The Absolute Sound review of the Original Live Sovereign S turntable and Agile tonearm that I wrote will soon be published, but before publication, in the embedded video below you'll see what makes this turntable arm/combo special.The combo costs around $25,000 so it's pretty costly but its design features are unique and while I'm not putting up an actual review here, when you see what's going on "under the hood" the design is sure to... Read More

I’ve conducted over 2,500 interviews with musicians, songwriters, poets, actors, movie directors, documentarians, authors, record producers, sound engineers, and novelists. Every year since 1975 I’ve talked to or emailed an interviewee about Bob Dylan.

As Bob’s 84th birthday looms on May 24th, I thought it was appropriate to display their reflections, observations and excerpts from emails in my archive, which houses a signed copy of Dylan’s Chronicles: Vol One.

Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige, an American professional baseball pitcher who first played in the Negro Leagues, and then in the majors, in a 1953 Collier’s magazine article quipped, "Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you." A reminder to live in the present. Oscar-winning filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker would title his 1967 Bob Dylan documentary "Don’t Look Back".

(lead photo: Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson, Sandy Konikoff, Santa Monica Civic Center 1965—Photo by Rodney Bingenheimer)

By Harvey Kubernik © 2025

George Brown was affectionately known as George “Funky” Brown and provided drums and percussion to Kool and the Gang’s many funky forays. He co-wrote some of the band’s hits which have woven themselves into the greater musical consciousness such as “Too Hot,” Summer Madness,” “Celebration,” “Jungle Boogie,” and “Ladies Night.” Of course, his musical influence did not end with Kool and the Gang’s releases, some of his drum samples became staples on many hip-hop and pop... Read More

That's my plane and I'm flying out of Newark, not concerned about the problems. Life's too short, and flying out of Newark, it could be further shortened! Not worried. This should be a great show if AXPONA is any indication of the industry's vibrancy and I believe it was.Pre-show press releases are packed with interesting new products including a turntable from Soulution in which the platter moves and the arm is stationery. I hope the head shell... Read More

As part of the roll out process for Strata-East's new vinyl reissue series, I again visited RTI (Record Technology Incorporated) to show new vinyl fans how lacquers are plated, processed and then pressed. In this video you will see the entire chain from lacquers arriving at RTI's plating facility to the plating itself, followed by stamper forming—in this case one of Strata-East's new reissues.Under one video post last year a reader said "once the... Read More

As the late Pete Silverton tells it, he and Joe Strummer were sItting in a pub less than five miles away from where “London Calling” was written when told his pal that it was recorded within weeks of “Theme from New York, New York” being put to tape. The reaction from The Clash guitarist was somewhere near mild disbelief. That was the fall of 1979. And as it turns out, the band had recorded the song in a studio less than five miles away in the other direction. But... Read More

Michell is a name that’s primarily associated with turntables, John Michell was the engineer who made turntables for Transcriptors in the early days and started building his own models in 1976. Michell remains one of the longest running independent turntable companies but it has plenty of experience with electronics. The first example was the Michell Iso distinguished by a black acrylic case and a distinctly fast and engaging sound, that phono preamp was designed for... Read More

Press release: LP box set featuring five original studio albums from 1965 (AAA) Remastered and cut directly from the original analog mono tapes by Kevin Gray. Manufactured on 180gm vinyl and housed in reverse-board deluxe sleeves. Expansive book with liner notes from GRAMMY® award nominated James Gavin, interviews with Chet Baker, George Coleman, Kirk Lightsey, Herman Wright, Roy Brooks and previously unseen photographs. Housed inside a secure, heavy lift-off lid box... Read More

Does anyone enjoy the hassle of unscrewing a chassis top to access resistive and capacitive loading DIP switches, or to adjust phono preamplifier gain? It's a royal pain. Placing the DIPs on the chassis rear is a step up (no pun intended) but for many that means shutting the unit down, unplugging the cables and turning it around to access the DIPs. When you're trying out different loads and or gain settings, this becomes annoying to where maybe you just find... Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wilson Benesch Unveils GRAVITON® Ti Tonearm at HIGH END Munich 2025. Wilson Benesch is proud to announce the launch of the GRAVITON® Ti Tonearm, the latest addition to the company’s acclaimed GMT® Analogue Collection. Evolving from the armwand variant provided with the iconic GMT® One System Turntable introduced in 2023, the GRAVITON® Ti Tonearm is a standalone tonearm system, developed for compatibility with the Dohmann Helix One Mk3... Read More

Before they were “first band in space,” Pink Floyd performed to the ghosts of thousands. From the accidental destruction of footage to a glimpse at the creation of one of the most iconic albums in rock-and-roll history, all the way down to one very controversial aspect ratio crop, it’s been a long road to 2025’s Pink Floyd at Pompeii. Of course a show played at ancient Roman ruins would have this mythos surrounding it!The ashes have been brushed off this storied... Read More

An often overlooked Barry-Bond score gets a well-deserved makeover in this latest installment in La-La Land Records’ first rate series of Bond soundtrack reissues

The legendary Strata-East label started by Charles Tolliver and the late Stanley Cowell recently signed a long-term licensing deal with Mack Avenue Music Group, now owned by Exceleration Music. (L-R in photo: Kevin Gray, former Mack Avenue CEO Denny Stilwell and Charles's son Ched Tolliver, who is also the company's CEO).The label asked me to help co-ordinate the all-analog vinyl reissue process utilized for the first four titles, and to offer the label... Read More

Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges may co-headline Side by Side, their portraits aligned in parallel on the cover. But for most of that 1959 album’s runtime, the titanic pianist, composer, and bandleader and his longtime alto saxophone foil aren’t together at all.On August 14, 1958, Hodges led a band of Ellington alumni and associates — tenor saxophonist Ben Webster, pianist Billy Strayhorn, bassist Wendell Marshall, and drummer Jo Jones — through four of his own... Read More

Ever arrive at a party in progress where everyone knows everyone and you know no one? Leslie Mandoki's A Memory of Our Future an 80 minute double album arrived in a big box just before Munich High End 2024 along with multiple copies of a sumptuously produced promo booklet and an even bigger bound book touting the Mandoki Soulmates, drummer/producer Leslie Mandoki's all-star band that's been playing together in one form or another for thirty years. Ever... Read More

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

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