I recently added a "Music" section to my Sonic Spirits email newsletter, and it has resulted in more responses/feedback than any of my previous newsletters by a mile...a great sign that music is alive and well in the minds of audiophiles! Thought I'd share the list/comments from the newsletter here. Since I'm planning on keeping this section in my newsletter moving forward, I'm looking for suggestions for new CDs to try out...my personal tastes run towards older jazz recordings (and therefore I tend to be more familiar with those), so I'd be more appreciative of suggestions from other genres....
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The Boy Next Door – Stacy Kent: Tired of Norah Jones and Diana Krall to test for female vocals on your audio system? Try Stacy Kent. This CD is a collection of old standards, like the title track and “Makin’ Whoopee”, performed with great sincerity and energy. Kent’s vocals are charming, with an easiness that is very engaging.
The Magic Hour – Wynton Marsalis Quartet: Our most-used CD at our NY Audio Rave gatherings. When I play this for customers who are into jazz trumpet, they always ask “who is this?” And when I tell them it is Wynton Marsalis, nine out of ten times, the response is “really? I usually don’t really like Wynton Marsalis”. This is a great performance all around; Diana Reeves with her powerful-yet-sultry vocals is a wonderful complement to Marsalis’ dynamic and textured trumpet.
The Spirits of our Ancestors – Randy Weston: Randy Weston is the Master of the Bottom octave. On the opposite end of the spectrum from Maynard Ferguson (a “high note” trumpet player), Weston is famous for his prominent use of the lowest octaves on the piano. This is a collection of solo piano and ensemble performances that really capture the essence of Randy Weston.
Live at BB King Blues Club – Jeff Beck (
http://www.jeffbeckbootlegs.com): Jeff Beck is my all-time favorite rock guitarist, and despite the title of the website, this is an authorized live recording of Jeff performing at BB King’s Blues Club in New York City. He plays a mix of old Beck classics (Freeway Jam) and newer material (Brush with the Blues). If you’ve never seen Jeff live, this recording is the closest thing I’ve heard to actually being there.
The Grand Pecking Order – Oysterhead: I hit the big Four-Oh in December, and with a toddler and baby in the house, you can imagine that its been a while since I listened to college radio. So when a customer in his 20s brought this CD over, I was intrigued by the creativity on this recording; synthesizers, distorted guitar, a flanged/phased vocal track were all typical of the music I remember from college, but this had something more. I was surprised to see that the drummer was Stewart Copeland, formerly of The Police (a staple of my college music days). Here he has teamed with 90s jam-rock legend Trey Anastasio (from Phish) and Les Claypool (of Primus) for alesson in college rock done right. And it’s a pretty good recording, too!
Music for the Native Americans – Robbie Robertson: I was a fan of The Band, and enjoyed Robbie Robertson’s first solo album. This CD is a grander-scale version of his rock solo albums, drawing upon rhythms, melodies, and even performers by his fellow Native Americans for a very satisfying collection of songs.
Pieces of the Sun – Tony Levin: I tried to leave “audiophile test discs” off of this list, but this one was too interesting to pass up. If you’ve ever wanted to see if your audio system could handle a big bass-heavy rock fusion traffic jam, this is the disc to try. A guest to our NY Audio Rave Holiday Party brought this over, and I was really frightened that my system was going to blow up (but no worries, the system handled it great, even surprising me at how well things held together). Tony Levin is an audiophile, and I am sure he recorded this music keeping in mind the challenge he could offer to audiophiles with this disc.
Black Light Syndrome – Stevens/Levin/Bozio: The third track of this recording, “Duende”, is fast becoming a standard in audiophile test tracks. Who knew that Billy Idol’s guitarist could play like this?
Saturday Night in Bombay – Remember Shakti: For any John McLaughlin fans, this is a great performance and recording of some very interesting music.
Round About a Midsummer’s Dream – Gianluigi Trovesi Nonet: This is an amazing recording of some very unique music. A combination of classical and theater that gets labeled as jazz because it is performed by an Italian saxophone player. Unfortunately, I haven’t found it available in the US, but here is a Canadian online retailer that has it:
http://www.fusion3.com/find/?field=itemordernumber&criteria=ENJA+9384-2&find.x=5&find.y=0 Le Carnaval Des Animaux (Septuor – Fantaisie) – Saint Saens: I have been surprised at how few customers have brought classical music to use for auditioning audio gear. This is one of the few that has stood out to me as being well-performed and fun.
