May 2nd, 2025
Grande-Terre—Roy Hargrove's Crisol's 1998 Finale Finally Released why it remained unreleased since 1998 remains a mysteryBy: Michael Fremer
Habana, the late trumpeter Roy Hargrove's previous release with his hard bop- Afro-Cuban group Crisol (crucible/melting pot) won a 1998 GRAMMY for Best Latin Jazz Performance. Somehow this follow-up recorded April, 1998 was never released, but it's not because there's something wrong with it or it's disappointing in any way, or it doesn't sound good or whatever. The album was finally released October 18th, 2024 a few days after what would have... Read More
May 2nd, 2025
Donovan Gets Some Respect on IMPEX's "the hurdy gurdy man" AAA Reissue an interesting choice for an audiophile reissue!By: Michael Fremer
Ever since arriving on the U.K. scene, harmonica holder around neck, strumming a guitar, singing a "wind" song (about catching it not looking for answers blowing in it), and being described as "the Scottish Bob Dylan" Donovan has unfairly suffered a respect deficit among some Boomer-aged music fans. The famous clip from "Don't Look Back" where a half a decade younger Donovan plays and sings in a room full of Dylan fans has long been... Read More
May 2nd, 2025
A 1997 Musical, Social and Political Landmark Surfaces Again on Vinyl and On Broadway Ry Cooder doesn't get a mention or credit on Broadway (ugh)By: Michael Fremer
Now's the time for another generation to discover the wonders of Buena Vista Social Club—the music, the artists, the history and the cultural phenom that made stars of some very old practitioners of musical genres and groupings referred to as Son, Danzón and other musical flavors and the unlikely story of how this record came to be, now being told in the Tony Award nominated Broadway show. Wim Wenders produced a same named documentary.It's difficult to... Read More
April 30th, 2025
This "Lost Recording" is Definitely Worth Finding! beautifully recorded in stereo by Berlin-Brandenburg Radio in Saal 3 studio (Hall 3) East BerlinBy: Michael Fremer
Honestly at this point with the Ward/Johnson team writing for Tracking Angle, I often feel inadequate writing about classical music but I'll do my best. The Spanish concert pianist Alicia De Larrocha (1923-2009) gained fame in America touring in 1954 with The Los Angeles Philharmonic. She left an extensive discography that included many sonically outstanding recordings for Decca/London, highlighting Spanish composers including Granados, Rodrigo, Falla, Albéniz... Read More
April 30th, 2025
On "Coastal" Neil Young Reemerges on the Bumpy Tour Road Soundtrack to the Daryl Hannah-directed tour documentaryBy: Brian Fisher
Neil Young has been perfectly and, for some, frustratingly in the moment since the 1960’s. But, what does that look like in 2025? Prior to the pandemic, Neil was recording and touring with Promise of the Real, a band largely made up of Willie Nelson’s kids. Decades younger, and with a vibrancy that goes hand-in-hand with youth, the members of Neil Young’s backing band seemed to be just as inspired by his fire as he was by theirs. That era in Neil’s music was truly... Read More
April 29th, 2025
Lori Lieberman Covers Lou, Scott, Traci, Robert, Ron, Alan and Lori— Releases a Live In The Studio All-Analog Record yes, that "Perfect Day", "Secret Heart", "Big Louise" and moreBy: Michael Fremer
Lori Lieberman has released albums aimed at the so-called audiophile market for almost 30 years, but this one is the first (since her days on Capitol) with full analog bonafides. That's no guarantee of great sounding results, anymore than her previous digitally recorded ones did not have superb sound, because they did—2022's American Songbook themed Truly for instance. Here she's also gone "live in the studio", which adds considerable risk.... Read More
April 28th, 2025
What The Man Said: "Venus and Mars" Cut at Half-Speed WINGS' HIGH WATERMARK GETS A HALF CENTURY REISSUEBy: JoE Silva
Freshly sprung from his contractual ties to the other Fabs, the McCartneys and Co. in January of 1975 lit upon New Orleans. With a batch of new songs that he was sure would surpass those on Band On The Run, contemporary reports found that Paul was feeling as toppermost as he had in years. And by settling on the Crescent City as his recording venue, he may have been hoping to recapture the magic (and the Grammy noms…) he’d found by once again working outside of the... Read More
April 28th, 2025
On the “De Lane Lea Demos” Hear 'Pre-Coronation" Queen This is what the ‘Queen I’ remix should’ve sounded like!By: Dylan Peggin
Queen’s legacy is at the same ante as the Beatles, where one in every four households is likely to own their Greatest Hits compilation. Best known for crafting mini operatic suites and sports stadium anthems, the casual listener is probably not in tune with Queen’s hard-rocking origins. Hollywood Records focused on that era with the release of Queen I last year. Different release configurations transformed it from a remix of their self-titled debut into a period deep... Read More
April 20th, 2025
Counterpoint: Rhino HF Series Black Sabbath "Paranoid" LP Vs. US and UK Originals a classic fave deserves a second listen comparisonBy: Randy Wells
Dylan Peggin did a great job writing for Tracking Angle recently when he gave us the back story of the making of Black Sabbath’s Paranoid album. He also gave us the scoop on the new Rhino High Fidelity pressing, giving it very high marks for packaging, music and sound.For comparison, he used the well-regarded 2006 Rhino pressing of Paranoid cut AAA by Kevin Gray, which was subsequently repressed on colored vinyl in 2015 for Vinyl Me Please. He also had the Rhino vinyl... Read More
April 17th, 2025
Behind The Scenes of The Doors’ “Strange Days” Unearthed rough mixes unleashed for RSD 2025—but don't expect "sonic wowness"By: Dylan Peggin
The Doors are one of the most represented Record Store Day artists, guaranteed every year to have a special release. Whether it's reissues of long-forgotten mono mixes, singles, curated compilations, live recordings, or studio outtakes, RSD is a means for the most obsessive of Doors completists to stuff their shelves with the yearly limited edition offerings. No artist output has been nit-picked and criticized as much as the Doors' catalog, but the past few... Read More
April 14th, 2025
Today!.... Mississippi John Hurt Craft Records reissues fingerpicking guitar blues classicBy: Joseph W. Washek
In early 1928, in Avalon, Mississippi, John Hurt was awakened at 2 am by a knock on his door. He recognized the voice of Willie Narmour, a white man and a local fiddler who Hurt sometimes accompanied at dances. Narmour said "Get up John. Here's some people from New York want to hear you play some." Of course, Hurt didn't believe this incredibly unlikely story, but as a Black man, he knew better than to say so. "I didn't say anything to... Read More
April 10th, 2025
In time for RSD - Mulligan Meets Monk in Mono Exclusive 3000 Copy Release for Record Store Day – Saturday April 12, 2025By: Randy Wells
Having owned a couple of copies of Mulligan Meets Monk, I’ve always felt that the stereo record magnified the differences between these two musicians by featuring them on different channels and casting too much of a spotlight on Mulligan’s sax. As good as those copies sound, including the 1980’s OJC LP and the AP 45 from the ‘90s, I had little experience with the mono recording that was made in the studio at the same time, except for a Fantasy SACD. So, when I heard... Read More
April 8th, 2025
With An RSD Reissue Of Pharoah Sanders’ ‘Izipho Zam (My Gifts),’ Strata-East’s New Morning Is Looking Bright DIVE DEEPER INTO SPIRITUAL JAZZ WITH A RIVETING, LESS-HERALDED SANDERS OFFERING FROM 1973By: Morgan Enos
Roiled by political uncertainty and contention over race and identity, the late 2010s and early 2020s witnessed a resurgence of what’s now commonly called spiritual jazz. And close to the end of his life, with his final statement to the world, Pharoah Sanders found himself at the center of its discourse.The product of myriad cultural and ideological influences, this tenuously defined subset of the music nonetheless has identifiable hallmarks. It runs the gamut between... Read More
April 4th, 2025
Ozawa's Ravel Box: A High Point For Both Conductor and Orchestra The new 4LP box set from DG's Original Source series contains one of the best Ravel cycles you can buyBy: Michael Johnson
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of one of France’s most distinctive artistic voices: Maurice Ravel (1875-1937). When one thinks of French painting, they think of Claude Monet. When one thinks of French sculptor’s, they’ll likely conjure to mind Auguste Rodin; and when one thinks of French music, the melodies that enter their head are likely to sound a lot like those of either Claude Debussy or Maurice Ravel. Both composers contributed greatly to... Read More
March 25th, 2025
Of Montreal Finally Broke Through with “The Sunlandic Twins” The first-ever audiophile treatment given to the indie pop legendsBy: Dylan Peggin
In just under ten years, songwriter/instrumentalist/vocalist Kevin Barnes transformed Of Montreal from a unified collective to a one-person operation. Having churned out whimsical baroque pop albums like Cherry Peel and The Gay Parade within the confinements of a band, Barnes took to working solo by dabbling in sonic experimentation and, inspired by their first marriage to Nina Grøttland, started writing in a more personal style. The initial fruits of this new... Read More
March 20th, 2025
The Unreleased 1977 Neil Young Album We are Lucky to Have Today should have been released between "American Stars and Bars" and "Comes a Time"By: Brian Fisher
This is a good time to be alive if you are a Neil Young fan. For years, Neil Young, an archivist like few others, has saved everything. And when I mean everything, take a gander at the Neil Young Archives. Here we find photographs, original lyric sheets, ephemera, videos, and all the music. The music quality, it goes without saying, is also presented in a similarly archival manner. For those who stream, you are treated to a digital source that is as close as you can... Read More
March 19th, 2025
The New Stan Getz Quartet’s ‘Getz Au Go Go’: A Confection That Goes Down Easier Than Ever SHORT OF ONE PROHIBITIVELY RARE, EXPENSIVE PRESSING, THIS IS THE WAY TO HEAR ITBy: Morgan Enos
In Greenwich Village, directly across from The Red Lion on Bleecker Street, an unremarkable mixed-use building conceals an extraordinary legacy.From 1964 to 1970, the basement of the defunct Garrick Theatre housed the Café Au Go Go — a pivotal New York club that welcomed legends ranging from Jimi Hendrix and B.B. King to the Grateful Dead. It opened with a bang: in its first year, comedic groundbreaker Lenny Bruce was arrested by undercover police after a performance... Read More
March 17th, 2025
Scoop Up Acoustic Sounds’ ‘The Great Kai & J.J.,’ But Don’t Forget The Original TROMBONE LEGENDS J.J. JOHNSON & KAI WINDING’S 1960 RAPPROCHEMENT SOUNDS SUPERB — BUT THE ORIGINAL PRESSING HAS ONE MAJOR STRENGTHBy: Morgan Enos
To Nick Finzer, the pioneering trombonist J.J. Johnson is often taken for granted. A standout among the new generation of trombonists, Finzer released Legacy — a full-album tribute to his hero, last year — “He’s one of those figures where people know and are familiar with his name,” he told me. “But when you start to dig a little deeper below the surface, people don’t realize how transformative he was.”Transformative indeed: in retrieving the trombone from its... Read More