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Sasha Matson, Cooperstown (Jazz Opera in Nine Innings). Albany Records. (2015, 2020 Revised Edition (CD and 24-88 FLAC) (HERE) Baseball and jazz—two great American traditions here combined by composer Sasha Matson for an engaging musical experience. Add opera to the mix and you get some nice theater. Originally released in 2015 as a double CD... Read More »

Je donnerais mes jours. Songs by Gabriel Dupont. Rachel Joselson, soprano; Bo Ties, piano. Centaur CRC 3811.  TT: 76.58. Downloads: amazon.co.uk (mp3); amazon.de (mp3); qobuz.com (16-bit) Poèmes d'automne. Le chanson de Myrrha. Le Foyer. Mandoline. Les Effarés. Deux mélodies. La Pluie. Chanson d'automne. Annie. Journée d'hiver. Le Jardin mouillé. En aimant. Les Caresses sur des poèmes de... Read More »

Frank Sinatra, Sing and Dance with Frank Sinatra. Impex Records (33 RPM LP) You gotta love Frank Sinatra. We have been streaming Mad Men during the lock down. Taken from the late 1950s and into the 1970s, you can't help but envision Frank swaggering about during that timeframe and era in America. Think Manhattan, dirty... Read More »

Yusuf/Cat Stevens, Tea For The Tillerman 2, Island Records (33 RPM LP) At 72 years old, Yusuf Islam continues to entertain and delight his fans. Born Steven Demetra Georgio in 1948 in London, England, he took the stage name of Cat Stevens in 1966 before turning to Islam in 1977 and assuming his current name. He... Read More »

Yes, I know. It's traditional to cite recordings used in an equipment review (and illustrate them with the cover art), but featuring even some of the music that used to evaluate four very different USB cables meant the review would run far too long. Ultimately, I had to cut all the window dressing. You can... Read More »

Record Store Day—or RSD as it's commonly known among aficionados—typically takes place twice a year, generally around April and October. RSD piques the interest of every vinyl hound in the US—and worldwide, for that matter—and generally brings a slate of releases that are widely varied in approach from record label to record label. Some labels... Read More »

The first Peanuts comic strips from cartoonist Charles Schulz appeared in newspapers in October, 1950, and Craft Recordings is celebrating 70 years of Peanuts and Charlie Brown this year with a limited edition series of LP releases. Next up: the original soundtrack from 1965's A Charlie Brown Christmas television special; the soundtrack album has sold... Read More »

Do you recall certain artists whose new releases you eagerly awaited? Anna Fedorova is that artist for us these days. We only recently discovered two of her solo albums on Channel Classics, Storyteller and Four Fantasies. I wrote about these thoroughly engaging releases in a recent article. Now we've found her duo album, Silhouettes, with... Read More »

Rachel Podger is a joyful music maker, regardless of her choice of composers. And she is one of the best artists performing today on baroque violin and within the world of period instrument performance generally with her Brecon Baroque ensemble.  I wrote enthusiastically about Podger and Brecon Baroque in my article about Channel Classics and the... Read More »

This is an ongoing project by Claude Lemaire of Soundevaluations 156. Jackie McLean, It's Time!.  Blue Note – BST 84179 (1965), Tone Poet Series – B0031655-01 (2020), 33 1/3 rpm. Genre: jazz, hard bop, post bop, free jazz leanings. Previously I had suggested that Tone Poet's remastering of Wayne Shorter's excellent Etcetera (Blue Note LT-1056, B0029357-01) pretty much... Read More »

Circa 1967, that is… Imprints on music are lifelong influences. Among my early imprints that I continue to cherish are the recordings made by André Previn with the London Symphony early in his career. Released by RCA from around 1967 to 1972, these Decca recorded performances are a consistent pleasure. The various Decca recording teams,... Read More »

Nicolas van Poucke: The Schumann Collection, Vol. 1, TRPTK. (2020 (DXD) (HERE) What a pleasure to listen to this quite extraordinary pianist, Nicolas van Poucke, in this new release from TRPTK. His performances of the Schumann works on this album are totally engaging, full of musical intelligence and emotional depth. It is always a treat... Read More »

Nickel Creek formed in 1989, at a point when all three members were under the age of thirteen. They actually went by the moniker "The Nickel Creek Band" for a few years before eventually deciding to drop "The Band" to present themselves with a more modern and concise identity. Consisting of mandolin player and vocalist... Read More »

Lanchbery-Herold: La Fille Mal Gardée, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conducted by John Lanchberry, HDTT. (1962 Decca (Pure DSD256) (In 2 parts: HERE) These excerpts from John Lanchbery's 1960 adaptation of Ferdinand Hérold's 1828 score have been a guilty pleasure of mine since I first heard them on the original Decca SXL... Read More »

The consistent excellence of Channel Classics' recordings has rapidly made this label our "go to" resource for modern recordings of both long-standing classical musical favorites and new areas for exploration. Jared Sacks, founder and chief recording engineer, is a recognized master of his craft and deservedly so. His recordings are transparent jewels that have become... Read More »

Bob Witrak's High Definition Tape Transfers (HDTT) is a treasure house for DXD and DSD256 downloads of some of the best recordings from the golden age of analog stereo recording. Perusing the HDTT catalog is like traveling back in time to my favorite record store to wander through shelves of wonderful recordings from Decca, RCA,... Read More »

Sacred Trance Music from Taos Mountain, Habib Chishti, Michael Rosell, Salman Hanuman Lee, Shawnina Good Road Woman. Yarlung Records. (DSD256) (HERE) Go to your quiet place, turn out the lights, transport to the original recording session with these musicians. The sound quality is that good—immersive, translucent, and transcending. And the musical performances are that subtle,... Read More »

Craft Recordings continues their 50th anniversary celebration of the founding of Creedence Clearwater Revival with this new LP reissue of their seminal album, Cosmo's Factory. Starting in July 1970, Cosmo's Factory quickly rose to the top of the US Billboard album charts and was propelled to quadruple platinum status in the US alone on the... Read More »

From Heaven on Earth - Lute Music from Kremsmunster Abbey, Hubert Hoffmann. Challenge Classics | Northstar Recording (DXD) (HERE) A beautiful and sensitive recording of some exquisite compositions  recently discovered in the library of the Benedictine Abbey of Kremsmünster in Upper Austria. Hubert Hoffman is clearly a master of the 11-string lute, as heard here... Read More »