What We Are Listening To – Spring 2024

A fine selection of CDs and LPs for welcoming in the blossoms and buds this Spring!

Carlo Lo Raso

Art Farmer, Portrait of Art Farmer, Contemporary Records/ Craft Recordings, 1958/2023, LP.

Part of Craft Recordings’ continued re-releases from the Contemporary Records catalog, Portrait of Art Farmer is a delightful gem of a record showcasing Farmer’s exemplary taste and skill as both a trumpet player and a bandleader. Personnel on this album include Hank Jones on piano, brother Addison Farmer on bass, and Roy Haynes on drums.

If you happen to recognize Art Farmer’s tone and technique on the trumpet it’s because you’ve likely heard him as part of the band in several other jazz albums. For me, Sonny Clark’s classic album Cool Struttin’ immediately comes to mind.

Portrait of Art Farmer is an album that just reeks of confidence and cool. The band is completely in sync and beautifully augments Farmer’s smooth and languorous explorations. Melody is king on this album and you can experience that no better than on the track “By Myself”. A tastefully introspective musical journey where each member of the band gets to shine a little while taking their lead from Farmer. It absolutely oozes class.

The pressing itself is just about flawless. Pressed on 180 gm vinyl at QRP, the lacquers were cut from the original analog master tapes by Bernie Grundman. I couldn’t pick up a hint of undue surface noise and no clicks or pops interrupted my listening. Just a smooth and appealing-sounding recording with a nice sense of warmth and spaciousness, keeping in mind the age. Lovely stuff, this.

Joe La Barbera Quintet, World Travelers, Sam First Records, 2023, LP.

Another in a line of very fine live performances recorded at the Sam First Bar in Los Angeles, World Traveler is a splendid example of a modern Jazz quintet in sync and on fire in front of an appreciative audience. This quintet has been performing together for nigh on 30 years with only one change in personnel during that stretch. Drummer Joe La Barbera has had a distinguished career, having worked with the likes of Bill Evans in his final trio and singer Tony Bennett for a significant stint.

The music is an excellent choice of lesser-known classics (at least to this neophyte) and a few originals. Either way, the interplay between La Barbera, Bob Sheppard on saxophone, Clay Jenkins on trumpet, Bill Cunliffe on piano, and Johnathan Richards on bass is outstanding. I particularly love their take on John Coltrane’s Grand Central. It absolutely cooks! Jenkins, Cunliffe’s, and Sheppard’s solos are all superb as they deftly weave in and around La Barbera’s outstanding drumming. All the while Johnathan Richards’ spritely bass lines keep everything grounded but still move along smartly. The whole show is an absolute joy to listen to.

The LP itself is nicely pressed on 180 gm vinyl. I noticed some minimal surface noise at the end of Side 2, but it wasn’t overly distracting. Otherwise, no pops or clicks made themselves heard during a few listens. It’s an excellent addition to anyone’s Jazz collection. The only thing better would be to go to Sam First’s and experience it live, in person!

Kenny Wheeler, Gnu High, ECM Records, 1976/2023, LP

I had never heard of Kenny Wheeler before this LP showed up at my door. Granted growing up in the 70s and 80s, the Jazz music of the time was not exactly foremost in my sphere of attention. Having come to enjoy and appreciate it later in life, I am constantly discovering music that completely flew under my radar for much of my existence for whatever reasons.

Recorded in 1975, Gnu High definitely sounds like it has its roots thematically in the 70s but not in a kitschy sort of way. With all of 3 tracks taking up the entire album, it is at times exploratory, free form, ethereal, but never giving up or leaving a sense of melody behind. This very much makes the entire album feel more like a musical story.

And these players have skill in spades. Kenny Wheeler is rocking the flugelhorn, with Keith Jarrett on piano, Dave Holland on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums. Wheeler’s horn cuts through the air like a hot knife through butter, but it never comes across as annoying or irritating. The entire band is tight and they are adept at giving each other room to breathe while still providing needed foundation while doing so.

The recording itself is excellent. Vibrant and clear, there is also a lovely sense of spaciousness in the presentation giving me a nice glimpse of the recording space. The LP is pressed on 180 gm vinyl with minimal surface noise and no wayward clicks or pops to speak of. This is one of those albums you listen to when you’re whiling away an afternoon and you want some music to just take you away.

I now need to look up some more of Kenny Wheeler’s music!

Hilary Gardner, On the Trail with the Lonesome Pines, Anzic Records, 2024, CD.

I’m a sucker for old country music particularly when it crosses over into the realm of Jazz, swing, and even show tunes. It’s the sort of stuff that Les Paul and Mary Ford used to excel at, along with Bing Crosby and many others of the period. Nowadays I might hear this sort of music (or a spin on it) by more obscure groups like the Beebop Cowboys or even guitar-slinger Junior Brown.

Hilary Gardener and her band take this bygone approach and specifically focus on cowboy trail songs of the 30s and 40s. And to my ears, it’s absolute magic. Gardner’s voice cottons to this material naturally, there is not a hint of affectation in her vocal delivery. I hear hints of Patsy Cline and Mary Ford in much of this material and you can’t get much better than that. Her vocals on “A Cowboy Serenade (While I’m Smoking My Last Cigarette) are just liquid gold and gorgeous. Does some of that have to do with the microphones, reverb, and the console? Sure, it does, but boy does she give those gizmos the right raw material to work their vintage-sounding alchemy on!

Additional props go to her band. They sound fantastic and have a proper grasp of the material—extra kudos to Justin Poindexter on the various guitars, organ, mandolin, and pedal-steel guitar. There is just some fabulous multi-layered guitar work going on in the various tracks. The arrangements are simply superb.

The actual recording is done with a good deal of vintage gear, microphones, and console so it has a noticeable level of warmth to it which just suits the music. Yet this is still a modern production in many ways, the overall soundstage and imaging is wide and enveloping. And Gardner’s vocals, warm as they are, image dead center and have a purity of tone that couldn’t be captured this well circa the 30s to the 50s. Outstanding stuff.

If you dig this kind of music as much as I do, track down this CD and buy it NOW!

Stan Getz/ Joao Gilberto, Getz/Gilberto, Verve/Impex, 1964/2022, Two 45 RPM LPs.

What is there to say about this seminal recording that hasn’t already been said? Well, apparently a lot! The folks at IMPEX Records have literally gone to town on this re-release giving it their 1 STEP treatment.
It starts with an all-analog production using the original two-track stereo production master tape. Mastering and lacquer-cutting work is done courtesy of Bernie Grundman. Once the entire process is complete we are left with a 45 RPM dual LP set pressed on 180 gm ultra-high-quality vinyl.

Beyond the actual LPs themselves, the packaging is on a whole other level. The gatefold album jacket is beautifully printed and is bound with 33 pages worth of production notes, interviews, critiques, you name it! I particularly enjoyed reading the excerpts from an interview with original engineer Phil Ramone where he goes into details about the whole recording and mic-ing process for the original album sessions.
The whole shebang is protected by a beefy bright yellow textured slipcase.

On to the music itself, it is positively sublime. But then, you probably already knew that. What you may not know is that if vinyl is your poison of choice, this is probably the finest iteration of this record that you are likely to find. The surface noise is non-existent and the fidelity along with size of soundstage is fantastic. Impex has included two additional tracks not found on standard releases. One is a mono version of “The Girl from Ipanema” and the other is live version of “Corcovado” performed at Carnegie Hall in October 1964. Both, expectedly, sound incredible.

Patricia Barber, Nightclub, Premonition Records/IMPEX Records, 2000/2021, Two 45 RPM LPs.

Whether one wants to admit it or not, Patricia Barber has become one of those “audiophile darling” recording artists. The ones whose music is prime selection to demonstrate the latest in high-end audio “whiz-bangery” at audio shows and get-togethers. I don’t say that to be derisive, it simply is a point of fact. Through choice of material, style of execution, and care taken in overall production, she’s kind of become a victim of her own success! I’m being a bit tongue-in-cheek here. One could have far worse taste and pick some other well recorded but otherwise mindless rot to test their systems, but Patricia Barber’s Nightclub has the distinction of actually being extraordinarily good music. Classy, beguiling, and uniquely arranged, it is music of the most memorable sort. Her version of “Autumn Leaves” alone is reason enough to own this album. Sheer greatness it is. Probably a good reason why Impex Records decided to produce it as a 1 STEP LP release.

Just like the Getz/ Gilberto release, Mastering and lacquer-cutting impresario Bernie Grundman does the honors on Nightclub as well. And these twin 45 RPM petroleum platters are just as spotless and devoid of noise as anything else I’ve heard. The music just springs warmly forth from a background of sheer black. Barber’s piano playing positively shimmers from my speakers. I imagine it is as good as vinyl can possibly sound these days.

The packaging is superb, with a beautifully printed double gatefold cover along with a booklet of images and quotes. A tobacco colored hard, textured slipcover properly protects the limited edition contents. The Impex team obviously knows what they are doing and they seem to have made an excellent album even better!

Carlo Lo Raso

A native of Toronto Canada, Carlo's interest in audio began at a young age when, unbeknownst to his mother, he started taking apart her numerous transistor radios to see how they worked. This desire for “knowledge through deconstruction” continued through to the family’s 8-track tape player, turntable, headphones, and speakers. Carlo subsequently spent a lot of time in his room. Toronto was a fertile ground for Hi-Fi in the 1970s and 80s and Carlo spent much of his wayward youth hanging out in downtown Toronto stereo shops, listening to all manner of gear and picking the brains of the various store owners. Through that formative experience, Carlo developed an appreciation for good music and good sound reproduction. Also, as a budding graphic artist, the aesthetic aspects of a given piece of gear became increasingly of interest to his eyes. It was at about that time as well that Carlo began purchasing “Audio Magazine” on a regular basis and came to appreciate, in particular, the writing and reviewing of the late Leonard Feldman. Later on, he was also influenced by the writing and observations of the staff at Sound and Vision Canada, helmed at the time by Alan Loft. Carlo graduated from Sheridan College with a degree in Classical Animation and was subsequently employed by Walt Disney Consumer Products for 10 years as a Character Artist and Art Director. Having become disenchanted with Los Angeles, he then decided to strike out on his own. Carlo started his own company and has been freelancing artwork, from his home studio, primarily for the toy and publishing industries since 2001. In 2013, on a bit of a lark, Carlo answered a “Call for Writers” ad from an AV website that he had been regularly reading for about 5 years called Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity. He had come to appreciate the website’s combination of subjective impressions along with the objective bench-testing available in several of the reviews. The “B-Team” must have been working that day because by some miracle he was hired as a writer and his first review for the site was published early in 2014. Carlo has been continually writing, editing, traveling, listening, and learning on the company’s behalf ever since. Carlo currently lives in Granville, Ohio with his wife, two sons, and a very old, but chill dachshund.