Charlap: I don't know—more than that, maybe. It's not that for a jazz musician we just remember E-flat-minor-seven. In my case, I take the whole piece—it is the lyrics, the melody, the harmony, the composer's aesthetic, the jazzman's aesthetic, and all the things in between that shape the vision of the song.
[We listen to "Too Late Now," by Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner, from the Bill Charlap Trio's Notes from New York (2016, Impulse! B0024830-02).]
Matson: I love the way you…
We adjourned to a restaurant for lunch—I'd forewarned Bill Charlap that I would be conducting a Jazz Rorschach Test I'd created for him. Between bites, he gave me quick responses to a list of great songwriters, composers, pianists, and singers I ran by him in no particular order:
Johnny Mercer—Swing. The American Poet. Genius of language. Every word drips off the notes that he writes.
Irving Berlin—America. The center of what it is to be an American songwriter.
Cole Porter—Sexy. The risk-taker, and the great developmental composer.…
Twenty…
Description: D/A processor with 10-element Pulse Array Design DAC and separate 5V power supply. Digital filter length: 49,152 taps operating at 16Fs. Digital inputs: USB Type B, 2 coaxial S/PDIF (BNC jacks), 1 TosLink S/PDIF. Analog outputs: 1 pair unbalanced (RCA). Maximum output: 3V, 2V, 1V, switchable. Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, ±0.2dB. Channel separation: 138dB at 1kHz. Dynamic range: 124dB (A-weighted). THD: 0.0001%, 1kHz at 2.5V into 300 ohms. Noise modulation: "none measurable."
Dimensions: 6.3" (160mm) W by 1.6" (41mm) H by 2.85" (72mm) D.…
Digital Sources: Roon Nucleus+ media server, iPad mini running Roon 1.5; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP disc player; iFi Audio Pro iDSD, Mytek Brooklyn, PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream D/A processors; Z-Systems RDP-1 digital preamplifier (used as digital format converter).
Integrated Amplifiers: Ayre Acoustics EX-8, Cambridge Audio Edge A.
Power Amplifiers: Lamm M1.2 Reference monoblocks with external passive volume control.
Loudspeakers: KEF LS50, Rogers LS3/5a, Wharfedale Diamond 11.2.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Coffee (USB) & Vodka (…
I measured the Chord Electronics Qutest using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"), using both the Audio Precision's optical and electrical digital outputs and USB data sourced from my MacBook Pro running on battery power with Pure Music 3.0 playing WAV and AIFF test-tone files.
Apple's USB Prober utility identified the Chord as "Qutest" from "Chord Electronics Ltd," with the serial number "413-001." The Qutest's USB port operated in the optimal isochronous asynchronous mode. Apple's AudioMIDI utility revealed that, via…
Edvardsen joined NAD in 1976 as its first engineer and second full-time employee after founder Marty Borish (who died in 2017), working out of NAD's London, UK headquarters,…
Cue David Chesky's Rap Symphony 2.0, a reworking of Chesky's original release currently available in download and video form. Back in ancient times—2014 to be exact—Chesky penned the first iteration of his Rap Symphony with the thought of creating a new type of hybrid…
This is one of those rare combinations of a superb recording and a stunning performance. As far as I'm concerned, it is the best Mahler First that Bruno Walter committed to discs during his lifetime, including the last one that he made with the New York Philharmonic. And the fact that this recording is far superior to that accorded Walter when he conducted the New York Philharmonic does not detract one bit from my feeling about this…