Monday, May 27, 2013

There's been changes in the old listening room, which has seen some fall-out since the Audio Show. I've cleared some furniture and opened up the space The changes are not quite complete, so I won't go into them yet, but I'll drop a teaser photo in here. I'm sure Bill will have the speakers nailed in very little time.  One thing I will mention is that my TT is now sporting an Audio Note IQ-1 cartridge; a bit expensive but worth every penny. Just a tremendous improvement in sound quality and tracking quality. With the amount of vinyl I listen to, it was the best upgrade I made. One other odd thing: I'm getting back into the Blue Note genre. Couldn't listen to any of that for quite long while, but now I find myself enjoying it once again. Must be a need for comfort food, and maybe some diversity. Going up to Vision Fest, might we see you there?



1) SYMPHONY No.4: Mahler, Solti, Concertgebouw. London LP.
2) HEYDAY: Jagged Sky-Gress, Binney, Monder, Wollesen. Soul Note CD.
3) IN THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON: Geri Allen, Haden, Motian. JMT CD.
4) IMAGES: Sonny Red, Blue Mitchell, Grant Green, etc. Jazzland LP.
5) SPACE & DECORUM: Adriana Holszky, comp. Various orchestras. Aulos LP. Picked this up at a sale. The album is by a contemporary German composer, and it is quite good.
6) MYRIAD: Magda Mayas, Christine Abdelnour. Unsounds CD.
7) HAMMERED: Ches Smith and These Arches. Clean Feed CD.
8) FUHUFFA: Daniel Levin Trio. Clean Feed CD.
9) BLACK UHURU. eponymous. Virgin LP.
10) TRIBUTE TO JOHN COLTRANE: Select Live Under the Sky '87 10th Special. Shorter and Liebman lead the charge, especially the latter. King Records (Japan) LP.
11) LIVE AT THE LIGHTHOUSE, Vol. I: Elvin Jones and Liebman again. Blue Note CD.
12) was there to illuminate the night: Trespass Trio. Clean Feed CD.
13) SYMPHONY No.8: Mahler, Tennstedt, London P.O. EMI.
14) BARCELONA: Joe Henderson. Enja CD.
15) ODE TO THE LIVING TREE: Cyrille. Evidence CD.
16) WINDOW STEPS: Pierre Favre. ECM CD.
17) LIVE AT THE PUBLIC THEATER (NY 1980): Gil Evans. Trio Records (Japan) LP.
18) MINGUS DYNASTY: Mingus. Columbia Special Collection. LP. Mingus in some outlandish gear, looks like Sun Ra.
19) A TRIBUTE TO ED BLACKWELL:  Old and New Dreams. Black Saint LP.
20) BROTHERS IN ARMS: Dire Straits. Warner Bros LP.
21) THE CONGREGATION: Johnny Griffin. Blue Note LP.
22) PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION: Moussorgsky-Ravel, Toscanini, NBC S.O., RCA LP.
23) THE UNREPEATABLE QUARTER: CALGARY 2012: Jack Wright, et al. Bug Incision CD.
24) TIRESIAS: Louis Belegonis, Bisio, Murray. Porter CD.
25) NEXT: Bynum, Morris, Schoenbeck. Porter CD.
26) SYMPHONY No.4: Tchaikovsky. Yuri Temirkanov, Royal P.O. RCA CD.
27) PLATFORM 1: TAKES OFF: Vandermark, Broo, et al. Clean Feed CD.
28) UNIVERSAL SOUNDS: Odean Pope, Marshall Allen (!), et al. Porter CD. Marshal actually sounds pretty good on his EVI; never thought I'd say that.
29) BROWN RICE: Don Cherry. Horizon LP.
30) PLAYING: Old and New Dreams. ECM LP.
31) SOLO AT DOBIALAB: Brotzmann. Dobialabel CD. Brotz is fine, but the amount of talking during his performance is surprising, and diminished somewhat the enjoyment of the performance.
32) SPECIAL DETAIL: Gerry Hemingway Quintet. hat Art CD.
33) THE MUSIC OF LOU HARRISON: Various performers. Phoenix CD. I've listened to this album a few times, and just don't find much there. It's all in the "Pacific Overtures"/Madame Butterfly style.
34) YOU ARE (VARIATIONS): Steve Reich. Nonesuch Box. CD 3.
35) DAYDREAM NATION: Sonic Youth. DGC CD.
36) LONG STORY SHORT: Brotzmann, et al. Trost Box, Discs 1 & 2. Hot!
37) SYMPHONY 1 & 2: Lutoslawski, comp.& Cond. Polish National S.O.
38) STRING QUARTETS 3, 6: Shostakovich. Beethoven Qt. Consonance CD.
39) THE CLOWN. Mingus. Atlantic CD.
40) COSMO SUN CONNECTION: Sun Ra. ReR CD. Meh!
41) JOURNEY: Trio X. CIMP CD.
42) COMPLETE 1961 VILLAGE VANGUARD RECORDINGS:  Coltrane, Dolphy, et al. Discs 1 & 2. Hot! Who is Garvin Bushell?  Impulse Box.
43) THREE BABIES: Beresford, Kuchen, Solberg. 19 CD.
44) DAY IN PICTURES: Bauder, Wooley, Sanchez, Ajemian, Fujiwara. Clean Feed CD.
45) PSYCHOMAGIC COMBINATION: Leandre and Italian trio. Setola CD.
46) LONG STORY SHORT: Disc 3: The initial long "vocal" piece by Hano is a drag, the rest is fine.
47) SYMPHONY No.4: Shostakovich, Gergiev, Kirov Orch, Philips CD.
48) LONG STORY SHORT: Brotz and Hairy Bones and Chicago Tentet. Trost. Hot!
49) STRING SYMPHONY, SUNDAY MORNINGS, EAGLES: Ned Rorem, comp. Robert Shaw, Louis Lane, Atlanta S.O. On repeat listening, liking it a bit more. New World CD.
50) MAD DOGS: Guy, Fernandez, Parker, Gustaffson. Disc 4. No Business. Why Disc 4? Because this "box set" has the absolute worst packaging I've ever seen-- even worse than the Ictus sets I'm always complaining about. Disc 4 looked damage--and it was! I talked to Phil and he said he has been getting complaints from other customers about damaged discs (they come loose from the little spongey sprockets holding them to something that looks like the insert to an LP).  Phil wrote to No Business and copied me on the email. Anyway, No Business is supposedly sending me a replacement CD.  What I could get of the music did sound hot. Try to buy this at VF or somewhere else you can see it personally. It does not ship well.
51) BLUE TRAIN: Coltrane. BN CD.
52) FISH: Derek Bailey, Shoji Hano. Modern Music CD.
53) THE CLASSIC QUARTET: COMPLETE IMPULSE STUDIO RECORDINGS:  Discs 1 &2.
54) SOUNDS OF LIBERATION: Byard Lancaster, Jamal, et al. Porter CD. Ech.
55) CHAMBER MUSIC 1955-64: Apartment House. Matchless CD.
56) SOLO LIVE AT GASTHOF HEIDELBERG LOPPEM 2005: Braxton. Locus Loppem box. Disc 1. Yes indeed.
57) CLASSIC QUARTET: Disc 3. All very fine, but one can see why Coltrane had to jump.
58) LONG STORY SHORT: Disc 5. Really liked this box set with the exception of the Heino piee on Disc 3. Isn't the artwork by Brotz compelling?
59) HORSES: Patti Smith. Arista CD.
60) CROSSWORD PUZZLE: Double Duo, Mengelberg, Satoko Fujii, et al. Jasrac CD.
61) PHILOMEL: Milton Babbitt, comp. Various artists.
62) THE VIOLA IN MY LIFE, FALSE RELATIONSHIP, WHY PATTERNS: Morton Feldman, comp, plays piano, various performers. CRI CD.  Greatness.
63) DIALECT FLOURESCENT: Steve Lehman. Pi CD.
64) WATERLOO 1985: Parker, Rutherford, Lytton, Schneider. Emanem CD.
65) ANAYA: Indigo Trio. Rogue Art CD.
66) SENILITA: Milo Fine, Viv Corringham, et al. Emanem CD. Had this laying about for a while, tried it and found it rather amazing.
67) HAUNTING THE SPIRITS INSIDE THEM: Golia, Leandre, Filiano. Music & Arts CD. Worthwhile.
68) SIX STANDARDS (QUINTET) 1996: Braxton (on piano!), Dave Douglas, Pavone, Whitecage, Warren Smith. Splasc(H) CD.  Not your usual Braxton ensemble,
69) SOLOS EAST AND WEST: Coxhill (mostly) and Haslam. Slam CD. Great!
70) ASYLA & OTHER PIECES: Thomas Ades, comp. Rattle,, cond, City of Birmingham SO. EMI CD. Interesting contemporary composer.
71) A NIGHT IN TUNISIA: Art Blakey and Jazz Messengers. Blue Note LP.
72) ROUGH 'N TUMBLE: Turrentine. Blue Note LP.
73) TIME REMEMBERED: Bill Evans Trio (Israels, Bunker). Milestone 2LP.
74) BILLIE HOLLIDAY ON VERVE 1946-59). LP 7 (from a 10 LP box set).
75) VASISTAS: Denzler, Guionney, et al. Creative Sources CD.
76) TRIO WITH INTERLUDES: Parker, Wales, Coxon, Sanders. Treader CD.
77) BREAK UP SONGS: Deerhoof. Polyvinyl Records LP.  Really enjoy this group. Lovely white vinyl too!  You can see the new AN IQ1 doing its thing too, lol.



78) GOIN' UP: Freddy Hubbard. Blue Note -Toshiba LP.
79) SINFONIETTA by Henry Cowell, and MELORHYTHMIC DRAMAS by Carlos Surinanch Louisville Orch, Jorge Mester, cond. Louisville Orchestra First Edition LP.
80) DONOVAN's GREATEST HITS: Donovan. Epic LP. Used to pooh-pooh Donovan's songs, ahem "back in the day," but they hold up pretty well.
81) SYMPHONY No.4: Mahler, Karajan, Berlin Phil, DGG LP.
82) CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA: Bartok, Reiner, Chicago S.O.  RCA "shaded dog" LP.
83) LOTTE LENYA SINGS BERLIN: Lotte Lenya. Rather compelling voice. Columbia -6-eyes LP.
84) ELVIN!  Elvin Jones. Riverside/Victor Japan LP.
85) GENERAL GRAMAFON: Doneda, Lazro, et al. NATO LP.
86) THE CLASH: eponymous. Epic LP (Epic had some fine artists).
87) ALADDIN SANE: David Bowie. RCA LP.
88) 4, 5, & 6: Jackie McLean. New Jazz LP. A great musician from start to last.
89) HANK MOBLEY: eponymous. Blue Note/Classic Records 200g. With the new kit, this one really sings.
90) THE CATBIRD SINGS: John Lindberg Ensemble. Black Saint CD.

Looking over the list-- what a horrid mishmash!  It also occurs to me I might be spending too much time listening to music, LOL.  Anyway, hope you like the pictures.

4 comments:

  1. Wow -- is that Ayre electronics with Thiels? Congrats!

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  2. You're good! I knew you would hit on the Thiels. These are CS 2.4. They are clearing them out since the 2.7 has arrived, so got them for half price. Really did not see them coming but they are formidable speakers, well beyond what I have had. The CDP is an Audio Note 1.1, still breaking in but excellent sound, very analogue. Ayre AX-7e. I might be switching the Ayre out for something with more power, but that part is a muddle right now. I'm telling you, the AN cartridge is amazingly good.

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  3. A few comments. Phil has been bitching about the horrible packaging of the Barry Guy box for the past two months. I have to agree: For the cost of that set, I'd expect much better packaging.

    As for the Brotzmann-curated box, you should reconsider the Haino. Thought that was one of the standouts. The 50-minute thing with Bill Laswell. Blech. Can't stand Laswell.

    No VF for me this year.

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  4. Have not listened to the Brotz box but I've been on a Last Exit kick lately and I think you are right about Laswell. He is kinda like a Guitar Store tech who is trying to impress you with his pedals and playing in 7/13 measure

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