Blue Note sound." For the first decade of Feldman's career as a producer, Van Gelder also created the Reservoir sound, engineering no fewer than 47 albums for Feldman. The Van Gelder sound was punchy and dynamic. He was among the first to use close-miking techniques, and he "recorded hot," pushing levels, even risking overload. He liked reverb and was an early adopter of the EMT plate. He could make saxophones and drums jump out of your speakers. It was exciting. The style was synonymous with…
Sidebar: Remastered By Allan Tucker
The following Rudy Van Gelder recordings have been remastered by Allan Tucker and reissued with their original catalog numbers.
Ralph Moore (tenor sax), Round Trip (RSR CD 104), with Brian Lynch (trumpet), Kevin Eubanks (guitar), Benny Green (piano), Rufus Reid (bass), and Kenny Washington (drums).
Rob Schneiderman (piano), New Outlook (RSR CD 106), with Slide Hampton (trombone), Rufus Reid (bass), and Akira Tana (drums).
Nick Brignola (saxophones), Raincheck (RSR CD 108), with Kenny Barron (piano),…
David Bowie: ChangesNowBowie
Parlophone 0190295332747 (LP). 2020. Bowie, Reeves Gabrels, Mark Plati, prods.; Ray Staff, mastering.
Performance *****
Sonics ****½
Parlophone 0190295332747 (LP). 2020. Bowie, Reeves Gabrels, Mark Plati, prods.; Ray Staff, mastering.
Performance *****
Sonics ****½
"Warm" and "intimate" aren't words usually associated with Bowie, but here they are apt. You're placed up close as he rehearses for his 50th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden in 1997. With him are three musicians: Gail Ann Dorsey (bass), Reeves Gabrels (guitar), and Mark Plati (keyboards). It could be described as acoustic Bowie if it weren't for Gabrels' chainsaw solo on the Velvet Underground's "White Light…
Michael Feinberg: From Where We Came
Feinberg, bass; Dave Liebman, soprano saxophone; Noah Preminger, tenor saxophone; Gary Versace, piano; Ian Froman, drums
SteepleChase SCCD 31902 (CD, available as download). 2020. Nils Winther, prod.; Chris Sulit, eng.
Performance ****
Sonics ****
Feinberg, bass; Dave Liebman, soprano saxophone; Noah Preminger, tenor saxophone; Gary Versace, piano; Ian Froman, drums
SteepleChase SCCD 31902 (CD, available as download). 2020. Nils Winther, prod.; Chris Sulit, eng.
Performance ****
Sonics ****
One of the deepest, richest repositories of modern mainstream American jazz is not in America but in Denmark, where Nils Winther has operated his SteepleChase label for almost half a century. From Where We Came is representative of Winther's work. He finds creative, emerging musicians and…
Dame Ethyl Smyth: The Prison
Sarah Brailey, soprano; Dashon Burton, bass-baritone; Experiential Orchestra and Chorus, James Blachly, cond.
Chandos CHSA 5279 (CD). 2020. Blanton Alspaugh, prod.; Brandon Johnson, John Newton, engs.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½
Sarah Brailey, soprano; Dashon Burton, bass-baritone; Experiential Orchestra and Chorus, James Blachly, cond.
Chandos CHSA 5279 (CD). 2020. Blanton Alspaugh, prod.; Brandon Johnson, John Newton, engs.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½
Dame Ethel Smyth didn't call The Prison an oratorio, but it resembles Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius. Her musical idiom suggests the more advanced side of Vaughan Williams—think of the late cantatas and oratorios—although the opening of Part Two is pure Mendelssohn. Despite the somber subject matter, the piece is…
Back in 2013, I took the train to Stamford to give a presentation to the Connecticut Audio Society to help celebrate their 30th anniversary. On March 6 I returned to the CAS, but this time via Zoom. I talked about a subject close to my heart: measurements and their connections with accuracy and/or musical enjoyment. The video is now posted to the CAS YouTube channel (linked below)—it runs for 2+ hours but I think Stereophile readers will find what I had to say stimulating, perhaps even sometimes controversial.
My presentation takes up the first 21 minutes and is followed by a Q&A with…
Listening, an extraordinary video tribute to the late writer Art Dudley's taste, vision, and devotion to music, premiers this month on Stereophile's YouTube channel. The video follows the unusual path of Art's beloved Altec Lansing Flamenco loudspeakers from their home in Upstate New York to their current residence, the listening room of deaf audiophile Bob Lichtenberg in Port Orchard, Washington.
Lichtenberg, 64, who serves as senior court program analyst for the Washington Supreme Court Interpreter Commission, began to lose his hearing at age 5. By 8, he was completely deaf. Today, he's…
VPI Industries Voyager phono preamplifier
Following my auditioning of Channel D's Lino 2C current-mode phono preamplifier, back in the world of voltage amplification, here's another phono preamp from another company based, like Channel D, in New Jersey. Probably not since Dynaco manufactured its electronics in Pennsauken has the Garden State enjoyed such riches of analog electronics!
Following my auditioning of Channel D's Lino 2C current-mode phono preamplifier, back in the world of voltage amplification, here's another phono preamp from another company based, like Channel D, in New Jersey. Probably not since Dynaco manufactured its electronics in Pennsauken has the Garden State enjoyed such riches of analog electronics!
A few years ago, turntable manufacturer VPI Industries (footnote 1) hired the talented electronics designer Mike Bettinger to be their director of electrical engineering. Bettinger first came to my…
My music is keeping me alive.
I have terminal cancer, which is like Bergman's chess match with the Grim Reaper: You know you're going to lose, but with skill, determination, and luck, you can delay the inevitable, move by move. Determination is key, because it's all too easy to give up. My music—a collection I've amassed over the last 60 years—inspires me to keep going, to keep listening.
I've spent most of my life trying to keep up with everything new that's happening in the music world, but as cancer weakens me, I listen more to old favorites, exploring the nooks and crannies…
This gig has many perks—but the best one without a doubt is the cool, interesting people I get to "meet."
I should explain the quotation marks. Since starting this job, in April 2019, I haven't gotten out much. Even before the pandemic, I was too busy to do much of anything except edit the magazine. So, many of the interesting people I've "met," I've still never seen in person.
One of those is John Swenson, who has written music reviews for Stereophile since his first contribution, a 1996 review of REM's New Adventures in Hi-Fi. In 1999, he wrote our Recording of the Month review…