Writer: Phil Brett It is a shame how underrated Dinah Washington is, especially amongst the sniffier elements of the jazz clan, because her gusty, gossip influenced voice made her songs of even a mundane standard sound quite wonderful. She may never have been an Ella Fitzgerald or a Billie Holiday but still she has a […]
John Coltrane: The complete 1961 Village Vanguard recordings. Produced by Bob Thiele. Impulse IMPD4-232
Unquestionably John Coltrane stands as a colossus of modern music. With maybe only the exception of Lisa from The Simpsons, every major sax player has been influenced by him. Space limits forces me to forgo any discussion on Lisa Simpson , but what is quite obvious about Coltrane and his standing amongst non-cartoon musicians is […]
Gerard Presencer – Platypus – Linn Records.
Gerard Presencer is probably best known as the young trumpeter who played on the US3 mega hit of “Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)”, although his debut album, “Platypus” might well change that. It is an album, which Presencer hopes will defy what he calls “dogmatic classification” and be considered as representing merely the music, which he likes. […]
Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. Buhaina.
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Buhaina, produced by Orrin Keepnews. BGP records BGPD 1114 Originally released on Prestige in 1973, Buhaina has been re-released by BGP Records, and yes vinyl fans, released on vinyl! Buhaina was me of the four main albums Blakey cut fo Prestige around his time and ever since has been […]
Art Pepper: “So in Love”
Art Pepper: So in Love Produced by John Snyder and Laurie Pepper Analogue productions revival series. APR 3013. “So in Love by Art Pepper”: another release on the Analogue Productions Revival Series; another classy pressing. They seem to have it all to a fine art at Analogue Productions. The lacquer expertly cut by master engineer […]
The Naim Story part II
masters of the universe Naim and Linn together grew very rapidly throughout the Seventies, so by the early Eighties both were becoming quite big fish in a fairly small specialist hi-fi pool. Since both were operating at (and had indeed largely created) the top end of the market, it was pretty inevitable they would start […]
The Naim Story
masters of the universe part I Founded at the beginning of the Seventies, just before the British hifi industry went through its deepest ever recession, Naim Audio has grown steadily and surely ever since. That difficult birth seems to have bred a ruggedness that has proved remarkably resilient to the stop/go economic cycles ever since, […]
AQ Courtney Pine Interview
I like jazz, but I like popular music. So I like to hear a vocal song, for example, it a melody I can hum along to. I like those things, but I like to hear the sax being shattered into 6 million atoms Over the last ten years Courtney Pine has been arguably the most […]
Eros: hybrid electrostatic speakers
Hybrid Electrostatic speakers are becoming popular, offering the ‘best’ of both worlds Speakers come in all shapes and sizes these days. Some prefer the traditional cone-type while others are more interested in developing new ways of moving air. The InnerSound Eros speakers use two types of driver; one electrostatic panel, and a cone-driven sub for […]
Miles Davies/Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings. Mosaic Records MQ11-164
Since their inception in 1982 Mosaic Records have become a byword for quality audiophile jazz releases. No detail is left forgotten or ignored in the pursuit of the Mosaic magic. There is meticulous research and thorough investigation of the Capitol and Blue Note vaults before they even decide which artist is the next to be […]