A trip to Nara to see an all-star Japanese jazz quartet leads to the discovery of a record shop devoted to another Fab Four...

The capital of Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido, Sapporo is home to Precious Hall, the club world-renowned for its Loft-inspired sound system; a central park lined with beer gardens and the iconic Sapporo Beer factory; and for you, dear vinyl-lover, record shops overflowing with bargains.

If you want to talk about musicians who embodied the very best in quality, originality, versatility, craft, and sheer showbiz pizzazz, then you have to talk about Carl Davis, the great British composer and conductor, who just passed away at the age of 86.  Born and raised in America, Carl spent most of his life living and working in Britain, and there he was something of a national treasure on the music scene. Several of the TV shows he wrote music for were amongst the most popular of their time and are now acknowledged classics.  Equally at home conducting James Bond or unusual classical Pops repertoire, his greatest contribution was in the revival of interest in silent films.  Here I offer a personal appreciation and remembrance of a musician who resides in the pantheon of film composer greats, along with his American contemporaries John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, and Elmer Bernstein.

After the "room" video posted (now with more than 91,000 views!) viewers asked why I didn't show any cartridges, so here goes. You'll see close up, some of the phono cartridges I've bought and collected over the years, but not all of them. This was not the place to discuss specs, so it's more just an overview, not a technical overview. I may have had the Audio Technnica AT-MC2022 in the system so I don't think it's in the video... Read More

Last month, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced its latest group of nominees for induction, a list which includes Willie Nelson, George Michael, the White Stripes, Joy Division, and other worthy candidates. (The Spinners seem to be a controversial choice, but since my first-ever concert was seeing those Motown legends, I'm rooting for those guys.)No one should be surprised that the Monkees were not included in this list of nominees. I'm pretty sure... Read More

The legendary recording engineer and Michael Jackson/Quincy Jones right hand man, Bruce Swedien, loved Norwegian Electrocompaniet amps so much that they were credited on Michael Jackson's album covers. The company's founder, Per Abrahamsen, passed away before Christmas.

Jan Omdahl is the author of a new book in Norwegian on «Afric Pepperbird» by the Jan Garabrek Quartet, an early ECM jazz touchstone. The book is being considered for publication in English. This excerpt chronicles Jan’s attempts to convince his reclusive namesake to talk to him, ending up instead with Garbarek’s personal collection of test pressings.