Monthly Archive: May 2005
15 Jazz Reviews, Pt. 1
May 2005 Part 1 of 2 [Pt. 2] Pat Metheny Group – The Way Up (Metheny, acoustic, electric, synth and slide guitars; Lyle Mays, acoustic piano & keyboards; Steve Rodby, acoustic & electric bass & cello; Guong Vu, trumpet & voice; Gregoire Maret, harmonica; Antonio Sanchez, drums) – Nonesuch 79876-2, 68:10 *****: Leave it to Metheny to turn out some of the most creative guitar-based modern jazz today. He’s been at it for 30 years; no wonder. Following his own highly individual path which has little in common with mainstream jazz. He seems to come from the general fusion genre but moves outward in every direction from there, creating a unique mix of modern chamber music, symphonic, electronics, sound effects, film music and atmospheric textures that let your imagination run wild. And maintaining an accessible harmonically-based idiom throughout this concept album. There are no “tunes” here – just 68 minutes of continuous music consisting of an opening track and three parts – which carries you away. Metheny was assisted by his longtime collaborator Lyle Mays, and whole thing holds together like a Bruckner symphony. I thought of Chopin’s four Ballades, which also tell adventurous stories without every having a specific […]
Jazz/Pop/Rock, Pt. 3 of Hi-Res Reviews
46 SACD & DVD-A Reviews This Month May 2005 – Pt. 3 of 3 (Jazz, Pop & Rock) [Part 1] [Part 2]click on any cover to go directly to its review 4 + Four – Turtle Island String Quartet + Ying Quartet – Telarc multichannel SACD-60630 ****: A number of classical string quartets have been actively redefining the form for some years now. The Kronos Quartet probably started the whole thing 40 years ago, but Turtle Island has been around 20 years and going about it their own way. Actually, what they have been doing in blending the classical quartet tradition with 20th century American vernacular styles is very similar to the very first Kronos recording – a 45 rpm 12-inch for Reference Recordings. Such wide-ranging influences as bluegrass, folk, pop, swing, bebop, funk, R&B, new age, rock, hip-hop, Latin American, and East Indian have been integrated into Turtle Island’s repertory. And unlike the Kronos, TISQ originates most of its own music. At a music event, TISQ leader David Balakrishnan began talking to Ying Quartet lead violinist Timothy Ying about some sort of collaboration between their two quartets. The Ying is the faculty quartet-in-residence at the Eastman School of […]
Classical Hi-Res Reviews, Pt. 2
46 Hi-Res Reviews This Month! May 2005 – Part 2 of 3 – Classical cont. [Part 1] [Part 3] click on any cover to go directly to its review *****Multichannel Disc of the Month***** LEONARD BERNSTEIN: Mass – Jerry Hadley, tenor/Soloists of the Pacific Mozart Ensemble/Radio Choir Berlin/State and Cathedral Choir Berlin/Deutsches Symphony Orchestra Berlin/Kent Nagano – Harmonia mundi HMC 801840.41 (2 discs), 1 hr. 46 min. ****: I reviewed this in its original CD form last October and at the end of the review said: “Again, this would be a very suitable work for multichannel reproduction, and perhaps HM will eventually release it as such.” Well, here it is. I think I’ll be lazy and just give you my original review below, but let me first address the advantage of the multichannel version: Huge. Due to both the more subtle details of the performance coming thru due to the higher resolution audio, the surround field involves the listener more in the work – almost as though you were participating. The actions of the Celebrant are now more dramatic and emotional, especially when he smashes the objects on the altar and jumps up to dance on it. The entire work […]
Classical Hi-Res Reviews Pt. 1
46 & Reviews This Month! May 2005, Pt. 1 of 3 – Hi-Res Classical, beg. [Part 2] [Part 3] click on any cover to go directly to its review Two Bach SACDs start off our hi-res reviews this issue… JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: Partitas – Florin Paul, violin – Tacet S 10 – Multichannel Hybrid SACD, 75 min. *****: When it comes to Bach’s Partitas for solo violin, many listeners would probably feel no need to reach any further in their collection other than for classic recordings by Grumiaux, Heifetz or Milstein. And while this recent offering from Tacet probably won’t unshelve any of the masters based on absolute artistic values, it does, nonetheless, offer very compelling performances of the Partitas, all captured in superb SACD transfers. Violinist Florin Paul acquits himself admirably throughout, but the really stunning sound quality here is the real reason to add this disc to you library. A number of excellent recordings have appeared on the Tacet label, but most of the recent buzz revolving around them has dealt with either their often unusual approach to recording music for surround sound, where individual instruments are assigned to specific channels – or, as in this […]
Audiophile Vinyl Reviews
It’s been too long ago that we published our last vinyl reviews, and we have a stack of ten of them to cover this issue. This undeniably high-resolution format (when done correctly) has been finding new fans at a goodly pace and in fact (though I feel it somewhat embarrassing to reveal) has been outpacing in sales the combined sales of both SACD and DVD-A formats. Younger audio buffs are discovering vinyl for the first time with many rock albums issued simultaneously now on both CD and LP. Older collectors who got rid of their turntable or record changer some years ago are going back to vinyl with one of the many high quality turntables now on offer. They find CDs just don’t float their boat anymore. Sure, there’s a number of hassles in the vinyl enjoyment experience we don’t need to go into now, as well as the expense. But there are plenty of pros vs. the cons. There have been major improvements in high end record-playing gear in the last ten years or so. 180 and 200 gram pressings have reduced the possibility of warpage while improving fidelity. You have more of a genuine product with vinyl – […]
Index to All Disc Reviews This Month
Index to All 142 Discs Reviewed for May 2005 HI-RES REVIEWS, PT 1 (Classical) – BACH: Partitas – Florin Paul, v.; BACH: Brandenburg Concertos – Stuttgart Ch. Orch.; What About This, Mr. Paganini? – Saschko Gawriloff, v.; TCHAIKOVSKY: Sym. N. 4 – Ivan Fisher cond.; TCHAIKOVSKY: Sym. No. 4 – Gergiev cond. Vienna Philharmonic; KREISLER Works – Salvatore Accardo, v.; Homage to KREISLER – Daniel Gaede, v.; TELEMANN: Telemann in Minor – Pretum Integrum Orch./Serbin; MOZART: Flute & Harp Concerto, Flute Concertos 1 & 2 – Patgrick Galliois & Swedish Ch. Orch.; SIBELIUS: Sym. Nos. 3 & 7 – LSO/Colin Davis; BRAHMS: Hungarian Dances for piano 4 hands – Kolacnys; Surround Yourself With Paco Peña – Misa Flamenca; James Boyk piano recital – BACH, CHOPIN, DEBUSSY, MOZART; CHOPIN Scherzi & Impromptus – Yundi Li, p.; Pletnev plays SCHUMANN: Etudes sym., Fantasie in C, Album blatter; R. STRAUSS: The Bourgeois Gentleman, Duet-Concertino, Sextet from Capriccio – soloists/German Ch. Orch./Paavo Järvi HI-RES REVIEWS, PT. 2 (Classical conl.) – Multichannel Disc of the Month: LEONARD BERNSTEIN: Mass – Kent Nagano cond.; DAVID CHESKY: Con. for Violin, Concerto for Flute, The Girl from Guatemala – Area 31/Aibel; SCHOENBERG: Transfirgure Night, Ch. Symphony – Bavarian […]
Home Page for May 2005
Our tenth Hi-Res Drawing features SACDs from Opus 3 Records. A dozen lucky AUDIOPHILE AUDITION readers who Register Here (or have registered earlier) will receive their choice of one of the three multi-channel SACD discs above: Peder af Ugglas is a great guitarist who moves between Delta blues and gospel; Katina Wilson is a singer/guitarist/ composer in the singer-songwriter tradition; Showcase 2005 is a SACD sampler of Blues, Jazz, World Music and Classical – all in Surround Sound! Drawings will be June 1, we’ll announce the winners thereafter, and we won’t sell/share your information. Check back with us frequently for more reviews & news! May 2005 Contents 123 New Discs Reviewed! 15 New Jazz CD Reviews! NewAudio News! Feature of the Month!: 10 Vinyl Audiophile LP Reviews 46 SACD, DVD-A & xrcd Hi-Res Reviews (Pt. 1 – Classical beg., Pt. 2 Classical concl., & Pt. 3 – Jazz/Pop/Rock) 15 NEW Jazz Reviews (Pt. 1, Pt. 2) DualDiscs continued – 7 Reviews Components: Denon DVD-3910 Universal Disc Player; Denon AVR-3805 AV Surround Receiver; Epson PowerLite Cinema 500 Hi-Def LCD Projector 19 DVD Video Reviews (Pt. 1 – Music Videos, Pt. 2 – Features) 16 […]
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
