First off, those expectations. After reading Alex Ross's critique of…
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Nominated for a 2017 Grammy Award for "Best Classical Compendium," ECM's Gesualdo pairs arrangements of the haunting music of Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa (1566–1613) with Gesualdo-inspired works by living composers Brett Dean (b. 1961) and Erkki-Sven Tüür (b. 1959). If at least one of those contemporary works, performed by Tõnu Kaljuste's justly famed Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, is not exactly what you'd expect, the "compendium" as a whole is unfailingly beautiful and engaging.
New York City upright bassist Chris Lightcap is an excellent musician with an eye towards vintage environments. He lives with his family in a gorgeous Art Deco building, covets his wife's collection of 1950s and '60s-era cameras, has his own amazing collection of classic electric basses and guitars, and his comfortable apartment was once home to a Mafia hit-man.
"The hit-man had a weird secret compartment cut into the floor," Chris laughs. "And what can I say? I like old things. I was obsessed with getting a 1950s Formica table for the kitchen. My wife wasn't into it. I don't know why I…
Naxos, owner of online classical recording retailer ArkivMusic.com, has now launched ArkivJazz.com. A one-stop shopping destination for an international coterie of jazz lovers who seek CDs, vinyl, and DVDs, the site sells recordings from "all labels, major and independent." In addition to exclusive interviews and editorials, ArkivJazz also offers a VIP subscription that includes free US shipping and member-only specials, plus a complementary subscription to Downbeat magazine.
In a conference call with the trio responsible for the site—Jeff Van Driel, president of ArkivMusic;…
The $499 NAD 5000 looks nothing like most inexpensive CD players. Its plastic trim doesn't look cheap. It doesn't look expensive either, but it certainly won't be embarrassed to show its face in polite company. The front panel is neatly arranged and easy to interpret and use. It's the smallest and lightest of the present company of players—the only obvious physical reflections of its low-budget heritage. Inside, however, NAD has done a lot to put your money where it counts.
The 5000's power supply uses a single transformer driving eight individual supplies. Among these are separately…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Single-box CD player. Frequency response: 5Hz–20kHz ±0.2dB. THD: 0.002%. S/N: 106dB (A-weighted, de-emphasis off). D/A converter: MASH (1-bit, Pulse Width Modulation). Weight: 9.5 lbs.
Dimensions: 17.2" (435mm) W by 11.8" (300mm) D by 3.3" (84mm) H.
Price: $499 (1990); no longer available (2017). Approximate number of dealers: 350.
Manufacturer: NAD (USA) Lincolnwood, Ltd., Norwood, MA 02062 (1990). NAD Electronics International, 633 Granite Court, Pickering, Ontario L1W 3K1, Canada (2017). Tel: (905) 831-6555. Fax: (905) 831-6936. Web:…
Sidebar 2: Reference System
All of the players were auditioned in a system which consisted of the Jeff Rowland Design Group Consonance preamp, Threshold SA/12e monoblock power amplifiers, and Apogee Stage loudspeakers (on their optional stands). The connection from preamp to all players was via 1.5m lengths of AudioQuest Lapis. Balanced Cardas Hexlink cable was used from preamp to amplifiers. The Stages were bi-wired with Symo cable.
Comparisons were performed with the CAL Aria Mk.III, Mod Squad Prism II, and the Sony CDP-77ES C Dplayers and the Meridian 203 D/A processor.…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I checked the AC voltage from chassis ground to main (house) ground to determine the correct line-cord orientation. The NAD measured just over 10V (vs just under 19V the "wrong" way—and the plug is not "keyed," footnote 1); this voltage will be shunted to ground when the player is connected to a properly grounded preamplifier.
In order to determine the cause of the slight tracking problems encountered with the player, I checked it with the dropout tests on the Pierre Verany Digital Test CD. The results were perhaps indicative of the problem but not…
1996 was a banner year for Ray Davies—one of the most talented writers and conceptualists rock has ever produced. After more than 30 years with The Kinks, the group he has led off and on along with his younger brother Dave, Ray was enjoying a new career as a solo artist. His keen wit and storytelling ability enabled him to take his remarkable one-man play, 20th Century Man, to packed houses and critical acclaim all over the United States. The play, based loosely on his equally remarkable fictionalized autobiography, X-Ray, provided a unique insight into the forces that have shaped Ray…
Sadly, Face to Face is simply impossible to come by, leaving a cavernous gap in material between Kontroversy and the extraordinarily quirky albums that followed: Something Else, The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, and Arthur (Or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire).
Something Else is the last of the Talmy-produced albums, but it's evident that Ray was already calling most of the shots, writing intensely personal songs based on memories from childhood—like "Harry Rag," a title inspired by his father's slang phrase for cigarettes; "End of the Season," with its…
The critic Gary Giddins once wrote that Kenny Dorham is "practically synonymous with underrated," so don't feel ashamed if you've never heard of this golden-toned trumpeter, who came up in the 1940s alongside the bebop giants, toiling for a decade as a sideman—to Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Art Blakey, and Max Roach—before leading his own group and, even then, rarely on the front line alone.
Quiet Kenny, a 1960 album on the New Jazz label (the precursor to Prestige Records), is the only Dorham album that features no other horn player. It's just his…