Here's a list of music that got heavy rotation in my room at HE2005. More a list of stuff that I like than stuff that's good for testing audio systems, actually...
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Sonny Rollins - Way Out West (K2 20-bit remaster): One of the classic saxophone recordings out there, this CD offers great music as well as excellent sonics. Rollins is well-known for his melodies an tonality, and this is one of his best.
Joey DeFrancesco w/Jimmy Smith – Legacy: The great Jimmy Smith passed away a few months ago, a week before a scheduled performance with Joey DeFrancesco. This recording captures the energy and maturity of Smith’s organ jazz, and also represents a passing of the torch to a younger generation of Hammond jazz players.
Jimmy Smith - Root Down: Suprisingly not well known among Jimmy Smith fans, but well enough to be remastered and re-issued by Verve. Jam bands take note, this is how it’s done! The re-master has significantly better sonics than the original CD.
Wynton Marsalis - The Magic Hour: For HE2005, this is what we used to demonstrate female vocals, hoping to find something different from what everyone else typically uses (Diana Krall, Norah Jones, etc). A great performance by Diana Reeves and Wynton Marsalis.
John Scofield – Uberjam: A surprising number of people looking to hear some up-tempo jazz fusion saw this CD and said “put it on!”. Dynamic, fast paced, complex. My favorite John Scofield CD.
Monty Alexander - Live at the Montreux Festival: This one seems to be hard to find, but it’s a great performance and a good CD to use when looking for a good piano performance.
Doug McLeod - Come to Find (XRCD): The first time I put this on at HE2005, it turned out that the producer who recorded it (Joe Harley) was sitting front and center in the room! This blues recording was the CD that received the most “what disc is that?” question at the show.
Steppenwolf - All Time Greatest Hits: ‘nuff said!
Billy Idol - Greatest Hits: When the day winds down at an audio show, I try to play a track that will “clear the room” so that we can close the room down. I tried putting on “Rebel Yell” at high volume; 8 more people came into the room! Sounded great, I guess!
Jennifer Warnes - The Well: My other female vocal CD.
Mino Cinelu - (self-titled): I was excited to find this CD; as a fan of Weather Report, I do enjoy when members of that group do solo projects. Mino Cinelu was a percussionist for Weather Report, and I find this CD to be a nice relaxing collection of songs.
Bolero: Orchestral Fireworks (Reference Recordings): A collection of well-recorded and well-known symphonic overtures and other relatively short performances. A great CD to show off a system that produces good dynamics and a large soundstage.
Schubert: Quintet, Op. 114 "The Trout" / Sonata, D. 821 "Arpeggione": Yo-Yo Ma. One of my favorite performances of one of my favorite classical pieces.
FIM Super Sound (First Impression Music XRCD): If there’s anything First Impression Music does well, it is creating recordings that are amazing to hear on great audio systems. The performances are always unique, and the sonics are always a level beyond amazing. This is a good sampler to get acquainted with the FIM label. The first track, an orchestral rendition of Carmen Fantasie, is stunning.
