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What's your favorite record? It's a simple enough question, but one that dedicated music consumers never tire of asking each other. And so, every year, we ask the distinguished writing staff of this magazine to choose a pair of favorites and tell us a little of what seems so compelling about them. Music in any recorded format is fair game, the only restriction being that it must still be available, if only in the deep, dark recesses of the Internet. Of course, favorites come and go in minds and hearts—speaking of dark recesses—but these are Stereophile's takes on the essential music of the…
David R. Adler
Cal Collins: By Myself
Cal Collins, guitar
Concord Jazz CJ-119 (LP). 1980. Frank Dorritie, prod.; Phil Edwards, eng. AAA. TT: 35:88
The late Cincinnati plectrist sounds either like a tight big band, a bebop combo, or a virtuoso pianist on this miraculous, out-of-print album of solo guitar. Melody and counterpoint, harmonic ingenuity, unflappable swing at any tempo: Collins puts it all across with a pure tone, lightly miked and amplified, that lets his Benedetto archtop sing and breathe. He offers blues, rubato ballads ("Stairway to the…
Thomas Conrad
Stefano Battaglia: Pelagos
Stefano Battaglia, piano, prepared piano
ECM 2570/71 (2 CDs). 2017. Manfred Eicher, prod.; Stefano Amerio, eng. DDD. TT: 2:11:59
With regard to R2D4 eligibility, my rule has been that albums are like wine: They must be allowed to age before they can achieve distinction. Stefano Battaglia's new solo recording is a necessary exception. It is a single imaginative arc, motivated by the plight of the refugees who have been flooding into Europe from Africa and the Middle East, fleeing war, oppression, and famine. Many…
Michael Fremer
Cécile McLorin Salvant: Dreams and Daggers
Cécile McLorin Salvant, vocals; Aaron Diehl, piano; Paul Sikivie, bass, arr.; Lawrence Leathers, drums. With: Sullivan Fortner, piano; Catalyst String Quartet.
Mack Avenue MAC 1120 (3 LPs). 2017. Cécile McLorin Salvant, Al Pryor, prods.; Todd Whitelock, Damon Whittemore, engs.; Kevin Gray, disc cutting. DDA. TT: 112:11
Jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant "arrived" by winning the prestigious Thelonious Monk Competition (after almost not submitting an entry), after which she released two superb…
David Lander
George Crumb: Complete Crumb Edition, Vol. 18
The Yellow Moon of Andalusia, Eine kleine Mitternachtmusik, Celestial Mechanics, Yesteryear
Tony Arnold, soprano; Marcantonio Barone, piano; Steven Beck, Susan Grace (Quattro Mani), piano four hands; Bernie Brink, piano; David Nelson, William Kerrigan, percussion
Bridge 9476 (CD). 2016. David Starobin, prod.; Adam Abeshouse, eng. DDD. TT: 67:56
Complete Crumb Edition, Vol. 13
American Songbook II: A Journey Beyond Time. American Songbook IV: The Winds of Destiny.
Barbara…
Stephen Mejias
Aldous Harding: Party
4AD 4AD008 (LP/CD/WAV). 2017. John Parish, prod.; Oliver Baldwin, eng.; Ali Chant, Parish, mix. DDA? TT: 38:45
The album's title is perhaps misleading. There are no brightly colored balloons or cràpe-paper streamers here. Aldous Harding is demented. Her voice is a tiny bird on fire, then a playful poltergeist—sometimes terrifying, always enchanting. "He took me to a clearing," she calmly sings in the title track. "The grass was warm / And the air was soft / He had me sit like a baby / I looked just 12 / With his thumb in…
Herb Reichert
Mascara Quartet: Barco Negro
Polona Udovic, vocal, violin; Timi Krajnc, guitar; Matjaz BoZo Banovic, bandone¢n; Mitja Rezman, bass guitar; Vid Usenicnik, percussion; Bozo Banovic, Peter Urek, Sasa Bastallec, arr.
Sazas Biem VVE LP 001 (LP). 2017. AAA. TT: 43:03
Imagine Argentine tango, Portuguese fado, and Latin milonga, all wrapped in artful musical extrapolations—from Slovenia. Picture the tall, enchanting presence of Polona Udovic doing her best to channel the sorrowful spirit of renowned fadista Amália Rodrigues singing "Barco Negro."…
"Richard Vandersteen doesn't look like a typical loudspeaker designer," wrote Ken Kessler when he interviewed Vandersteen in the July 1988 issue of Stereophile, adding "His presence suggests somebody who'd be played by Gene Hackman." But Richard Vandersteen is one of the most successful loudspeaker designers working in high-performance audio. His Model 2, in its various incarnations, has been a best-seller since its introduction in 1977 and the Model 7 Mk.II, which John Atkinson reviewed in May 2016, is a ground-breaking, full-range design.
JA talked speakers with Richard at the 2018…
In 2016, when I received Oh Boy!, the first solo album from mezzo-soprano Marianne Crebassa, I thought, "What a cute title for a compilation of male operatic roles that were written for female singers"—"trouser roles" in operatic parlance—and put it aside. Now, having heard Crebassa's newest album, Secrets: French Songs, I realize that I made a big mistake. Crebassa is a major artist, with a sound and temperament that make Secrets a must-listen for lovers of vocal artistry.
Crebassa's superbly vocalized rendition of Debussy's disarmingly sensual Trois Chansons de Bilitis (Three Songs of…
It is a given these days that the Grammy Awards telecast has devolved into a not very interesting TV variety show. And that most of the really interesting awards are given out off-camera the day before. Entertainers rather than musicians have become the focus of the entire affair. And while the annual grumbling about who did and did not deserve their award is nothing new; trends over the past several years are growing downright embarrassing. Bruno Mars over Kendrick Lamar? And Leonard Cohen winning Best Rock Performance?
In the They-Got-It-Right category, War on Drugs deserved the Best…