by Audiophile Audition | Dec 27, 2017 | Jazz CD Reviews, Pop/Rock/World CD Reviews
Lewis Porter-Phil Scarff Group – Three Minutes to Four [TrackList follows] – Whaling City Sound WCS 100 (distr. by Naxos), 73:19 [8/25/17] ****:
Not your typical world jazz release.
(Lewis Porter – piano; Phil Scarff – tenor, soprano and sopranino saxophones, tamboura; John Funkhouser – bass; Bertram Lehmann – drums)
The best jazz takes listeners to all points of the compass. The material on the Three Minutes to Four CD by the Lewis Porter-Phil Scarff Group certainly puts a lot into 73 minutes. The contemporary jazz incorporates or is influenced by Ghanaian music, Indian ragas, Western classical music, bird calls, and fellow jazz musicians. There’s more as well, and yet it all has a natural, organic flow. The quartet consists of pianist Porter (who heads Rutgers University’s jazz history program and has recorded with Dave Liebman, Gary Bartz and Marc Ribot), saxophonist Scarff (who has extensive experience in Indian classical music as well as jazz), bassist John Funkhouser (who is on the faculty at Boston’s Berklee College of Music and has appeared with Joe Lovano, Bobby Watson and Rudresh Mahanthappa), and drummer Bertram Lehmann (who also teaches at Berklee and has also worked with Liebman as well as Randy Brecker, Anat Cohen and others). Together these four artists shift from conventional jazz to 12-tone music to classical Indian material, but all enhanced through a jazz lens.
The wide-ranging material is split between single tunes and suites. One of the highlights in the album’s first half is the two-part “Bageshri-Bageshwari,” which includes a two-minute introduction followed by a lengthy 9:32 main section. The piece expounds on a North Indian classical raga, hence the Indian aspects heard at the tune’s beginning. But after a few minutes, the foursome break into a punchy, swinging mannerism fronted by Scarff’s higher-register soprano sax, Porter’s rhythmical comping, and the fast-paced bass and drums. The CD’s middle portion has another notable medley, the “Skies of South Africa Suite,” which opens with the brief “Bird Songs of Hermanus,” a slightly dissonant cut with an improvisation based on bird calls heard in a nature preserve in a coastal South African village. The longer segment, the 4:40 “Branches in the Trees,” has a loping quality accentuated by Scarff’s tenor sax, and is centered on a rhythmic and melodic fractal treatment of a phrase from an Indian classical raga. Instead of focusing on a fixed tonal element, the group expands and contracts the musical patterns. The result is variable, elaborate and complex, and ubiquitously forward-thinking. The CD concludes with two more medleys. The six-minute “Serially Retro Suite” consists of two compositions (“Dozens not Baker’s” and “Retro Cells”) which are divergent but oddly complementary tracks constructed on 12-tone rows. This is not standard jazz fare, but the quartet conveys a light swing feel to this knotty work. The album ends with “Raga Bhairavi,” which is often found as a closing statement in Indian classical performances. After a 90-second traditional Indian intro, the group charges through an eight-minute second part which brings jazz to the forefront. Scarff changes the raga design from a 16-beat cycle to a six-beat cycle and adds a bass line. The outcome is a grooving jazz number with an Indian/Asian underpinning. Scarff and Porter both slip in memorable solos, while drums and bass sustain an escalating beat.
Western classical music is most evident on Porter’s five-minute “Olivier,” which Porter penned in 1998 as a dedication to French composer Olivier Messiaen. Porter previously recorded this with Liebman. Porter’s theme is based instinctively (rather than formally) on Messiaen’s diminished-scale concepts. This modern jazz piece is not technically a Third Stream production, but nevertheless listeners can understand the obvious inspirations. On the other hand, jazz history seasons other cuts. Porter’s “Long Ago” is loosely built from Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin’s popular 1944 hit, “”Long Ago (and Far Away),” which Errol Garner, Benny Carter and scores more have done. As Porter states, “By the time I finished, I had composed something quite different, but still somehow nostalgic.” If anyone discerns a bit of saxophonist Art Pepper in this charming, effervescent tune, Porter says that’s deliberate. “Striver’s Row” is the only cover, credited to Sonny Rollins. Scarff explains the purely improvisational piece was played by Rollins as a harmonic progression of Charlie Parker’s “Confirmation.” In an interesting feat, Scarff assembled two segments from different choruses performed by Rollins, to form “Striver’s Row.” The atypical arrangement commences with lightly witty bass and drums, then sax and piano solos, and finally the melody comes to fruition as the quartet closes out the piece. If you missed this bright, West-meets-East outing when it came out in the summer of 2017, you should try to find Three Minutes to Four. The music swings mightily and has an absorbing mixture of non-conventional and traditional jazz components which provide an open-minded experience.
TrackList:
Journey
Bageshri-Bageshwari: Part I (Introduction, Alap), Part II
Olivier
Long Ago
Rage Shree, Gajarawa Baje Hi Rahila Baje Hi Baje Hi
Skies of South Africa Suite: Bird Songs of Hermanus, Branches in the Trees
Three Minutes to Four
Striver’s Row
Serially Retro Suite: Dozens not Baker’s, Retro Cells
Raga Bhairavi: Part I (Introduction, Alap), Part II
—Doug Simpson
by Audiophile Audition | Mar 25, 2017 | Audio News
Chuck Berry Dies – The “Father of Rock & Roll” is gone at age 90. He was one of the first inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He combined beguiling narratives, fusing rhythm and blues with country and western to transfix the U.S. Bill Clinton called Berry “one of the 20th Century’s most influential musicians.” His career had rocketed in the ‘50s after he signed a record deal with Chess Records at the behest of his friend Muddy Waters.
Juno Concert Fuses Classical Indian Music with Dance & Rock – The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Beyonce have all incorporated Indian music into wildly popular rock songs. Now rock & roll and Kathak fuse together in a one-time performance at Aroha Fine Arts in Stittsville in central California. The audience will be entertained and learn about both the dance and music from India that inspires modern music. The focus of Kathak dance, from Northern India, is storytelling, and the dancers use their feet to make intricate patterns like percussion.
Tiny Adapter Adds Hi-Res Audio, a 3.5mm Headphone Jack. and Wireless Charging to iPhone 7s – RES now makes a converter which implements a 192/24 audio chip for hi-res with a normal headphone jack and Qi wireless charging. All you need on your iPhone is a Lighting port, some added bulk, and a wireless charging pad. It also has built-in noise cancellation. The unit may be preordered on Kickstarter for $20, with shipping expected in May.
Yamaha RX-A860 AVR – The new AV receiver from Yamaha has Dolby Atmos and DTS:X immersive audio, seven channels of amplification, MusicCast wireless multiroom audio support and is equipped for next-generation home cinema. There are seven HDMI inputs and two outputs, plus a button remote. It has HDMI passthru in Standby, so you don’t need to power up the system for the nightly news. It has four digital audio inputs, split optical and coaxial and vinyl support. You can network over Ethernet or Wi-Fi and use Bluetooth aptX for streaming audio. There is Virtual Rear Speaker processing for soundtracks with 6.1 or 7.1 mixes. It nearly gets everything right for a seven-channel unit, at about $800.
Maine’s Only Classical Station Bites the Dust – Even though most of its programming came from elsewhere, WBACH-FM was a reliable commercial all-classical radio station in Maine. They played gentle music – mostly familiar classical music at all hours of the day and night. But now it is country and western station. This left Maine listeners without access any more to the great and inspiring music which is our heritage.
by Audiophile Audition | Mar 13, 2017 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews
ADAM SCHOENBERG: American Symphony; Finding Rothko; Picture Studies – Kansas City Sym. /Michael Sterns – Reference Recordings multichannel 5.1 SACD RR-139, 64:58 (1/20/17) ****:
American music by Schoenberg wonderfully recorded and performed.
This CD/SACD from Reference Recordings contains newly recorded works by Adam Schoenberg (no relation to composer Arnold Schoenberg). Schoenberg has had a productive relationship with the Kansas City Symphony and conductor Michael Stern, so the disc contains some early works by Schoenberg and a work commissioned by the KCS. Schoenberg’s works are increasingly being played by American Symphony Orchestras. He has a unique voice, and audiences seem to be connecting to his music.
The disc opens with Finding Rothko, written while Schoenberg was his doctoral program, studying with John Corigliano. It’s inspired by the Russian painter Mark Rothko, and this composition followed extensive study of the artist before it was set to music.
American Symphony is the composer’s first post-graduation work. The symphony is upbeat, and while not patriotic in character, it was inspired by the 2008 election.
Finally we have Picture Studies for Orchestra, commissioned by the Kansas Citians and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The orchestra wanted a Pictures at an Exhibition type piece, and Schoenberg delivered. Rather than a study of a single artist, there are movements for Kandinsky, Calder, Miro and other sections that reflect aurally the sound of individual paintings.
Like other Reference Recordings, this sounds first class. It’s a demo-quality production, giving the listener a great introduction to these works of Schoenberg. The music, which is colorful and richly textured, mates well with the recording style here. I listened to the SACD layer for the full 5.1 multichannel experience, and it was dynamic and uplifting. It has the sound of a live performance, with the surrounds providing the sonic signature of Helzburg Hall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing arts in Kansas City.
I liked Schoenberg’s music very much, and the recording and performance make this a very worthwhile purchase.
—Mel Martin
by Audiophile Audition | Mar 3, 2017 | Audio News
Amazon Tap for Alexa – brings a hands-free option and works even if you take your Alexa on the road, it is now $130. You have to literally tape the Tap to give it a command. But it doesn’t sound as good as other Bluetooth speakers in its price range (and not as good as wired speakers), is not waterproof and doesn’t work at all without wi-fi. With a standard Alexa device, you speak into the air and it just hears you, but you can toggle the activation in the app and the Tap responds to the wake word “Alexa.” The always-on mode cuts battery life very little and it is clearly ahead of other devices in terms of multitasking.
Where to Find Greek Classical Music – Most people doesn’t associate Greece with classical music. Not many know that Mikis Theodorakis – who wrote the great music for Zorba the Greek – also wrote chamber music. The Greek Chamber Music Project in San Francisco is putting this right with a concert there May 9th. It is titled “From the Village to the Concert Hall, Inspirations from Greek Folk Music.” It includes works by Petros Sakelliou, John Psathas, and the US premiere of Thanos Ermilios’ Greek Dances. Ellie Falaris Ganaelin, a classical-trained flutist of Greek descent, started the Project in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She had to discover one of the pieces in the concert in the library of the Athens Concert Hall.
The IMAX VR Experience – IMAX is going all in on virtual reality, with a new Los Angeles experience centre and five more planned for locations like New York City, the UK, and all over the world. The demos include a trip into Tatooine created by ILMxLABs, a VR thing based on the film John Wick from Sony, and VR showcases from Starbreeze, Survios and Ubisoft. The execution, though, looks a bit odd – more futuristic in the marketing photos but in person it looks like a home electronics showroom. You pay from $7 to $10 for each VR experience and use a touch-screen display. A helper can get you to strap on an HTC Vive for a timed experience. The IMAX VR team experiments with different peripherals to give full body haptic sensations, and tries out new devices as they get released. IMAX is developing with Google a cinema-grade VR camera, which is due in 2018. There are now 1145 IMAX theaters in 74 countries, and it all depends on if people want to trade popcorn and stadium seating for VR headsets and immersive movie-going.
Cats Exposed to High Levels of Harmful Chemicals at Home – Chemicals found in electronics, textiles and furniture may adversely affect the health of cats as well as small children. Brominated flame retardants were found in high concentrations in the blood of cats which had developed hyperthoyroidism compared to healthy cats. Both dust and blood samples were taken; these pets spent the majority of their time indoors. Brominated flame retardants are endocrine disruptors which can cause thyroid disease in later life.
by Audiophile Audition | Feb 23, 2017 | Classical Reissue Reviews
Charles Mackerras makes his Pristine debut with a concert appearance in Scotland with the Polish Radio Orchestra.
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 9 in E-flat Major, Op. 70; SCRIABIN: Piano Concerto in f-sharp minor, Op. 20; DVORAK: Symphonic Variations, Op. 78 – Paul Badura-Skoda, p./ Polish Radio Sym. Orch./ Charles Mackerras – Pristine Audio PASC 487, 74:47 [www.pristineclassical.com] ****:
I had the privilege of meeting Sir Charles Mackerras (1925-2010) and his wife in Atlanta after a symphony concert. Mackerras’ fine recording of Handel’s Messiah for EMI having piqued my interest in a conductor of such nice proportions and instrumental balances, I felt no less curiosity about his having studied with one of my idols, Vaclav Talich. “We tried to convince Talich to leave Czechoslovakia,” urged Mackerras, “but by 1960 his health issues had become manifest and was simply too late.” The present disc from Pristine comes from the Edinburgh Festival (27 August 1962, in stereo), from a BBC transcription of a second concert by the Polish Radio Orchestra unissued in the United Kingdom but pressed onto vinyl for US broadcast. The piano solo for the rare Scriabin Concerto, Viennese Paul Badura-Skoda (b. 1927), performs a work derivative of Chopin but already rife with those post-Romantic idiosyncracies that define Scriabin’s especial vision.
The concert begins with a skittishly energetic reading of the Shostakovich Ninth Symphony (1945), a composition that had purported to be a “victory symphony” for the Soviet war effort, but instead frolics and capers with ironic and madcap humor. The Polish Radio woodwinds appear in sparkling form throughout this brief but incisive musical exercise, which often reduces its sonorous forces to chamber music sensibilities. Besides adhering to strict Classical sonata-form, the mocking first movement Allegro sports a vivacious trombone part that gallops with saucy slapstick. Mackerras gives due weight to the second movement Moderato, an uneasy waltz via the clarinet entry, but whose interrupted beat posits darker suggestions. The Presto third movement begins a triptych of uninterrupted movements with its acid brass parts and some dark intimations that lead to Mussorgsky references in the ensuing Largo. Here, a bassoon solo – almost a concertante part – leads to troubled riffs from the trombone and tuba, the cymbals underlining the drama. He bassoon introduces the saucy tune of the Allegretto – Allegro finale, a lyrical dance that contains disturbed, even manic, martial elements. By the final pages, Mackerras has his ensemble in full tilt, shaking an ironic fist at those official Soviet sanctions that lamented the composer’s “failure” to produce a ninth symphony on a scale with that of a certain German’s choral work.
The 1896 Piano Concerto by Scriabin eschews any Romantic clamor and bravura for an intimate, melancholy introspection, akin to both Chopin and Schumann. Badura-Skoda and Mackerras combine for woven tapestry of sound rather than bombast and histrionics a la Tchaikovsky. The first movement Allegro appears highly decorative, fixating on the piano sound against woodwinds and blurred string harmonies in large pedal points. When the orchestra cuts loose, the sound effect becomes rhapsodic and languorous. The principals apply ardent energies throughout, and the Neapolitan coda has a triumphant character even in dark explosiveness. The lyrical Andante exploits the key center, f-sharp, in its major (Lisztian) capacity for blue victory set among muted strings. The chorale serves as a basis for a series of mercurial variations, some of which gain a spritely momentum. The woven character of the piano-orchestral fabric becomes mesmeric, likely as the composer intended. The sonata-rondo Allegretto moderato finale sports a plastic gait and modulates between f-sharp minor and its relative A Major: recall the Mozart Concerto No. 23. How often does this glittery music invoke the affect of a Chopin improvisation or a Liszt rhapsody!
Dvorak’s 1877 Symphonic Variations have held me in thrall ever since I auditioned the famed Sir Thomas Beecham recording. Dvorak wrote the piece for a benefit concert meant to raise funds for a new church in Prague. Dvorak took as his main theme the C Major version of his own song for male chorus, “The Fiddler.” The factor of the Lydian mode plays a role in the harmonic modulations Dvorak evolves, along with some askew metric divisions of seven versus six bars. Dvorak presents us 28 variations that remain in C for the most part; but at variation 18, the route becomes more circuitous, with some digressions into B-flat in major and minor modes. Mackerras opens the score rather somberly and as a possible adumbration of dire events; but the music happily averts any sense of impending doom. It often strikes our ears how utterly ‘Brahmsian’ the scoring becomes, except for the clearly Slavonic impulses, when the lively fugue transforms into a spectacular Bohemian polka. Variation 8 features a lovely violin solo, while No. 9 has an intimacy of a woodland nocturne. The Variation 14 quite embraces some epic gestures that soon cavort into country music. No. 19 sounds as if it could have inspired Elgar. The Polish Radio brass section can play as suavely as they can intone heroics. In sum, this concert has presented us a conductor with a natural aptitude for color and dynamics whose passion for Slavonic music would become legend. The sound quality, potent enough it seems in its original incarnation, required from Mr. Andrew Rose, in his own words, “unusually minimal” interventions.
—Gary Lemco
by Audiophile Audition | Feb 23, 2017 | Classical CD Reviews
Some very moving and well-written songs on topics of war.
RICHARD DANIELPOUR: Songs of Solitude; War Songs; Toward the Splendid City – Thomas Hampson, bari./Nashville Sym. Orch./Giancarlo Guerrero – Naxos 8.559792, 60:48, (10/14/16) ****:
For people who follow American contemporary classical music only casually composer Richard Danielpour might not be one of the first names they would manage to mention. However, he has for quite some time now been writing emotional and deeply attractive music and should definitely be thought of as one of our greatest living composers.
He also has the gift and talent for being able to write well; technically proficient, well structured and very accessibly for the solo voice and/or chorus. This in indeed not easy to do. A very good example can be found by listening to Danielpour’s Ancient Voices, composed for soprano Hila Plitmann. Here we have two more splendid song cycles for solo voice and orchestra (in this case the soloist is the amazing Thomas Hampson.)
Both Songs of Solitude as well as War Songs are written on themes of loss and war. Songs of Solitude uses poetry by William Butler Yeats to reflect on the moods very shortly after the “9-11” attack on New York. It also followed the finishing of Danielpour’s Requiem, a piece written before the fateful day; but which provided inspiration and reflection, no doubt. It is a beautiful and reflective work but, to the composer’s credit, one that never delves too deeply into melancholy and hardly ever evokes anger or terror through sudden outbursts. In fact, both the “Prologue” and “Epilogue” serve to frame the work and establish the primary tone really effectively.
War Songs uses text by the great and idiomatic ‘voice’ of the American Civil War, Walt Whitman, to commemorate the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the great conflict. Danielpour had, in fact, been working on a chamber work using Whitman’s “Come Up from Fields Father” which, in the War Songs, now serves as the heartbreaking finale to this 2008 set. Here, too, we are blessed with the performances of Thomas Hampson and of the ever increasingly amazing Nashville Symphony with Giancarlo Guerrero. Also, similarly to the tone of Songs of Solitude, the emotions are muted and all the more effective and pensive for it.
This disc closes with Toward the Splendid City; Danielpour’s paean to his home city of New York with which he maintains a “love-hate” relationship. This is a nice, ebullient concert overture style work which was written while finishing a residency with the Seattle Symphony and the composer’s thoughts about returning home. It is a nice piece to be sure but the tone and sound of it bear no connection to the song cycles; threatening even to “destroy the mood” for the listener. I would rather have heard Toward the Splendid City at the front end of this collection or maybe not even include it on this disc.
Either way, Richard Danielpour is a powerful and compelling composer and I urge listening to his music. He belongs on that ‘short list.’
—Daniel Coombs
by Audiophile Audition | Feb 7, 2017 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews
JENS HARALD BRATLIE: Vers la Lumière – Bratlie, piano; David Bratlie – electro-acoustic transitions [track list fellows] 2L 2L-132-SACD Pure Audio Blu-ray + multichannel SACD, DTS-HD MA 192kHz/24 bit 5.1, DTS-HD MA 96kHz/24 bit, PCM 192kHz/24-bit stereo, Dolby Atmos, 9.1 Auro 3D, mShuttle: stereo MQA 96kHz + MP3 TT: 57:00 (Blu-ray is region free) (12/16) [Distr. by Naxos] ****:
A piano/electronic combination that largely succeeds.
Vers la LUMIÈRE is an interesting disc from the folks at 2L. It’s a collection of classical piano music, with each work featuring a ‘transitional work’ by pianist Jens Harald Bratlie’s son David. What we get is piano music interspersed with electro-acoustic music. On paper, such a hybrid program should not work, but actually, to my ear, it works quite well and it makes for an interesting musical journey.
The classical pieces were chosen for their moodiness and introspection, including works by Liszt, Messiaen, and Bibalo. Between them are three short pieces by the younger Bratlie. The standard repertoire is played in lovely fashion. Each work follows nicely from the previous one. The more contemporary transitions don’t interrupt the program, but in fact enhance it, as was the original intent.
The disc itself is a sonic feast. Recorded in the Sofienberg Church in Norway, the acoustics are lush. Pianos are actually quite hard to record accurately, and listening to this disc I felt I was hearing an extremely accurate rendering of an acoustic piano. It was placed solidly between my front speakers, and my audition of the Blu-ray audio disc nicely captured the sound of the recording venue.
As usual, 2L gives us a multitude of ways to listen to this music. Two discs are included, including a hybrid SACD, with a two-channel and 5.1-channel recording. The second disc contains a two-channel recording (192/24), a 5.1 DTS recording (192/24), a 9.1 Auro 3D recording and a Dolby Atmos which will play in 7.1 for those without height speakers. The disc also offers MQA encoded downloadable files and more standard but lesser-quality MP3 files.
All in all this is an interesting audio experiment, that seems to work rather well. Some will find the David Bratlie compositions perhaps ‘too electronic’, but I think this father-son compilation rewards with an adventuresome program and firstrate sounds.
TrackList:
- Sonata No. 2 for Klavier, “La Notte” by Antonio Bibalo
Vers la Lumière by David Bratlie - Annees di pterinage: Callee d’Obermann by Liszt
- Vers de Lumière II – Bratlie
- Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant – Jesus by Olivier Messiaen
- Vers la Lumière III – Bratlie
- Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jesus – Regard du Pere by Olivier Messiaen
—Mel Martin
by Audiophile Audition | Feb 7, 2017 | Audio News
Jamie Parker Commemorates 150 Years of Classical Music in Canada – He is the face classical piano music thruout Canada and enjoys bringing its joys to audiences around the world. He is judge for the Cliburn Competition and often paralyses his Facebook followers with laughter. Competitors in the annual Piano Hero competition are evaluated mainly on their pre-recorded video presentation. Jamie says it is not a question of quality but rather of relevancy control: “…boards of directors do not do an adequate job of raising funds or keeping audiences engaged in their outreach initiatives.” He says “all musicians play well, if there are enough starving artists, then only the best are going to get jobs today.” “The Baby Boomers have not really migrated to classical music.”
Linkplay Offers Turnkey WiFi Speaker Solution with Alexa – Linkplay Technology, a leading WiFi audio solution provider, offered at a one-day conference a way to educate customers interested in designing and building Powered by Linkplay products. The Amazon Alexa Voice Service is a broad ecosystem which can develop customer-differentiated audio products and other smart home devices. Linkplay’s patented Smart WiFi audio hardware and software module provides AVS integration, streaming music integration, app and cloud development, and multi-room speaker capabilities as well as low latency, hi-res lossless audio. Five speaker brands also use the Linkplay platform and many more will be launching this year. Speakers can be wireless and hands-free, and consumers can simply ask Alexa to play their favorite music, turn on the lights, provide news, weather and traffic reports, set alarums, order food, and more. Many music services are compatible for both iOS and Android devices. There is no need to connect a phone to the speakers, so music can be streamed without interference from calls or texts.
New Mark Levinson Hi-Res Audio Player – The 519 has hi-res wired or wireless streaming, network, CD transport and nine digital inputs (including Wi-Fi and AptX Bluetooth). The aluminium-housed player also provides headphone connectivity and an integrated digital volume control. Selectable low-pass filtering enables the unbalanced outputs to be used for subwoofer integration. It supports hi-res digital recording up to 192K/24-bit from PCM and double-speed DSD. Its DAC features an ESS Sabre32 Reference converter. It plays most two-channel formats, except SACD and Blu-ray. It can be operated from its front panel, remote, Apple or Android apps and all major web browsers. Harman Clari-Fi music restoration technology rebuilds musicality and detail lost in MP3 files. ($17,000 by late spring.)
Global Market Report Predicts Nearly $295 Million for Home Entertainment by 2022 – The market includes TV sets, video players and recorder, audio equipment and gaming devices. There has been a significant rise in consumer investments in entertainment products. Market growth is driven by the increase in the digitization of electronic goods, rapid innovations in existing products, the growing tech-savvy urban population in developing countries. However, growth of these products is mitigated by a consumer shift toward mobile platforms and apprehensions due to the adverse effects on health from audio equipment and wireless devices.
by Audiophile Audition | Feb 6, 2017 | Jazz CD Reviews
Nate NAJAR – This is Nate Najar – Candid 79979, 50: 58 (10/31/16) ****½:
(Nate Najar; nylon string guitar/ James Suggs; trumpet/ Matt Home; drums/ John Lamb; bass)
An odd nylon string guitar/trumpet combo makes for a unique bossa-swing ensemble.
On this eponymous debut, Nate Najar plays jazz on an unamplified classical guitar in the tradition of Charlie Byrd and Laurindo Almeida. His Daniele Chiesa instrument, miked very closely so as to hear every squeak and pop, is splendid. His technique is a hard-won achievement of the musical conservatory; from the right foot ticking off the metronome to the left foot on that fussy apparatus the foot-stool, he looks and sounds the consummate classical guitarist. Yet the style is that of bossa-swing. On a couple of Jobim tunes, he sounds the most like his predecessors in his harmonic language and rhythmic feel. Three Chick Corea tunes suggest more modern influences. An attractive feature of his style is the lively interplay between swift single note passages and harmonically inventive chordal melody. Every note is pulled off with the fingertips evoking more tonal variety from one instrument than I have heard in some time. It is worth noting that the most affecting moments come on the final solo, Crystal Silence, and his solo intros. There is also a Chopin prelude played with a subtle and charming rubato and ending with a pang of regret at a minute and a half.
The other voice in the ensemble is the trumpet of James Suggs. Not a common partner for the guitar, the trumpet is balanced nicely by use of the mute and also by the restrained sensibility of the player. Even more than the guitarist, Mr. Suggs stays close to his roots in the older style of pre-bop masters. On a straight blues, Centerpiece by Harry Edison, he captures some of Mr. Edison’s cheerful pungency on a swinging tune. In addition to his fine soloing throughout, he contributes a fine chart, But Oh, What Love, on which he sets the mute aside and shows off a burnished vibrato-rich tone on a memorable melody. The solo that follows by Najar is a refreshment to ears wearied by the one-dimensional sound of the over-subscribed electric guitar.
Bassist John Lamb plays capably throughout, delivering quarter notes “as fat as half-dollars” as my bass teacher used to say. So assured is the timekeeping that the drums sometimes feel redundant. Yet on the astonishingly beautiful, O Morro Nao Tem, drummer Matt Home shows a melodic finesse on a nicely captured kit. Elsewhere his subtle brushwork shows the same restraint and attentiveness that makes this ensemble work so well together.
The addition of a cello on the front and back end of Insensatez was a strange decision. If anything, it seems a kind of insensitivity to the aesthetic parameters of the group concept.
The temptation to add things to a record via guest tracks, walk-on vocalist and voice-overs should be resisted. Rather one should subtract, paring things down to the essence. Ask how many tracks can do without percussion, for example. Nate Najar arrives at this position on the stunning final track by Chick Corea on which just six strings deliver the right balance of crystal and silence.
This is altogether a fantastic album, making a case for the superiority of the unamplified guitar in terms of both technical resources and expressive reach. I posit that this musician is capable of even loftier artistic heights if he essays a solo album or a duo with a bassist that takes him more in the direction away from the swing-bossa towards open ended modern compositions.
TrackList: 500 Miles High; What Would Ola Mae Do?; Sidewalks of New York; Prelude in E Minor (Chopin); Insensatez: Chick’s Tune; But Oh, What Love!; Centerpiece; O Morro Nao Tem Vez; Crystal Silence
—Fritz Balwit
by Audiophile Audition | Feb 3, 2017 | Audio News
New Orleans Public Radio Station Restores Classical to FM Dial – WWNO in New Orlean has begun broadcasting classical music on their new stations Classical 104.9 FM. It therefore becomes the only Golf Coast area between Houston and Tallahassee where music lovers can hear classical music anytime thru the year. New Orleans Public Radio continues to transmit the same program on WWNO HD2 in metro New Orleans and the Northshore and beyond via the Internet at wwmo.org/classical. They will have local music features from 9 AM to 1 PM weekdays, and will carry Performance Today, Continuum, and the Met Opera.
Music in NYC – The Budapest Festival Orchestra will appear at David Geffen Hall on the Fifth and Sixth. The Orpheux Chamber Orchestra will premiere Michael Hersch’s End Stages at Carnegie Hall, a tone poem reflecting on mortality, and also at Carnegie Hall, Jordi Savall will present early and modern Venetian instrumental music with his various ensembles on Feb. 12.
Glimpse Hardware Turns Any Glasses Into Smart Glasses – Their Kai gadget (now $130 at Kickstarter) sits behind one ear and allows you to access a smart voice interface. With its companion app you can make calls, text search and even request a Uber pickup without handling your smartphone. Glimpse hopes to raise over $55,000 over the next 40 days and help take the new hardware into production.
Is Hi-Res Audio All Hype? – Some people are investing in hi-res downloads and do not hear any difference from their standard CDs. While it is true that some of it is hype, not all is. It is an end-to-end ecosystem, starting with hi-res masters. It is still a subject of conjecture whether high-quality analog open reel tapes qualify as hi-res, but anything better than “CD quality” of 44.1K and 16-bit does qualify as hi-res. Most sites offering hi-res downloads vet the audio files to ensure they are indeed hi-res, but some are just upsampled from standard res sources. Your playback system is also important in hearing the true hi-res difference. You must have the best preamps, computers, DACs and speakers or headphones. If you don’t, you may not hear the difference. The signals need to be passed to the DAC at the correct sampling rate and bit depth. You will probably need programs like Pure Music or JRiver Media Center – a complete media player. Acoustic instruments and vocals make it easy to hear differences in equipment during listening sessions, which is why many reviewers use classical, jazz or roots/folk music for their listening tests.
by Audiophile Audition | Jan 16, 2017 | Jazz CD Reviews
A welcome jazz harp with ensemble release…
Carol Robbins, harp – Taylor Street – Jazzcats 109, 53:49 ****:
(Carol Robbins – harp; Billy Childs – piano and Fender Rhodes; Bob Sheppard – saxophones and clarinet; Larry Koonse – guitar; Curtis Taylor – trumpet; Derek Oles – bass; Gary Novak – drums; Ben Shepherd – electric bass)
There is a lushness to the jazz harp with ensemble release, Taylor Street, from harp player Carol Robbins, that will draw listeners in immediately, and demand further replays to fully appreciate its harmonic richness. Robbins studied with the pre-eminent jazz harpist, Dorothy Ashby, and she explores the harp’s strengths as a lead instrument backed by top L.A. session men on nine of her original compositions.
Certainly it’s the lyrical bliss inducing aura brought on by a full size concert harp that begins the process. Billy Childs’ piano and Fender Rhodes expands the landscape with his Jazz Chamber Ensemble mates, Bob Sheppard on sax and clarinet, and guitarist, Larry Koonse. The burnished tone of trumpeter Curtis Taylor rounds out the front line, backed by bass and drums. The nine tracks are a blend of heated jazz, bluesy riffs, and a strong dose of classical motifs that will bring to mind a small group version of Maria Schneider’s mood-enhancing strengths.
Bob Sheppard’s soprano sax weaves a spell on the opening number, “The Flight” before trumpeter Curtis Taylor blows hot. The full ensemble then fully kicks in. “Deep Canyon” is a full feature for Curtis Taylor’s trumpet with the harp weaving in and out. The title track is electrified and Ben Shepherd’s electric bass provides the underpinnings supported by Child’s Fender Rhodes. The tune has a 1970s CTI vibe.
“Full Circle” is a jazz waltz that is enhanced by the lushness that Robbins’ harp brings. “Trekker” expands the sonic landscape with improvisational exploration and Robbins really opens up on this modal excursion. “The Chill” has Koonse, Sheppard, and Robbins caressing a lightly swinging melody, perfect for late night enjoyment.
“Grey River” would add to that mood as it is a lovely ballad blending poignant clarinet, minimalist piano, and calming harp. The closer, “The Local,” branches out towards R & B with gentle funky overtones. Take a saunter on Taylor Street. It will brighten your day.
TrackList: The Flight, Deep Canyon, Taylor Street, Full Circle, Trekker, Smooth Ride, The Chill, Grey River, The Local
—Jeff Krow
by Audiophile Audition | Jan 15, 2017 | Jazz CD Reviews
RICHARD SUSSMAN: Evolution Suite – Richard Sussman – p., electronics, Scott Wendholt – trumpet, Flugel horn, Rich Perry – tenor sax, Mike Richmond – acoustic & elec. bass, Anthony Poinciotti – drums/ The Sirius Quartet, With special guest: Zach Broc – elec. violin – Zoho CD ZM 201614, 71:00 (10/7/16) [Distr. by Allegro] *** 1/2:
An important classical/jazz work but hurt a bit by the lack of a great recording.
Richard Sussman’s ground-breaking The Evolution Suite for Jazz Quintet, String Quartet, and Electronics is the culmination of almost a decade of development. This five-movement, hour-long composition was funded by a Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Grant, and premiered and recorded on December 20, 2015, at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space in New York City.
The work is a fusion of jazz and classical music. Composer Richard Sussman said it best: “”By combining jazz improvisation and many diverse rhythms and instrumental textures from throughout the world with contemporary classical music, I feel we can more truly reflect and more strongly connect with a wider cross-section of the multi-cultural society in which we live.”
The disc includes another work, called Prevolution, a 10-minute track Sussman considers a ‘prequel’ to the composition of the Evolution Suite.
The classical/jazz fusion work is a good listen, with some inspired playing by the soloists and the Sirius Quartet. Two added bonus tracks include shorter tracks of movement II and V, edited for radio play.
This is a pretty good recording, with a nice spread of the instruments between the stereo speakers. It sounds like it was recorded some distance from the ensemble, giving a ‘live in the hall sound’, but with some sacrifice of detail from the individual instruments. The high frequencies are just a bit muted, but again, overall, the recording is a good, but not exemplary one. The recording was done during a live performance.
This disc should appeal to jazz fans and open-minded classical listeners. The compositions are interesting, and the participants are all excellent musicians. My only complaint, and it is minor, is that the recording doesn’t soar to the same heights as the music.
—Mel Martin
by Audiophile Audition | Jan 13, 2017 | Audio News
Things Alexa Cannot Yet Do – The shortfall of Alexa’s IFTT integration is the lack of any actions whatsoever. You cannot complete a task for have Alexa play a tune. You must divide every command into its own statement – no trying to get Alexa to do more than one thing at a time. There are currently no notifications, audio or visual. It would be nice if Alexa spoke the name of the person calling you, but no. Only three words wake Alexa devices: Alexa, Amazon or the name of the device – no customized wake words. There is no voice-memo function – you cannot leave messages for others in your household. Alexa does not distinguish different voices. If you have multiple Amazon devices around the house, you cannot speak to just one of them and Alexa will not stream the same music to all your Echo speakers, but you can with Google Home and Chromecast.
“This Decade Belongs to Gustavo Dudamel and His Innovative Ways” is a statement by the author of an article Can Classical Music Survive With Shedding Its Obsessions with Purism? It came about due to the current musical film La La Land, which has swept the Golden Globes for this year. It is about two young white people trying to save a black cultural product – jazz – and finding meaning in the thespian world respectively. Its success is attributed to Hollywood’s approval of a narcissism rooted in the idea of “the white man’s burden” and self-referentialism.
The South-American conductor Dudamel inspired the popular TV series Mozart in the Jungle, and is responsible for the “popification” of classical music. What was once pop and has now become classical. Today a minuscule fraction of the world population goes to classical concerts. Only something like 8% of Americans attended a classical concert in the last year. Several orchestras have filed for bankruptcy. Purists may be the biggest enemy of the art they aim to protect. But what may benefit the purist and the experimentalist broadens the audience base, aided by innovative ways of engagement. La La Land may inspire some searches for “jazz” you know.
All Three Major Labels, Pandora & RIAA Support Hi-Res Streaming – Universal, Sony and Warner, the RIAA, and music platforms such as Pandora, Rhapsody/Napster and HD Tracks have announced their support for studio-quality hi-res audio for music streaming. All are members of the DEG (Digital Entertainment Group), which has a new Stream the Studio marketing campaign. It is aimed at millennials and promotes the benefits of hi-res compatible devices, technologies and music. Now the question is how long before these services offer premium audio tiers?
by Audiophile Audition | Jan 10, 2017 | Audio News
David Bowie’s Impact on Classical Music – During the past year, a number of classical musicians and composers have done their own tributes to the legendary musician. They run from straight ahead covers to stirring original compositions. Shortly after Bowie’s death Amanda Palmer of the The Dresden Dolls and composer Jherek Bischoff released a short duo album, A David Bowie String Quartet Tribute. The BBC Proms had a evening seeking to re-imagine Bowie’s musical legacy in new classical soundscapes. He had been a fan of classical music and did not shy away from weaving orchestral arrangements into his work. Some even consider him the ultimate crossover artist – due to his ability to bring so many people together by blending his eclectic tastes.
More Companies Add Amazon Alexa to Their Hardware – The Amazon personal assistance is capable of providing music playback and weather, traffic, and other real-time information. But this year at CES, many manufacturers are using the voice assistant in their hardware. Whirlpool, GE, Dish, Lenovo and Ford Motors said they plan to add the voice-activated helper to their hardware. Google release a device similar to the Alexa last year called Google Home. Apple is working on an Echo-like device, and Microsoft plans to bring its Cortana voice agent to Harman Kardon speakers. Amazon might have the edge, because the launched earlier than similar devices and they are not partial to a particular platform. Some people have to be able to trade their privacy for convenience. All conversations are stored indefinitely, and this process makes some consumers uncomfortable. A research center spokesman said “The Echo has to listen to everything. That’s kind of disturbing.”
Hubblo Launches New Era in Personal VR Broadcasting – Announced at CES, Hubblo is the first portable VR camera with a 360-degree 3D-immersive video, which allows broadcasters and viewers to share extraordinary experiences for just $999. Now anyone wanting to expand their audience beyond a physical location can do so with just the push of a button. The device has a triangular deisng with three pairs of 200-degree fish-eye cameras. Sensors on each camera provide the highest-quality image capture, and 3D creates true-to-lief depth perception for a fully immersive experience. All six cameras’ data is gathered, corrected and stitched in real time to create a stunning 360-degree, 3D-immersive video stream which can be broadcast in 4K quality and viewed on any VR headset using Hubblo’s mobile apps. The product will be initially available thru the Indiegogo crowdfunding platform.
by Audiophile Audition | Nov 25, 2016 | Audio News
How Classical Music Affects Thoughts and Mood – Certain types of music can move us emotionally from one feeling to another. In the ‘70s a researcher play certain music in chambers where plants were growing. Of the plants that were provided with rock music, some became stunted and others gangly and most died within a few weeks. Plants that had more soothing music playing in their chambers grew more robust and outlived other plants. Not all types of music leave us in an improved mood once the music ends. An internal medicine physician, Neil Nedley, M.D., says there are ten benefits to listening to classical music: 1. Increases interest in reading and learning, 2. Strengthens brainpower, 3. Encourages good lifestyle habits, 4. Allows frontal lobe to filter information, 5. Encourages fitness, 6. Increases productivity, 7. Strengthens creativity, 8. Decreases irritability, 9. Increases spiritual pursuits, and 10. Improves self-control. It’s important to take careful thought in choosing your music wisely; perhaps just as important of a choice as are the foods you eat and the friends you spend time with. Be mindful of the music that enters your mind.
New Federal Rule Requires Movie Theaters to Provide Closed Captioning – The Justice Department has issued a rule requiring movie theaters to provide closed movie captioning and audio descriptions at the movie-goer’s seat. It applies only to those theaters with digital projection systems. The theaters must also let the public know about the availability of their visual and audio aids and the staff must be available to assist patrons with the equipment before, during and after the movie showing. There are about 39,994 movie theater auditoriums and screens operating in the U.S. and an estimated 38,688 have converted to digital projection systems. The largest expensive for a Megaplex movie theater is to purchase the captioning hardware for each auditorium, which an run to an average upfront cost for a Megaplex of $27,400. The cost for a more average, smaller movie theater is $9,800 to $18,300. (By the way, 4K digital projection is only happening in the commercial theaters, Not on home HDTV sets – that is a compressed version of UHD that some manufacturers are calling “4K.”)
AT&T and DirecTV Allow Users to Stream Video Content to Any Device – For $35 a month DirecTV now allows customers to stream their various channels to a smartphone or anything with no annual contract, no credit check, no installation charge, no set-top box, and the AT&T mobile users, no data charges. This is preferential treatment over other companies for DirecTV, which was bought by AT&T in 2015. But consumers don’t seem to have any concerns about the unusual deal.
by Audiophile Audition | Nov 14, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews
Riveting performances of Shostakovich’s two cello concertos.
SHOSTAKOVICH: Cello Concertos 1 & 2 – Alisa Weilerstein, c. – Sym. Orch. of Bavarian Radio/ Pablo Heras-Casado – Decca 483.0835, 60:52 *****:
Shostakovich (1906-75) was Russian (with all the emotional connotations that nationality evokes), yet his music is often classical in structure and tonal. Beleaguered by totalitarian political forces during his lifetime, he was forced to write music that fulfilled the Communistic objective of Soviet realism. This meant that he couldn’t write music for public consumption with much of a whiff of modernism. But by 1958 the Centralist Committee of the Communist party had reversed its 1948 condemnation of Shostakovich. Yet, the memory of persecution remained.
Cellist Alisa Weilerstein played the Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto (1959) for Mstislav Rostropovich when she was 22 years old. He asked her “to convey intense emotion that somehow has to be concealed at the same time.” In this performance, she comments that “The emotion is never obvious: he’s [Shostakovich] agonizing, tortured inside, but presents a poker face.” But Weilerstein is noted for being a passionate and emotional cellist. Her performance may start out emotionally muted, but as the first movement progresses, the excitement increases.
The initial theme sung by the cello appears throughout the work becomes powerful and memorable. She renders the sad beginning of the second movement soulfully, then ends in a cloak of eerie desolation. A lengthy cadenza—a rondo separated by pizzicatos, ensues. This movement of still darkness gives way to shrieking woodwinds echoed by horns that begins the final movement. Here Weilerstein lets loose with a manic explosion that makes the ending exhilarating.
The Second Cello Concerto (1966) is from the profound, often sad late period of Shostakovich’s music. It starts with a seven minute dark, slow dirge—profoundly beautiful— interrupted by mocking percussion (xylophone). Flutes and cello comment, followed by several sharp booms by a drum; it ends quietly. Rostropovich premiered it on September 25, 1966 with Shostakovich in the audience. The recorded premiere (on a 1997 EMI set called “The Russian Years 1950-1974”) with Rostropovich as the soloist, occurred only four months after Shostakovich suffered a heart attack. It’s a much darker interpretation than Weilerstein.
The second movement is based on a theme from an Odessa street song, Bubliki, kupitye, bubliki (‘Come and buy my bagels”). Rostropovich commented, “one can hear piercing pain with an intensity that is almost Mahlerian.” His recording is just that, but Weilerstein emphasizes the passion rather than the pain. A sardonic fanfare (it would fit in the movie Ben Hur) begins the finale, followed by a hissing tambourine. Lyrical, dance and march-like segments follow. Snare drum riffs, trumpet voluntaries, whips cracks and a twisted restatement of the Odessa theme lead to a quiet ending (cello and woodblock and celesta), much like conclusion of the 15th Symphony of Shostakovich.
The variety of moods and the composer’s brilliant orchestration make this a very powerful work. Weilerstein’s passion and sensitivity make this a recording to savor. The recording balance captures the interplay between cello and orchestra with rich clarity. There’s a bleak authenticity and sardonic humor to Rostropovich’s premiere that makes it unique. But Weilerstein and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Pablo Heras-Casado have set a modern standard for these masterpieces.
—Robert Moon
by Audiophile Audition | Nov 10, 2016 | Jazz CD Reviews
Nick Sanders & Logan Strosahl – Janus – Sunnyside Communications SSC1469, 41:40 ***:
An intriguing release.
(Nick Sanders – piano; Logan Strosahl – alto & tenor saxophone)
You have to give credit to Nick Sanders and Logan Strosahl for getting this album entitled Janus released. Imagine, if you will, the pitch meeting with Sunnyside Communications wherein the duo wanted to record a disc that would feature their interpretations of music from medieval, Baroque and contemporary classics, as well as bebop and modern jazz. Clearly the individuals in charge of the label thought it was worth the risk. Was it ?
Both Sanders and Strosahl are first class musicians having graduated from Boston’s New England Conservatory. This is where they first encountered each other and started playing together. Clearly, they are like-minded and highly accomplished collaborators as evidenced by the first track entitled “Sigma”. This original composition by Nick Sanders flits along the jagged edges of classical/free jazz at a confident pace.
Diving into jazz’s oblique territory with Thelonious Monk’s “Thelonious,” the duo demonstrates their comfort with the number as they tackle Monk’s stylistic intricacies. Another number that falls into this category is the composition “Be-Bop Tune” by the two principals, that has some Monkian references but is nevertheless tastefully inventive.
Olivier Messiaen is a 20th-century French composer whose compositions are rhythmically intricate with sounds and textures that fall within the abstract. His Selections From Vingt Regards Sur L’Enfant-Jesus is one of his exploratory compositions that challenges the players and they deliver a forceful rendition of this complex classical piece. The duo returns to a more ruminative place with their interpretation of Hoagy Carmichael’s “Stardust”. They cover the tune with agility and lyricism.
This is an intriguing release for those with an exploratory ken.
TrackList: Sigma; Allemande; Thelonious; R.P.D.; Mazurka; Old Folks; Be-Bop Tune; Rose, Liz, Printemps, Verdure; Selections From Vingt Regards Sur L’Enfant-Jesus; Janus; Stardust; Les Amusemens
—Pierre Giroux
by Audiophile Audition | Oct 17, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews
BERLIOZ: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14 (1830) – Royal Concertgebouw Orch. /Daniele Gatti – rec. live, April 1 & 3, 2016 – RCO multichannel SACD RCO16006, 57:30 (9/9/16) [Dist. by Naxos] ** 1/2:
Not the fire I would expect from Gatti and Berlioz.
Daniele Gatti has been helming the Concertgebouw for two years, replacing Mariss Jansons who stepped down after 11 years. Jensons’ years there were generally considered a bit too laid back by many critics, who felt the orchestra was idling in neutral. Gatti’s appointment as Chief Conductor was widely applauded. He’s a consummate musician, and has brought some fresh thinking to many classical works.
That said, this recording of the Berlioz Symphony fantastique is a bit of a puzzlement. The performance seems subdued, and not a pure reflection of the excitement Berlioz designed for the work. It’s clinical, and a polar opposite to the famous (infamous) Leonard Bernstein performance from 1963 that may be one of the best known recordings of the symphony. My favorite interpretation was Colin Davis who led the Concertbouw in 1974 and it’s still available on a remastered Decca CD.
Certainly, Gatti gets the details right, and he’s in complete control of the orchestra, but the approach seems more classical than romantic. This is all very subjective, but to my ear and my knowledge of Gatti, I expected a bit more.
The recording strikes me in the same way. The orchestra is a bit too distant, although it never sounds hollow. I listened to the native 5.0 recording, and the surrounds are very subdued. This is a good recording, but it’s not the production decision I would expect for this composition. Others may find it appropriate, so as I said, we are in the world of the subjective. My suspicion is Gatti got the sound he wanted to match his conception of the symphony.
Gatti is a terrific conductor, and I think he is bringing increased acclaim to Amsterdam. I just don’t find this particular performance up to the standard Gatti has set.
—Mel Martin
by Audiophile Audition | Sep 27, 2016 | Audio News
Snapchat Introduces Sunglasses with a Video Camera to Record 10-second Videos – This rather bizarre unit will retails for $130 and makes use of a 115-degree lens making all recorded video circular. The idea is that the recorded video will more closely approximate the human eye’s range of vision. It also will come in three colors. Snapchat became an online phenomenon, so perhaps the glasses will too.
David Beckham Does Pushups to Live Classical While Drinking Atop a Piano – You can see him on Instagram this week sharing his journey for the 22 Pushup Challenge. It is to bring awareness for service men and women who take their lives post-conflict. In the video, he says “…I’m 79 floors up, I’m lying on top of a piano, and I thought I’d bring a pianist with me…I thought you’d find it romantic.”
Black Violin and Other Classical Music Events – On the 23rd the two classical-trained Florida musicians fused hip-hop with pop and classical. The next day was the premiere at Oberlin of What Noises Remain, a one-hour-long work for percussion, electroacoustic sound, text and video. Its basis it eh Shakespeare play The Tempest. The Oberlin Orchestra also gave its first concert of the season at Finney Chapel – an all-Russian program with Rachmaninoff’s Isle of the Dead and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5. Also on Sept. 14, The Cleveland Classical Guitar Society began their season with a free Showcase Concert. On the 25th a musical originally written by Marc Blitzstein, directed by Orson Welles and produced by John Houseman (which as censored by the government for being too radical) was performed at King State University: The Cradle Will Rock. It is an outstanding opportunity for bit of theater history and to marvel at how the sentiments and passions of the play resonate today. It called on everyone to join a union. It included a brief multimedia presentation prior to the show itself. Brooks Atkinson said in the NY Times of the original: “…It blows (a theatergoer) out of the theater on the thunder of the grand finale.”
The iPhone 7 Missed an Audio Opportunity – Apple could have singehandedly and dramatically improved the state of digital audio quality around the world if it had not removed the traditional 3.5mm headphone jack from the iPhone 7 (although it does provide a free adapter; $9 elsewhere). Wireless audio connections are generally lower-quality than wired because of the need to compress the file over the available wireless bandwidth. Most people are starting with highly-compressed audio files to begin with, and this essentially means that you’re degrading an already degraded signal. The ability to deliver the highest possible raw media audio quality – regardless of the device upon which it is played back – should be the goal of any media playback device, but particularly one that is so incredibly influential. The process of sacrificing audio quality for convenience goes on…
by Audiophile Audition | Sep 20, 2016 | Audio News
Amazon’s Echo is Taking Over the World – The $180 small cylindrical speaker is much more than that, and there is a new $50 version called the Dot which can also be used with existing audio systems, and software which keeps multiple units from answering your voice commands. Amazon is building its Alexa army, tied in somehow with Kindel (which the company itself spells Kindel but Amazon insists on spelling it Kindle). Alexa is a plug-and-play hardware now integrated with Lutron and Creston, and Nucleus has a home video intercom device with Alexa built in. Echo is controlled by your voice, and streams music from top services via its 360-degree mono omni-directional audio. It can hear you even on top of music playing and from across the room. It can answer questions, read audiobooks, give the news, info on local businesses etc. It can control lights, switches, and thermostats on smart home devices. Things are constantly being developed to expand what it does. One observer called the virtual assistant the closest thing to a Star Trek computer available today. (But an audio club member complained that the speaker part is mono and has no bass end.)
BBC Radio 3 Observes Its 70th Birthday – Though its aims were mocked when it first launched in 1946, Radio 3 has nurtured new music, drama and poetry alongside the classics all this time. The idea was to spread an interest in culture across the nation following the post-Second World War period of austerity and rationing. The time was ripe to bring the arts to the nation. The Third Programme had a distaste for pop culture and expected its audience to come prepared with a level of prior knowledge. Classical music was just one part of the mix. Jazz, poetry and drama were at least as core to the schedule. The new, shocking and obscure rubbed shoulders with the established classics quite happily. While Radio 3 is the name of a radio stations, it is also shorthand for a complete cultural nerve center that is unique in the UK and globally. It is a fine example of using public money to push boundaries in words and sound. Its comprehensive coverage of the arts is chosen and introduced by enthusiastic experts in their art form, not by algorithm. The 70th anniversary is being observed with 70 new commissions of speech and music, live broadcasts and special performances. The Proms remains the biggest single commissioner of new work from classical musicians of all genres, with every piece broadcast on Radio 3.\
Sensor for Autonomous Cars – With a $150 million investment from Ford and Baidu last month, Velodyne LiDAR has introduced the latest Light, Detection and Ranging sensor. It looks to corner markets requiring higher resolution images that standard 3D sensors cannot offer, so the world of robot cars is in the sights of the new gadget.
by Audiophile Audition | Sep 16, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews
ADRIAN JONES: Nybyggnan – Concerto for Saxophone & String Quartet – Daniel Reid (soprano, tenor and baritone saxes); Jeanette Eriksson/ Sérgio Crisóstomo (violins)/ Adrian Jones (viola)/ Anna Wallgren (cello) – BIS multichannel SACD BIS-2119, 53:49 (10/9/15) [Distr. by Naxos] ****:
Swedish folk-based music well played and nicely recorded.
A viola player himself, Adrian Jones constructed his six-part concerto Nybyggnan, a folk music saxophone concerto in chamber music format, using a set of newly-written tunes in a folk idiom imbued with elements from jazz, heavy rock and classical music. Written for chamber instruments, it also creates a bridge between the folk and chamber music world. Nybyggnan was composed for Daniel Reid, a saxophonist and a pioneer in Swedish folk music. He is one of the performers on this disc. Also heard are Mr. Reid’s own Rings on Water as well as Adrian Jones arrangement of the traditional Tingsmarschen (‘The District Court March’).
The 5.0 surround SACD is not a sonic spectacular, but the small ensemble sounds very realistic. Instruments are placed in a well-defined soundstage, while the rear channels are used for ambiance, although the recording venue is not identified.
Jones is an interesting composer. He’s deeply studied Swedish folk music, and the intersection between Swedish and American folk music. Virtually all of Jones’ compositions are folk-based.
Beyond his composing activities, Jones works regularly as a teacher at the Royal Collage of Music and at Bollnäs Folkhögskola where he’s also responsible for the folk music program.
Nybyggnan is an interesting work, certainly sounding like its Swedish roots. There are subtle interplays between instruments as the melody is handed back and forth to the performers. The disc also features a work by Daniel Reid, Rings on Water. It’s also composed in the folk idiom, but it also has a distinct classical sound in places.
The disc ends with The District Court March, which despite its title, has a melancholy sound. It’s a lovely piece, and a nice closer for the disc. I think discs like this are so important to expose us to music we would likely never hear on the radio or in a concert hall. It’s well-recorded and beautifully performed.
—Mel Martin
by Audiophile Audition | Sep 8, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews
The virtuoso of classical works on the banjo.
Classical Banjo: The Perfect Southern Art [TrackList follows] – John Bullard, banjo – self
TrackList:
SCHUMANN: Three Romances for Oboe
MARCELLO: Concerto in d
TELEMANN: Partita No. 5 in e
HANDEL: Trio Sonata in g, Op. 2 No. 8
BACH: Fugue, Sonata No. 1
BACH: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring; Movement Ten from Cantata BWV 147
GRIEG: Lyric pieces
As you can see by the track listing, this banjo player has even eclipsed Bela Fleck in handling a variety of classical music on the lowly banjo. Bullard was originally kicked out of Virginia’s Commonwealth Music Program because of his instrument. On this CD (and some earlier ones) he reimagines the banjo altogether, as some other performers have amazingly done lately with the lowly ukelele.
Bullard went to the Old-Time Fiddlers’ Convention in Virginia and eventually met and recorded Fred Boyce, who played Bach on the banjo. He studied with Boyce, recorded two albums of classical banjo and eventually graduated from VCU’s Dept. of Music. He has also published two books on the classical banjo and his music is featured in two motion pictures.
Bullard himself did the transcriptions of some of the above works, which originally were for oboe and piano. He has full credits for all the musicians who provided the continuo and other backing for his performances. He was originally introduced as a child to the sound of the banjo by his father on a truck, with the tune called “Dueling Banjos.” Bullard has come a long way since then.
—John Sunier
Western classical music is most evident on Porter’s five-minute “Olivier,” which Porter penned in 1998 as a dedication to French composer Olivier Messiaen. Porter previously recorded this with Liebman. Porter’s theme is based instinctively (rather than formally) on Messiaen’s diminished-scale concepts. This modern jazz piece is not technically a Third Stream production, but nevertheless listeners can understand the obvious inspirations. On the other hand, jazz history seasons other cuts. Porter’s “Long Ago” is loosely built from Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin’s popular 1944 hit, “”Long Ago (and Far Away),” which Errol Garner, Benny Carter and scores more have done. As Porter states, “By the time I finished, I had composed something quite different, but still somehow nostalgic.” If anyone discerns a bit of saxophonist Art Pepper in this charming, effervescent tune, Porter says that’s deliberate. “Striver’s Row” is the only cover, credited to Sonny Rollins. Scarff explains the purely improvisational piece was played by Rollins as a harmonic progression of Charlie Parker’s “Confirmation.” In an interesting feat, Scarff assembled two segments from different choruses performed by Rollins, to form “Striver’s Row.” The atypical arrangement commences with lightly witty bass and drums, then sax and piano solos, and finally the melody comes to fruition as the quartet closes out the piece. If you missed this bright, West-meets-East outing when it came out in the summer of 2017, you should try to find Three Minutes to Four. The music swings mightily and has an absorbing mixture of non-conventional and traditional jazz components which provide an open-minded experience.
