David Murray was the tenor saxophonist of the 1980s and ‘90s, first as junior member of the World Saxophone Quartet, among the most innovative jazz groups of the era, then as leader of a dozen different ensembles of varying size, from duets to big band and everything in between, playing a range of music (much of it self-composed) from frenzied avant-garde to swooning ballads, his solos sweeping arpeggios in pleasingly jarring intervals laced with Sapphiric blue notes,... Read More

One of my favorite demo LPs—heck, one of my favorite LPs, period—is the 45rpm reissue by the late, lamented Classic Records of the Mussorgsky/Ravel Pictures At An Exhibition, which was originally released by RCA on its fabled "Shaded Dog" Living Stereo label. It was recorded in 1958 at Orchestra Hall and features the Chicago Symphony led by the legendary conductor Fritz Reiner. A young Adolph Herseth, probably the best orchestral trumpeter of the past... Read More

In Part 2 of this extended analysis and review of the new Karajan cycle of Bruckner’s 9 Symphonies - remixed, remastered and cut directly from the original 8-track master tapes to vinyl by Emil Berliner Studios - I focus in on the technical processes behind the original recordings, and the technology used to breathe new life into these classics of the gramophone. A huge thank-you to Rainer Maillard for the time he took to send me his additional thoughts pertaining to this project and much else (beyond his extensive essay in the set's booklet). (You can read Part 1 here, and Part 3 here).

Tracking Angle west coast correspondent Michael Trochalakis recently visited Levi Seitz's Seattle based Black Belt Mastering where the new Because Sound Matters Linkin Park "One Step" released were cut. Olivia Rodrigo's "Sour" and Beyonce's "Renaissance" are among the many other well regarded vinyl issues and reissues Seitz cut at Black Belt. Seitz gives Michael a tour of the facility and discusses his three lathes, then... Read More

Between 1975 and 1982, the renowned Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra recorded and released the nine numbered symphonies of the great Romantic composer Anton Bruckner for Deutsche Grammophon. For Karajan it was the culmination of a lifetime studying and performing these works. The cycle, coming at the beginning of the Bruckner revival, was one of the earliest complete recordings, and has remained a benchmark ever since.... Read More

Ryuichi Sakamoto once again sits down at a Yamaha piano in NHK’s Tokyo studio. Microphones and cameras are set up as normal, just like the other times he’s played here. He performs 20 compositions, alone as usual by now. The result, Opus, was at least the third time this decade that he filmed (and saved) a solo piano performance.Yet these sessions in late 2022 were the composer’s final performances of the repertoire that over nearly five decades built, cemented, and... Read More

Musician, recording artist, label owner, Gillian Welch partner in life and in the studio, and all around analog aficionado Dave Rawlings invited me to visit his Woodland recording Studio during last June's Making Vinyl where we finally sat down face to face to talk about the things we both know and love. This meeting—something we both talked about doing for almost five years now—was worth the wait as you'll see and hear. Over the past almost half-decade... Read More

Prog rock and jazz fusion both have an otherworldly quality. I’ve never seen either live, so listening to recordings created with the intense discipline, musicianship, and complexity these styles demand, I’m often amazed that real people are behind the instruments. If you feel that way, you’ll find the late Chick Corea’s Elektric Band's latest live album, The Future is Now (Candid), a mostly accessible showcase of high-level musicianship combined with... Read More

LOS ANGELES—Rhino High Fidelity (Rhino Hi-Fi) returns with the latest addition to its acclaimed limited-edition, high-end vinyl reissues with the first-ever boxed set release. ZZ Top From The Top: 1971-1976 includes ZZ Top’s First Album (1971), Rio Grande Mud(1972), Tres Hombres (1973), Fandango! (1975), and Tejas (1976). This Hi-Fi release celebrates their musical excellence and includes detailed liner notes by James Austin in conversation with frontman Billy... Read More

Patrick Leonard and his wife Anna stopped by today (she piloted her plane to Teterboro airport) to discuss promotional plans for the soon to be available album It All Comes Down to Mood, which debuted July 26th on Apple Music and is available for pre-order at Acoustic Sounds, Music Direct and Elusive Disc. The couple also got a chance to hear the album on my system.After playing most of side two of the four sides, Patrick said he wants to mix his next record here. He... Read More

July 26, 2024 (Los Angeles, CA) – The limited edition Deluxe Edition of Archives Vol. III, available on September 6 exclusively at neilyoungarchives.com, includes recordings and films together that show the unheralded sweep of Young's efforts from the 1976-1987 period of his journey. It is one of the most extensive anthologies in his recorded history.There are a total of 22 discs, with 17 CD’s in 11 soft-paks and 5 Blu-rays in 3 soft-paks. There are 11 films on... Read More

Free was one of the great unappreciated late '60's era rock bands. Sure, they had a hit with "All Right Now", but like Stealers Wheel with "Stuck in the Middle", that song is catchy with a barbed hook, but that's about all. Free was a band that simmered: dark, brooding, deep and thoughtful. The albums leading up to Fire and Water didn't sell, and Highway, the one following the big seller, flopped too. The group did better in the... Read More

I figured it was a good time to catch up with Steve Westman and his community. I wanted to check the reaction. It was mostly good. Read More

The first question you have to ask yourself before buying any of the three iterations of this album is how much do you like it? The second question to ask is how much do you wish to know about it? How deep a dive do you wish to take?UMe recently held a press event at the Dolby screening room in New York City in which the Atmos mix was played and many of the musicians were on hand for a Q&A. Jim Keltner was on the road with Bob Dylan so he appeared in a live video.... Read More

Because I was involved in the vinyl production of this record (credited as “Vinyl Shepherd”) I didn’t feel it appropriate to review it. So I enlisted Morgan Enos to do it. Mr. Enos’s partial resume: “Former Staff Writer at GRAMMY.com. His features, essays, and interviews, which encompass jazz, classic rock, hip-hop, and other spheres, have also appeared in Fortune, Billboard, JazzTimes, uDiscover Music, and other platforms”. The album debuts today with pre-orders on the familiar sites including the “buy now” button at the review bottom, where you can get more details.