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Thursday, November 21, 2024

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: Written by: Joseph Taylor; Category: Recording of the Month; Created: 01 May 2012

The Voice that Is! Impulse!/Universal Music/Analogue Productions CIPJ 74 SA
Format: Hybrid SACD

Musical Performance: ***1/2
Sound Quality: ****1/2
Overall Enjoyment: ****

The posthumous reputation of jazz singer Johnny Hartman (1923-1983) got a boost in 1995, when Clint Eastwood chose some of his recordings for the soundtrack to The Bridges of Madison County. Hartman had never been a household name. Hardcore jazz fans probably know him best for John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, the sole album by the saxophonist to feature a singer. Coltrane knew Hartman from their brief stints in Dizzy Gillespie’s late-1940s big band, and in 1963 he brought the singer to Impulse! Records, where Hartman would record two more LPs.

: Written by: Rad Bennett; Category: Recording of the Month; Created: 01 April 2012

Tania Maria: "Tempo" Naïve NJ621711
Format: CD

Musical Performance: *****
Sound Quality: ****
Overall Enjoyment: *****

You might have heard of Tania Maria as a Brazilian bombshell whose fusion performances have been spicing up jazz clubs and recordings for 30-plus years. On this album she has just one partner, double bassist Eddie Gomez, known to many for his work with Bill Evans. Tania Maria is earthier than ever on Tempo, on which her singing, piano playing, and composing skills can be easily heard.

: Written by: Joseph Taylor; Category: Recording of the Month; Created: 01 March 2012

Cat Stevens "Tea for the Tillerman" A&M/Analogue Productions CAPP 9135 SA
Format: Hybrid SACD

Musical Performance: ****
Sound Quality: *****
Overall Enjoyment: ****½

Tea for the Tillerman was Cat Stevens’s fourth album, and his second with producer Paul Samwell-Smith. Stevens had enjoyed some success in England in 1966 with his first LP, Matthew and Son (Decca), but had been dissatisfied with the production of his second, New Masters, the following year. He was leaning toward a simpler, folk-rock sound, and his producer had made an overly elaborate record that didn’t even chart. After a lengthy recuperation from tuberculosis in 1969, Stevens changed record labels (Island in Europe, A&M in the US), released Mona Bone Jakon in July 1970, and then, just four months later, became an international star with the release of Tea for the Tillerman.

: Written by: Rad Bennett; Category: Recording of the Month; Created: 01 February 2012

Getz/Gilberto Verve/Analogue Productions CVRJ8545 SA
Format: Stereo SACD/CD

Musical Performance: ****1/2
Sound Quality: ****
Overall Enjoyment: ****1/2

In the early 1960s, after tenor saxophonist Stan Getz heard Brazilian jazz played with a new beat called bossa nova (Portuguese for “new trend”), he and guitarist Charlie Byrd collaborated on the album Jazz Samba (1962). Having gotten a taste of bossa nova in the soundtrack of the mesmerizing Brazilian film Black Orpheus (1959), US listeners and musicians were primed for something new and innovative, and Jazz Samba was one of those rare jazz albums that topped the pop charts.

: Written by: Joseph Taylor; Category: Recording of the Month; Created: 01 January 2012

Further Explorations Concord Jazz CJA-33364-02
Format: CD

Musical Performance: ****½
Sound Quality: ****
Overall Enjoyment: ****

Chick Corea’s Further Explorations echoes the title of Bill Evans’s Explorations, his 1961 recording with Paul Motian and Scott LaFaro for Riverside Records. Motian, who died late last year, is on hand for this live recording with Corea and bassist Eddie Gomez, who played with Evans for 11 years. The trio worked together to choose material from Evans’s discography for a series of live performances at New York’s Blue Note in May 2010. In September 2011, Universal Music in Japan released this two-disc set of selections from those performances, and Concord has now made it available in the US.

: Written by: Jason Thorpe; Category: For the Record; Created: 15 October 2024

In the world of analog accessories, there are entire catalogs of stuff you didn’t know you needed. Of course, I know there’s a distinction between want and need. We humans really only need food, water, shelter, and companionship. A turntable is a want. Heck, any form of hi-fi is a want.

: Written by: Jason Thorpe; Category: For the Record; Created: 15 August 2024

In my August 1 editorial, I talked about the recent arrivals and departures in my review system. It’s been uncharacteristically variable lately, which has made reviewing a challenge. To make this variability work, I’ve been listening pretty much non-stop, and it’s been hard work. Oh boo-hoo, you might be thinking. Poor Jason—he’s got to listen to music all day. World’s smallest violin, etc.

: Written by: Jason Thorpe; Category: For the Record; Created: 15 June 2024

My VPI Prime Signature has been in my system for six years now, ever since I reviewed it back in 2018. After I finished the review, I agonized over my next steps. I’d owned a Pro-Ject RPM-series turntable since 2004, starting with the RPM 9, which I bought after I’d finished that review. Then came the RPM 10 in 2007, followed by the RPM 10 Carbon in 2017. Those turntables had made me an honest man three times over, and I really, really enjoyed my time with them.

: Written by: Jason Thorpe; Category: For the Record; Created: 15 April 2024

Curtis Counce, and that album cover!

I’ve always loved You Get More Bounce with Curtis Counce! by the Curtis Counce Group. It’s a delightfully easy, loping album, full of smooth, juicy lyricism, almost totally absent of the paid-by-the-note speed-bop that often leaves me feeling cold. But it’s not so laid-back that it’s going in reverse. Rather, it’s a midway blend of West Coast chardonnay and Chicago barrel whiskey. There’s some wonderful soloing going on here—Miles meets Ben Webster without the drug addictions. The arrival of the Craft Recordings reissue of this criminally underappreciated album really sent me down a rabbit hole.

: Written by: Jason Thorpe; Category: For the Record; Created: 15 February 2024

The phono cable is the most critical piece of wire in your audio system. I make this statement with certainty. In North America, power cords carry an alternating current at 120V. Speaker cables may need to carry a few dozen volts. Line-level interconnects throw up to about 2V. But the phono cable? A low-output moving coil squeaks out somewhere around 0.5mV. Spin that number up to a value in volts and you get 0.0005V.