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CD Music Reviews
Summer 2012 Secrets CD Reviews
OMG. Little Richard, the true king of rock 'n roll, is back, and sounding better than ever. Here's Little Richard, his game-changing debut album for Specialty Records, is now beautifully remastered...
Winter 2011 CD and DVD-Audio Reviews for the Audiophile
The extremely evocative, beautiful voice of Annette Cantor that elevates this album of seven songs for meditation and healing is the same voice that, years ago, helped make master musician Deuter's Garden of the Gods (New Earth Records) one of my favorite New Age albums.
Fall 2011 CD and DVD Reviews for the Audiophile
Is it possible that yours truly, who has hardly listened to rock ‘n roll since tripping weekly to the Beatles in the summer of 1967 and truly believing in the existence of tangerine trees and marmalade skies...
CD and DVD Reviews for the Audiophile – July, 2011
From three renowned pioneers of the electric jazz fusion medium comes Forever, a surprising mix of back-to-the-roots, straight ahead acoustic jazz and electric fusion.
CD and DVD Music Reviews for the Audiophile – April, 2011
If there's any way to change weather patterns with blasts of focused air, the 13 members of the 16-year old Bay Brass stand of good chance of transforming the San Francisco Bay Area as we know it. These members of the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Opera, and other regional orchestras have certainly given my ear canals the rotor rooter treatment. Sound the Bells!, their new recording on the Harmonia Mundi label, presents The Bay Brass in high-resolution, hybrid SACD format.
CD Reviews for the Audiophile – February 2011
The term “jazz†begins to lose meaning when applied to creations as brilliant as this. Iyer's music transcends genres as it takes us on an oft-mesmerizing journey into the heart and mind of an extremely gifted musician. In “Autoscopy,†chords churn in ways that seem more connected to new music than jazz. The jazz element may be more recognizable in the relentless riffs of “Patterns,†but elements constantly change and shift in the 11 excursions on Solo in ways that transcend categories and labels. No wonder Iyer has also received commissions from the American Composers Orchestra, wind quintet Imani Winds, and new music quartet Ethel.
CD Reviews for the Audiophile – January, 2011
Bi-coastal jazz saxophonist Jason Robinson, 35, an Assistant Professor of Music at Amherst College and former musician with the San Francisco Mime Troupe, seems to be blowing non-stop these days. No less that three albums that showcase the seemingly limitless range of his versatile musicianship hit the literal and virtual shelves in the fall of 2010. Each album shows Robinson on the cusp between tradition and experimentalism, with a strong emphasis on the latter.
Secrets 2010 Classical Holiday CD Reviews for the Audiophile
For its fifth release on the Harmonia Mundi label, Stile Antico brings its heavenly harmonies to Tudor music for Advent and Christmas. Beautifully recorded in DSD, and issued in high-resolution hybrid SACD format, this recording of the young English Renaissance vocal ensemble sounds wonderful on a standard CD player or laptop.
High Definition Music Album Downloads for the Audiophile – December, 2010
December's high resolution albums include jazz and classical, at 24/88 and 24/96 sampling. I burned them all to DVD+R media and listened to them with an OPPO BDP-83/NuForce universal player, Lamm LL1 preamplifier, McIntosh MC1201 power amplifiers, and Carver Mark IV ribbon speakers.
CD Music Reviews for the Audiophile – November, 2010
On November 11, we learned if Clocks, a 19-minute composition on Bridge's recent CD devoted entirely to the chamber music of Miguel del Aguila, won the Latin Recording Academy's Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition.
High Definition Music Album Downloads for the Audiophile – November, 2010
Sales of high definition (high resolution or "high rez") music on discs has floundered, and producers are in a difficult bind because it is expensive to master them, and with profits on low sales being low, they are looking for a different outlet. Well, downloading high rez music is the answer. The music studios, as well as independent musicians, can simply transfer the original high resolution masters (24/88.2 or 24/96) to websites that specialize in selling music by download. The high rez disc does not have to be created, packaged, or distributed by the studio. It costs them nothing to put the music on a website store. The consumer downloads the music and burns it to a disc or plays it from a computer. The reviews here are of high resolution albums downloaded and burned to DVD-A. I listened to them with an OPPO BDP-83/NuForce universal player, Lamm LL1 preamplifier, McIntosh MC1201 power amplifiers, and Carver Mark IV ribbon speakers.
CD Music Reviews for the Audiophile – October, 2010
Organist Cameron Carpenter is a trip. Intentionally setting himself apart from your average organist, the flamboyant, young artist, who is still under 30, has built an international reputation on a combination of daring interpretations and audacious commentary.
High Definition Music Album Downloads for the Audiophile – October, 2010
Sales of high definition (high resolution, or "high rez") music on discs has floundered, and producers are in a difficult bind because it is expensive to master them, and with profits on low sales being low, they are looking for a different outlet. Well, downloading high rez music is the answer. The music studios, as well as independent musicians, can simply transfer the original high resolution masters (usually 24/88.2 or 24/96) to websites that specialize in selling music by download. The high rez disc does not have to be created, packaged, or distributed by the studio. It costs them nothing to put the music on a website store. The consumer downloads the music and burns it to a disc or plays it from a computer. The reviews here represent our first set of high resolution albums that were downloaded and burned to DVD-A. Most are 24/88, but one is 24/96, and another is 24/44.1. I burned them all to DVD+R media and listened to them with an OPPO BDP-83/NuForce universal player, Lamm LL1 preamplifier, McIntosh MC1201 power amplifiers, and Carver Mark IV ribbon speakers.
CD Music Reviews for the Audiophile – September, 2010
Imagine my surprise when I began to play what I naïvely assumed was a disc of Spanish music, only to discover the sounds of overtone chanting filling the room. Through them came another voice, low and haunting, with a special beauty that comes from inner illumination.