September 29th, 2024
A 1968 Live Blues Fillmore Classic Gets A Bluesville AAA Reissue obi finally identifies the back-up bandBy: Michael Fremer
Albert King teaches a master class in blues guitar soloing on this classic Stax release recorded June,1968 at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium, opening with a funked up version of Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man" that may not immediately be recognizable to Herbie fans but once you catch the groove, oh wow!Next up is a scorched earth take on King's "Blues Power", his defining song. King's playing is hard-etched deliberate,... Read More
September 23rd, 2024
Gram Parsons' "Grievous Angel" Gets Rhino High Fidelity Treatment fortunately the sound is superior to the jacket art reproductionBy: Michael Fremer
Gram Parsons overdosed in the desert shortly after recording these tracks at Wally Heider's Hollywood Studios. A damn shame and a waste of a troubled life. His greatness is more appreciated now than when he lived. That often happens with artists, especially those bridging musical gaps as Parsons did, bringing country to rock first by joining The Byrds and being to a great degree responsible for Sweetheart of the Rodeo—an album originally conceived as more of a... Read More
September 21st, 2024
Cantor Pierre Pinchik: “Rozo Deshabos” (78rpm; recorded 1928) Archival audio restoration of perhaps the last surviving first-pressing 78rpm discBy: John Marks
The advent of the phonograph allowed for the dissemination of a wide variety of "Minority Enthusiasm" genres; and not only Spoken Word and Comedy offerings. Folk music and folk songs that would appeal to new arrivals to America were an important part of the business. Cantor Pierre Pinchik's 1928 cantillation, in Aramaic, of a text from the Kabbalah might not have been a huge success in its original pressing. But, as Pinchik's fame spread, the 1928 78rpm was reissued, in 1938 and 1948. Pinchik's vocal virtuosity and his instincts for dramatic presentation revolutionized the art form.
Read MoreSeptember 18th, 2024
Chris Potter and His Super Quartet The youthful veteran saxophonist's new high-powered album (on two LPs)By: Fred Kaplan
The tenor saxophonist Chris Potter plays with such youthful zest, it’s startling to realize he’s been on the New York jazz scene for 35 years. He turned heads from the get-go, in 1989, at age 18, as sideman to trumpeter Red Rodney (who, in his youth 40 years earlier, had been sideman to Charlie Parker). Through the subsequent decades, Potter has played in bands led by (among many others) Paul Motian, Dave Holland, Dave Douglas, Pat Metheny, and, for a spell, Steely... Read More
September 16th, 2024
Centennial King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band Deluxe Boxset Reissue of Historic RecordingsBy: Joseph W. Washek
On April 5, 1923, in Richmond, Indiana, in the studio of Gennett Records, King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band made the first of thirty-seven recordings mixing African instrumental techniques and concepts of improvisation and rhythm with European notions of harmony, melody, and the virtuoso soloist, to create the template for the music we’ve been listening to for the last century. The Creole Jazz Band’s six recording sessions, all between April and December in 1923, made... Read More
September 10th, 2024
Jerome Slow Walks to Greatness his most fully realized albumBy: Michael Fremer
Jerome Sabbagh's latest offering opens with a simmering, slow cooker of a cover of Duke Ellington's groundbreaking "Prelude To A Kiss". Sabbagh takes the ballad at a halting, note by note pace that explores the unique melodic line's contours, while veteran drummer Al Foster does likewise, leaving gaping spaces in between minimalist cymbal and skin hits. Paced so slowly, it startles, then you realize it's actually strongly swinging on Joe... Read More
September 10th, 2024
Stone Temple Pilots Got Experimental on “Purple” Plenty of surprises on this Analogue Productions/ATL75 pressingBy: Dylan Peggin
Though not a descendant from grunge’s Seattle headquarters, San Diego’s Stone Temple Pilots was a force to reckon with. Its take on the genre by emphasizing 70s-based hard rock with hints of psychedelia and jazz allowed it to protrude and distinguish itself from masses of flannel. The debut album, 1992’s Core, wove into grunge lore with four hit singles and sales in America alone of over 8 million copies. After its first worldwide tour and a hyped appearance on MTV’s... Read More
September 9th, 2024
Frank Zappa’s Stewards Give Apostrophe (’)’s So-So Mix A Superb Remaster GIVEN WHAT THEY HAD TO WORK WITH, HOW MUCH BETTER COULD IT BE?By: Morgan Enos
Michael Fremer has misplaced his 1974 pressing of Frank Zappa’s Apostrophe (’), so he got a friend to hook him up with a loaner. When we pulled out the dust sleeve: Great googly moogly!“Rick, I’m tierd [sic] of you putting me down all the time. You do’nt [sic] know how much you hurt me,” begins a ballpointed breakup screed, from one Nancy. Reader, it’s a rough one: “All I ever here [sic] from you is that I’m fat, and ugly … I’m sick of you calling me a slut … You have... Read More
September 5th, 2024
Lee Morgan's Delayed Release Oddity Gets a Tone Poet Turn And a new "Blue Note"-y coverBy: Michael Fremer
While this is admittedly a simplification, Tone Poet Blue Note releases come in a few basic musical flavors: the "must have" ones that even non-jazz fans know by name, the great ones that when originally released couldn't find an audience but now are more popular and well-appreciated than ever, the head scratcher delayed release ones that have fans wondering how and why the label didn't issue them when originally recorded, and finally the delayed... Read More
August 30th, 2024
A Digital Dance from Esoteric Japan Reviewing another take on a longstanding orchestral war horseBy: Michael Johnson
There’s a certain romance about audio and vinyl from Japan. For equipment there is a well-deserved reverence for the build quality and commitment to excellence from the engineers, and for vinyl records we’ve long been fascinated by boutique audiophile pressings from the island nation, particularly I’ve long held a steadfast love for King Records’ “Super Analogue Series” of Decca classical reissues.Classical vinyl reissues from Japan have unfortunately dried up over... Read More
August 27th, 2024
Yes Forged Ahead with "Relayer" The beginning of the end of their classic run?By: Dylan Peggin
Amongst contemporaries like King Crimson and Genesis, Yes had more than enough going for it to stand out from the crowd. The combination of Jon Anderson’s angelic falsetto and abstract lyrics, Chris Squire’s lead-like bass runs, Steve Howe’s experimental guitar explorations, Rick Wakeman’s classically-inspired keyboard flourishes, and Bill Bruford’s percussive jazz fills encompassed the trappings of progressive rock at its most potent. Yes spent first half of the... Read More
August 24th, 2024
A Double LP Of "XO" Does A Tremendous Disservice To Elliott Smith limited to 4000 numbered copies—part of Interscope Vinyl Collective subscription seriesBy: Morgan Enos
Elliott Smith’s 1998 major label debut, XO, isn’t as vibey as its predecessor, 1997’s Either/Or. Nor is it as laser-focused as its follow-up, 2000’s Figure 8 — the Sgt. Pepper... to XO’s Revolver.Still, XO is special. It captured a crucial creative flowering for the late Smith, where an artist known for lo-fi hyper-intimacy strolled into a succession of L.A. studios with a head full of new sounds, and the confidence to let them loose. And a large handful of its songs... Read More
August 22nd, 2024
Does the UHQR "L.A. Woman" Really Beat the Artisan Sound Recorders Original? dowel box detesters and "I don't want to get up four times" whiners diffused!By: Michael Fremer
Artisan Sound Recorders masterings from "back in the day" were and are held in the highest esteem, kind of like "RL STERLING" (or any Sterling). For instance, if you want the best version of Exile on Main Street you want one with the Artisan stamp on it. The original L.A. Woman has the Artisan stamp.An original L.A. Woman pressing sounds great as anyone who owns one knows. It's arguably the best sounding Doors album. I have two and both also... Read More
August 20th, 2024
Josh Moshier Explores the Semi-Permanent An Interview and Review About His First Solo Album - "Semipermanence" - and Composing CareerBy: Evan Toth
Today, it’s rare to discover music without any prior knowledge of it. We usually have some vague sense of the genre, sound, or artist. But, I had no idea what to expect from Joshua Moshier before the needle hit his debut album’s grooves. It quickly became clear to me that Moshier is an exceptionally talented musician. And I further learned that he’s an Emmy-nominated composer, songwriter, and pianist who has crafted music for series, films, interactive media, and the... Read More
August 15th, 2024
Early "Daze" Neil & Crazy Horse with Jack Nitzsche Is a Great Horse Compilation yes, mostly for hardcore fansBy: Michael Fremer
It seems like the only notifications in my inbox that come more often than Democratic Party money begs are Warner Records announcements of new Neil Young Archive releases. It's hard to keep up and so many are so good. Very little filler. There are 198 tracks in the upcoming Archives Vol. III (1976-1987) and I'v been sorting through that, though there won't be vinyl. Understandable! This recent one deserves your attention if you're a true Neil and... Read More