The Blue Note Classic Vinyl series has issued nearly 100 records since its inception in 2020 and put back in print many of the long acknowledged classic Miles, Monk, Rollins, Mobley, Morgan, Shorter, and Hancock LPs from the label’s incredible bop/hard bop catalog. The series has also released a substantial selection of funky jazz/R&B organ records from Blue Note’s late period, which have been ignored by fans of “Blue Note jazz” but revered and considered equally... Read More

AXPONA 2024 hosted 10,391 attendees from 42 states and 31 countries at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center April 12-14, 2024— 14% increase over 2023. It was the best attended AXPONA yet.As with 2023's strong vinyl sales, the doom and gloom crowd was again wrong. This is a vital and growing hobby that has something affordable for every music lover but aside from shopping at a price point, there's so much fun looking at and listening to... Read More

AXPONA Saturday began for me moderating a reissue panel titled "Second Time Around: The World of Reissuing and Remastering" with a group of the best: Chad Kassem (Analogue Productions), Shane Buettner (Intervention), Abey Fonn (IMPEX) and Julia Miller (Delmark Records). I keyed off of the recent and somewhat controversial Rhino High Fidelity "Marquee Moon" reissue, asking each whether their task was to release a reissue as close as possible to the... Read More

Andrew Singer, New York City audio retailing legend, passed away this past Sunday April 21st at age 73, succumbing to pancreatic cancer after a prolonged battle that for a while he seemed to be winning. Singer was opinionated, gruff, didn't suffer fools and could be very difficult to deal with but beneath all of that he did have the proverbial heart of gold as anyone who dealt with him over time and got to really know him can attest. He also knew the equipment... Read More

Sad to report that record producer, Mosaic Records co-founder, reissue supervisor and Blue Note discographer/historian Cuscuna passed away yesterday. He was 75 and had been fighting cancer for a number of years. Until very recently he was doing well. Cuscuna began his storied music career in the late '60s as a disc jockey and music journalist, writing for Down Beat and Jazz and Pop magazines. He moved on to producing records in the mid 1970s for Capitol, Arista,... Read More

Factory Records in Dover New Jersey (not far from Rockaway, NJ where RCA pressed its east coast records) is a really big record store that opened 3 years ago. Today was my first visit but as Arnold said, "I'll be back". Friendly people, a huge inventory, more new than used, and an enormous selection of vintage audio gear, which you'll see in this video.I talked to people on the line waiting to get in and glad I did. One guy played on the Bernie... Read More

These 1959 European tour recordings have often been bootlegged with Rollins not getting royalties. This box rights that wrong and presents the piano-less trio in the best possible sound. It's not "audiophile" quality but it's decent enough mono, professionally recorded and not the result of a microphone hung from a ceiling.There's something rock'n'roll about sax, bass and drums, especially when Rollins leads the trio and this trio is... Read More

I once had an Uncle Louis, who as far as I know, I’d only met as an infant. He and my dad had a complicated relationship and, unfortunately, over the years they drifted apart. Louis died unexpectedly sometime in the 1990s; I don’t think my father ever made peace with the estrangement. Though I have no personal memory of Uncle Louis, I do have some interesting familial folklore.My dad used to tell a story about Louis moving from NJ to Las Vegas during the late... Read More

I was getting a whole lotta love on a crowded AXPONA elevator this past weekend, really enjoying the incoming. A guy stepped off at my floor and said “I guess a lot of people know you. I don’t...but nice meeting you”. This'll sound obnoxious and self-serving but I said to him, “Are you new to this?” “I am,” he replied. “I’m only here because my fourteen-year old daughter wants a turntable”. How great is that? I handed him a business card and told him if he had... Read More

This press release got me to drop the $92 (with shipping). This is a Getz Quartet featuring Gary Burton, Chuck Israels and Roy Haynes, plus Astrid—not the one that recorded Getz Au Go Go, but what a quartet! And recorded at the Berlin Philharmonie—a modern, fairly dry space that hopefully produced a vibrant, direct recording! It's limited to 3000 copies. The "lost" tapes sat untouched until they were found!"The Lost Recordings" found the... Read More

The Signature turntable combines the technological and material science advancements from the entire Clearaudio turntable line. Highlights include new TSC Tachometer speed control circuity and IMS motor suspension derived from our award-winning Reference Jubilee turntable. Retail price starting at $4,000 including Signature Black carbon tonearm and Professional Power 12v linear power supply.The new E3 System is DS Audio’s entry-point for optical cartridge systems.It... Read More

The Master Jubilee, a limited-edition turntable celebrating Clearaudio’s 45th anniversary, builds upon the success of the Reference Jubilee turntable. The complete package includes the new Unity 10” tonearm, Professional Power 24v linear power supply, Statement clamp, and Outer Limit peripheral ring clamp.Doubling down on the Panzerholz plinth, the Master Jubilee features a larger POM platter/ stainless steel flywheel on the CMB magnetically levitated ceramic platter... Read More

This year's RSD offerings are among the best ever, especially in the jazz category. This is by no means "complete" coverage of what's available. For instance, there's a four LP Sonny Rollins set Freedom Weaver: The 1959 European Tour Recordings from Resonance that looks really interesting but that one didn't show up. The Record Store Day website has a full listing of what's going to be available. (Following posting this story the... Read More

April is Jazz Appreciation month so Rhino High Fidelity dispenses with the "one jazz one rock" formula and releases two jazz titles. Miles' Tutu and Coltrane's Olé. Copies in-house, reviews will shortly post. Read More

Last year, when record club Vinyl Me, Please announced their 11LP box set of Miles Davis’ electric period studio albums, I almost immediately preordered it. For hardcore fans, it seemed (and turned out to be) essential: a lavish box set of the albums from In A Silent Way through Get Up With It, cut by Ryan Smith and Joe Nino-Hernes from flat tape copies of the original masters and packaged in laminated tip-on jackets, it’s the perfect document of Miles’ most... Read More

Had it not been for Paul McCartney’s drug bust, all four Beatles might have been together in the studio for the first time since the group broke up, recording engineer Bill Schnee recounts in this interview, referring to his time recording Ringo the Beatles drummer’s third solo album and first rocker following albums of standards (Sentimental Journey) and C&W (Beaucoups of Blues).If you’re familiar with Ringo you know it’s a spectacularly large, generous sounding... Read More

The organizers of the Southwest Audio Fest in Dallas must have felt like Hannibal Smith, who used to say, "I love it when a plan comes together." Gary Gill and Lou Hinkley took a chance by selecting as the show venue the upscale Hilton Anatole and it definitely paid off. Upon entering the lobby, I quickly sensed I was in for a memorable show experience. The hotel's sheer size and impressive facilities could rival a Las Vegas resort. In addition to the... Read More

Acoustic Sounds just announced a fifteen Pablo titles reissue series, cut from the original master tapes and pressed at Quality Record Pressings. Mastering engineers include Doug Sax, Kevin Gray and Stan Ricker (obviously these are from existing metal parts). Pablo Records was the great producer Norman Granz's "swan song". Granz (1918-2001) created Clef, Norgran, Verve and finally Pablo. He was also Ella Fitzgerald's manager for decades until her... Read More

In a web exclusive, we break down the stats behind this momentous release, which represents a game changer in the remastering of recordings from analogue's final golden age.