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Latest

The Allman Brothers Band's "At Fillmore East" at 48

Details
Curator

June 2019

When the Allman Brothers Band began a three-day run at the Fillmore East on March 11, 1971, they’d already decided to record the shows for release as a live album. Their two studio albums, The Allman Brothers Band (1969) and Idlewild South (1970), had been well received by critics, but sales had been sluggish. The Allmans were best in concert, and steady touring had helped create some interest in the second LP while building the band’s following. In 1970 alone the ABB played 300 shows, developing a reputation as a fierce live act. Bill Graham, who owned the Fillmores East (in Manhattan) and West (in San Francisco), became a fan in December 1969, when the Allmans opened for Blood, Sweat & Tears at Fillmore East, and he booked them into both halls many times over the next 18 months. The Allmans played the Fillmores 11 times in 1970, and by the time they appeared at Fillmore East in March 1971 they had two years of rigorous touring under their belts.

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“A Face in the Crowd”

Details
Blu-ray movies

May 2019

A Definitive Blu-ray Edition of Elia Kazan’s Cautionary Tale

The Criterion Collection 970
Format: Blu-ray

Overall Enjoyment
****

Picture Quality
****1/2

Sound Quality
***1/2

Extras
***1/2

In the summer of 1953, Andy Griffith was in Manteo, North Carolina, playing Sir Walter Raleigh in The Lost Colony, the longest-running outdoor production in the history of American theater. That same year, as Deacon Andy Griffith, he recorded the comedy monologue “What It Was, Was Football” for Colonial Records. It was only Colonial’s third recording, and when Capitol Records took it over and put their own label on it, the record became one of the most popular comedy singles of all time, with sales of almost 800,000. I was 12 years old, and Colonial was on a street in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, that made a T intersection with the tiny street on which I lived with my parents. My dad knew someone who had a connection, and took me down to meet Griffith. He was warm and friendly, pretty much like the character he later played on TV in The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968).I liked him a lot.

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Audioengine 512 Portable Bluetooth Speaker

Details
Music Everywhere

May 2019

Reviewers' ChoiceAudioengine, based in Austin, Texas, specializes in computer, bookshelf, and wireless speakers that have been praised for their natural sound. The 512 is their first portable Bluetooth speaker. As Brady Bargenquast, a founder of Audioengine, put it to me: “The goal was to use familiar industrial design cues for the size and shape, but to best the competition with the sound. So we voiced the 512 as we’ve tuned other Audioengine products, with the main challenges being battery play time, the full-range micro driver designs, and cabinet acoustics (and cost of course).”

Ah, but does the 512 meet those goals?

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Michael Gregory Jackson Clarity Quartet: "WHENUFINDITUWILLKNOW"

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CD music

May 2019

Golden Records MGJCQ 004
Format: CD

Musical Performance
*****

Sound Quality
****

Overall Enjoyment
****

Just as the 1940s and ’50s are considered the most creative era in jazz, the late ’60s and ’70s are seen as the art form’s nadir. Record sales plunged, as buyers turned their attention to rock and singer-songwriters, and bars supplanted live acts with recorded music.

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"To Sleep with Anger"

Details
Blu-ray movies

April 2019

Criterion Scores with a Brilliant Blu-ray of a Neglected Masterpiece

The Criterion Collection 963
Format: Blu-ray

Overall Enjoyment
****

Picture Quality
****1/2

Sound Quality
****

Extras
***

Although African-American writer and film director Charles Burnett has long been active as a filmmaker and is highly regarded by his peers, his work is not well known to the general public, especially white audiences. He’s mostly been involved in making documentaries and dramatic films for television that have seemed to fly under the radar. Now, having seen To Sleep with Anger (1990), I’m inclined to think he’s one of our greatest directors.

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Recording Drums with Howard Bilerman, Part 2: Loel Campbell on Setting Up Drums

Details
SoundStage! Encore

April 2019

Loel Campbell is the drummer for the Canadian band Wintersleep, which debuted with a self-titled album in 2003. To-date, the band has recorded seven albums, including In the Land Of, which was just released on March 29. In this video -- the second part in the “Recording Drums with Howard Bilmerman” series -- Campbell talks about how he sets up drums, what the tweaks are he makes to them to get better sound, and how the room itself affects the outcome of a recorded song.

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JBL Charge 4 Bluetooth Speaker

Details
Music Everywhere

April 2019

JBL continues to upgrade and refine its Bluetooth speakers. The Charge 4 is very similar in outward appearance to its predecessor, the Charge 3, but with significant internal differences. At $149.95 USD, it’s a good bargain in a midsize Bluetooth speaker, while allowing the Charge 3 to be sold for two-thirds its cost at Amazon.com and other retailers.

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Wayne Shorter and Chick Corea Reissued in Blue Note's Tone Poet Series

Details
Pulse!

This year is the 80th anniversary of Blue Note Records, the venerable jazz label established by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis in 1939. While other record companies played important roles in documenting jazz, Blue Note’s presence in the marketplace overshadows them. It’s doubtful that any other jazz label is better known, or has more recordings currently available in various formats -- the number of Blue Note titles in circulation on CD, as downloads, or on recent vinyl pressings is staggering. Blue Note is also a favorite of audiophile reissue labels, several of which have licensed albums from its catalog to release as new LPs.

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Van Morrison: "The Healing Game (Deluxe Edition)"

Details
CD music

April 2019

Exile/Legacy Recordings 88985428402
Format: CD

Musical Performance
*****

Sound Quality
****

Overall Enjoyment
*****

Curmudgeonly and unpredictable, at 73 Van Morrison has developed a late-career reputation that sadly overshadows his early triumphs. Like Bob Dylan, if you only judged him based on the man who shambles onstage and grumbles through an assortment of songs that are not necessarily among his best, you might well wonder why he’s considered one of the greatest singers and songwriters of the last 60 years.

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Grace Digital Mondo+ Classic Wi-Fi Radio

Details
Music Everywhere

March 2019

Reviewers' ChoiceGrace Digital has built a well-earned reputation for giving great value for the dollar, and their latest product is no exception. The modestly priced Mondo+ Classic Wi-Fi radio ($249.99 USD) is built for the future, but can be enjoyed aplenty in the here and now.

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"The Magnificent Ambersons"

Details
Blu-ray movies

March 2019

Orson Welles's Truncated Masterpiece Looks Great on Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 952
Format: Blu-ray

Overall Enjoyment
***1/2

Picture Quality
****

Sound Quality
***1/2

Extras
****

RKO Radio Pictures cooked up this truncated version of Orson Welles’s The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) while the director was away in South America, filming his next (unfinished) film, It’s All True. At first Welles tried to communicate with RKO via long-distance calls, using fellow director Robert Wise as go-between, but to no avail: RKO made drastic cuts, rearranged the order of scenes, shot new scenes -- some directed by Wise -- and tacked on a sappy, happy ending.

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iFi Audio's Pro iDSD: Streamer, DAC, Headphone Amp, Preamp -- All in One!

Details
"On HiFi" with Wes Marshall

March 2019

SoundStage! has covered multiple products from iFi Audio. We began by looking at their earlier, value-centered products, many of which were involved with some aspect of headphone listening. In the last few years, iFi seems to have decided that the high end offers a promising marketplace as well. Their Pro iDSD ($2499 USD) now joins their Pro iCAN headphone amp ($1799) and Pro iESL electrostatic headphone amplifier ($1499) -- attempts to challenge the Mount Everest of the highest-quality audio products while maintaining at least a semblance of reasonable pricing.

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Jeanne Lee & Ran Blake: "The Newest Sound You Never Heard"

Details
CD music

March 2019

A-Side 0005
Format: CD

Musical Performance
*****

Sound Quality
****

Overall Enjoyment
****

A decade before two young music nerds met at Bard College and sparked the evolution of Steely Dan, two other young oddballs -- 21-year-old Ran Blake and 17-year-old Jeanne Lee -- met on the same campus. Blake was a polymath pianist with a deep interest in Béla Bartók, Claude Debussy, Mary Lou Williams, gospel music, and film noir. Lee was equally eclectic, developing choreography for music by Arnold Schoenberg and simultaneously studying child psychology and literature. When she heard Blake playing piano one March afternoon in 1956, she told him he put her in mind of Art Tatum -- a musician most people would never associate with Blake’s minimalist style -- and he knew immediately that she had impressive ears.

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"Horror Express"

Details
Blu-ray movies

February 2019

A Cult Classic Done Right from Arrow Films

Arrow Films AV179-TM
Format: Blu-ray

Overall Enjoyment
***1/2

Picture Quality
****

Sound Quality
***1/2

Extras
***1/2

Produced in Spain in 1972 for a measly $300,000, Horror Express has received terrible treatment since its release. It flopped in Spain but was better received in the UK, where it got excellent reviews. The US release was a disaster. The distributor had so little interest that it provided misleading poster art and, according to some reports, released a workprint to theaters.

Read more …

  1. Recording Drums with Howard Bilerman, Part 1: Philosophy
  2. Bluesound Pulse Flex 2i Wi-Fi Speaker
  3. Joe Lovano: "Trio Tapestry"
  4. Sbode M400 Bluetooth Speaker
  5. "Forty Guns"
  6. Love's "Forever Changes" Curated
  7. Eric Dolphy: "Musical Prophet: The Expanded 1963 New York Studio Sessions"
  8. "Lost Horizon"
  9. Henkka Niemistö on the Role of a Mastering Engineer
  10. Shinola’s New Speakers Have a Not-So-Secret Super Power
  11. NstaJam Nspire Solo Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker
  12. Ingrid Jensen and Steve Treseler: "Invisible Sounds: For Kenny Wheeler"
  13. "Dragon Inn"
  14. EcoXGear EcoXplorer Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker
  15. Bernie Grundman Remasters Frank Zappa

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