AQ’s German corresponded reports on his “unforgettable” love from Italy. My long encounter with the Viva Audio Egoista 2A3 headphone amp, Christian Bayer. A live performance is our only reference Amedeo Schembri Do you remember when you met the love of your life for the first time? Looked into her eyes and felt butterflies all … Read more
AQ’s Jazz editor, Phill Brett raises the spirits in these dark times from the BeBop music of Charlie Parker, with mono recordings transcending the times from the 40s to our times today. great music, like all art and culture, can bring light to darkness, raise the spirits and to give hope This August, is the … Read more
VAC 452iQ MUSICBLOC AMP Audio enthusiasts and music lovers may ask themselves the existential question, why are we here? Fundamentally it is the pleasure, the emotional reward of music live or recorded. Our journey from the inception of AQ back in the late 90’s was to get a little closer to the sound of live … Read more
ALBERT VON SCHWEIKERT: Portrait of an American speaker artist AQ magazine explores with a new series of journal and magazine articles on the craft of audio made-in America today. No better place to commence than with the exceptional loudspeakers by Von Schweikert Audio. Albert von Schweikert “All about the emotions of the music”, Albert Von … Read more
AQ jazz writer eulogises his more modern 1979 year of pop culture as seminal to his tastes and creation of the habit of buying vinyl to the cost of his pocket. Certain years stand out in pop’s history – 1956, 62, 67 and 77 for example, ones which loom large in the music pantheon, but I would like to offer 1979 … Read more
AQ special music culture report by Phil Brett Civil rights movement The perception and appreciation of music, as with any artform, can change when the time and context it is experienced changes. Of course sometimes it’s purely personal taste – one person’s challenging and invigorating free jazz, is another person’s headache-inducing pips and squeaks. (For … Read more
John Coltrane 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 … Read more
Gerard Presencer 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 … Read more
Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers 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 for Prestige around his … Read more
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 … Read more