Like his 2013 forerunner Songs I Like a Lot, it features the Frankfurt Radio Big Band, augmented by keyboardist Gary Versace (as well as, this time out, Uri Caine), with vocals by Theo Bleckmann and Kate McGarry. The tracks are covers of widely varied pop songs—Pete Seeger's "How Can…
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We seem to be going through a big-band renaissance. In recent months, I've hailed the latest albums by Maria Schneider's Orchestra, Steve Coleman's Council of Balance, Ryan Truesdell's Gil Evans Project, and now—in some ways, the most adventurous—John Hollenbeck's Songs We Like a Lot (on the Sunnyside label).
Left to right at the "Vinyl Resurrection" seminar: Nina Palmer (Ross Ellis Printing), Steve Sheldon (Rainbo Records), Michael Kurtz (Record Store Day), Bryan Burkert (The Sound Garden), Matthew Johnson (Fat Possum Records), and Mark Piro (Spark/Razor & Tie).
The New Music Seminar 2015 was a three-day (June 21,22, and 23) conference held in New York that invited music industry insiders to dialog on the current state and potential future of the music delivery business.
Right away I knew I wasn't at CES. The people here in the lobby of the Wyndham New Yorker Hotel were mostly…
Established in 1980 by Victor Sima as Sima Electronics, Canadian audio company Moon by Simaudio Ltd. celebrates its 35th year in the audio business in 2015—or, as its ads say, "35 years of passion." To mark the event, Simaudio had a party at Executive Stereo, their Toronto dealer (see photo above). It was a fairly low-key event, with a handful of Toronto-area audio journalists—including yours truly—and representatives of Simaudio attending. (Jon Iverson wrote about Simaudio's 35th anniversary in his 2015 CES coverage.)
Over the years, there have been changes in the ownership of Simaudio…
Updating an update
Remarkably, it has been 10 years since the German manufacturer EMT reissued their classic 997 "banana" tonearm of the 1970s. And now, in the same manner that Darryl Jones has been the Rolling Stones' bassist for almost as long as Bill Wyman held the job—a mind-blowing fact if ever there was one—the day draws near when the EMT 997 reissue will have been on the market longer than the original was. Where has the time gone?
The 997 tonearm was introduced in 1974 as a companion for the then-well-established EMT 927 broadcast turntable, whose bigger-than-average (17…
The Sheffield Drum Record
Improvisations by Jim Keltner and Ron Tutt (drums)
Sheffield LAB-14 (LP) (1981). Reissued as FIM DXD 001 (CD) (2010). Bill Schnee, Doug Sax, prods.; Lincoln Mayorga, exec. prod.; Steve Haselton, Bill Schnee, engs. TT: 13:49.
Improvisations by Jim Keltner and Ron Tutt (drums)
Sheffield LAB-14 (LP) (1981). Reissued as FIM DXD 001 (CD) (2010). Bill Schnee, Doug Sax, prods.; Lincoln Mayorga, exec. prod.; Steve Haselton, Bill Schnee, engs. TT: 13:49.
There was a time when drum records were as common as records of steam locomotives and thunderstorms. It has been so long since anyone has tackled any of them that a lot of technology has gone over the dam, but they are precisely the kind of program material which illuminate the state of the audio art like nothing else. Thus, Sheffield…
Before hitting the Refresh key on last month's column, which was dedicated to the challenges one encounters when evaluating audio cables and other accessories, I'd like to share with you a true story: a cautionary tale, as it were, about the hazards of writing reviews for a living.
Seven or eight years ago, just as spring was returning to upstate New York, I made my annual trek to Montreal for Salon Son et Image: one of my favorite audio shows for a number of reasons, not the least being the fact that I can travel there by train.
My time at SSI went well, until the morning I…
The sonic consequences appeared to be a surprising if subtle increase in musical drive—surprising because the 997 reissue was already so good in that respect. Yet when I used the newest sample of the EMT arm to play some of my favorite records by Dexter Gordon, David Grisman, and Bill Monroe—or some beloved 78s by Louis Armstrong, Django Reinhardt, and Red Allen (footnote 3)—it was easier than ever to interpret what I was hearing not as mere sound but as music, being made on the spot by people who leaned in to every note. It also seemed that the improvement in the 997's bearing housing…
Most new preamplifier-processors now fall into one of two categories. First are the fully featured models, with ever-growing numbers of channels to support such immersive surround-sound formats as Dolby Atmos, Aureo3D, and DTS-X. An example is Marantz's 13.2-channel AV-8802, which replaces the 11.2-channel AV-8801—a sample of which I've owned for barely a year and use only in 5.2! The second category is that of such high-end models as Classé's Sigma and NAD's M17, which offer only 7.1 or 7.2 channels, and from which nonessential features have been trimmed in favor of audiophile-grade circuit…
Straight-through sonics
The straight-through sound of the XMC-1, from both analog and digital sources, was clean and open—not bright, accented, or distorted in any way, and with no added warmth. Overall, it was more neutral than friendly, which I count as a plus. With all its options for tweaking the sound—including tone controls, parametric EQ, and Dirac Live—it was reassuring that the XMC-1 begins with a clean palette. I played a wide array of sources through many inputs, and the XMC-1 handled everything with aplomb, including PCM up to 24-bit/192kHz and DSD.
The straight-through sound of the XMC-1, from both analog and digital sources, was clean and open—not bright, accented, or distorted in any way, and with no added warmth. Overall, it was more neutral than friendly, which I count as a plus. With all its options for tweaking the sound—including tone controls, parametric EQ, and Dirac Live—it was reassuring that the XMC-1 begins with a clean palette. I played a wide array of sources through many inputs, and the XMC-1 handled everything with aplomb, including PCM up to 24-bit/192kHz and DSD.
Dirac Live…
As an audio scribe, the fiercest demons I wrestle are beliefs—yours and mine; those of my friends, my editors, my fellow reviewers; and those of the engineers and promoters of the products I write about. Sometimes the force of these rabidly held and (mostly) conflicting beliefs paralyzes me with self-doubt: What do I know? What makes me qualified to listen and judge?
At the start of every review, the white noise of these diverse creeds fills my head and prevents me from listening in a relaxed and open state of mind. If the product performs amiably right out of the box, I eventually…