Los Angeles, CA (January 16, 2024) – Craft Recordings announces the latest batch of reissues for the acclaimed Original Jazz Classics series, championed by both collectors and critics. The latest reissues include Cannonball Adderley & Bill Evans’ Know What I Mean?, Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers’ Caravan and Ron Carter’s Where?, all of which can be pre-ordered today. These new reissues feature lacquers cut from the original tapes (AAA) by Kevin Gray at... Read More

Rhino's "High Fidelity" series released last week a reissue of Television's classic "Marquee Moon" cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, using the original analog master tape. The reissue sounds great! Far better than the original pressing in terms of bass response, transient clarity and all of the audiophile "check marks" but, I argue, it's not likely what Tom Verlaine intended at all! That's partly due to the fact... Read More

When in 2018 Micha Huber's Switzerland-based HiFiction AG bought the storied brand EMT Tontechnik, taking control of EMT's cartridge business including development, production, repair, and international distribution and moving it to his Winterthur, Switzerland factory, he clearly had more in mind than just phono cartridges, though that's the core business he purchased.A year later in order to have space for both the EMT production line and increased... Read More

The winner of the Rega Planar 3 50th Anniversary turntable is "Gary" from PA. That's all he wants you to know and of course we respect that. "Gary" subscribed to the site almost simultaneously with it going "live". We didn't pick him. The random number generator did, but it was a good call!Thanks to everyone who signed up back then and even those who signed up now just to try to snag the turntable. We appreciate your... Read More

This morning using a random number generator we picked the winner of the Rega Planar 3 50th Anniversary Edition Turntable. Thousands entered the contest, with each entrant getting a number. A random number generator chose the winner. Actually, we picked five numbers in case the winner was from overseas or the winner doesn't respond to being notified of the win.We are not going to name the individual now, pending permission to do so. If we don't hear back... Read More

The third record in the new Original Source Series box devoted to William Steinberg's BSO recordings brings us less well-known works by the great early 20th-century German composer Paul Hindemith. Less well-known they may be, but these recordings make the strongest possible case for this incredibly attractive and original music. Is this the secret gem lurking in the Steinberg box....?

Johnny Hallyday (1943-2017) was the stage name of Jean-Philippe Léo Smet. In a career spanning nearly 60 years, Hallyday released 79 albums and sold 110 million records. In the year 2000, he sang in front of the Eiffel Tower to a paying audience of about half a million people. And in 2017, nearly one million people showed up to watch his funeral procession. Hallyday's funeral service at the Church of Sainte Marie-Madeleine was attended by French President... Read More

Alright, Las Vegas, let’s lose our money and lose our minds!On September 20, 2003, The White Stripes took hold of Sin City and rocked it into oblivion. The Detroit garage rock duo blitzed through a setlist of familiar favorites, such as “Hotel Yorba” and “Fell in Love With A Girl.” Their then-new album, Elephant, took precedence with blistering renditions of “The Hardest Button to Button” and “Black Math.” The show caught its breath once drummer Meg White stepped away... Read More

Richard Strauss's epic orchestral tone poem, whose opening "Sunrise" captured the imaginations of millions when it was used in 2001: A Space Odyssey, here receives an outstanding recording. We explore the history of this work, which was written at a time of great change in classical music, and place Steinberg's interpretation within the history of this work on record.

William Steinberg was never one of the "Big Name" conductors, but he had a stellar career, working with every major orchestra in Europe and America. His recorded legacy is held in high esteem amongst collectors, and no more so than the three records he made for Deutsche Grammophon while Music Director of the renowned Boston Symphony Orchestra in the late 1960s, early 70s. So when it was announced that Deutsche Grammophon and Emil Berliner Studios would be issuing a special boxed edition of all three recordings as part of their ground-breaking Original Source Series of vinyl reissues, hopes for something truly special ran high. In the first of three articles we examine what makes each of these legendary records worthy of the deluxe OSS treatment, beginning with the grand-daddy of all orchestral spectaculars, Holst's The Planets. (For a recap of the background and technical processes behind these Original Source Series vinyl reissues, you can read TA's review of the first two records in this fourth batch of OSS releases).

Portland, OR - January 8, 2024 – AV Options recently introduced its new interconnect cable lineup, which benefits from years of experience working with Naim Audio and exhaustive testing using Naim Audio Systems reference kit. AVO claims its interconnect cables offer a significant performance improvement for all eras of Naim gear, as well as being an excellent value/performance option for all other audio brands.The SIGNAL range interconnect cables are designed for use... Read More

Emil Berliner Studios continue to redefine the sonic legacy of Deutsche Grammophon's back catalogue in this latest batch of AAA, deluxe vinyl releases in the Original Source Series. Here we review the two standalone releases from master conductors Herbert von Karajan and Claudio Abbado. (Reviews of the William Steinberg releases to follow, beginning here).

That Swing Thing! by The Terry Gibbs Quartet (Verve V6-8447) released in 1961 was the record that got me on the vibes bandwagon. I bought it that year at E.J. Korvette's in Douglaston, N.Y. of the Long Island Expressway. I was too young to drive of course, so probably was taken there by my mother or sister. It's also where I heard for the first time Bobby Timmons' "Moanin'"— over a pair of Korvettes' XAM "housebrand"... Read More

Los Angeles, CA (January 9, 2024) — Craft Recordings and Acoustic Sounds are thrilled to announce the latest installment in their acclaimed Contemporary Records Acoustic Soundsseries, which heralds a staggering 12 vinyl and hi-res digital releases throughout 2024. These reissues include sought-after albums from Art Pepper, Shelly Manne & His Men, Harold Land, Hampton Hawes, Howard McGhee, Prince Lasha Quintet, Ben Webster, Helen Humes, and Sonny Rollins.... Read More

LOS ANGELES – Rhino High Fidelity (Rhino Hi-Fi) ushers in the new year by introducing the latest additions to the acclaimed series of limited-edition, high-end vinyl reissues. Rhino Hi-Fi will release six albums in the coming months, starting on January 12 with Ornette Coleman’s Change of the Century and Television’s Marquee Moon. They’ll be followed by The Cars’ Candy-O and the Grateful Dead’s American Beauty on March 8, and John Coltrane’s Olé Coltrane and Miles... Read More

[Note: “Playback on other websites has been disabled by the video owner.” Therefore, to open up this YouTube video in another window, please click HERE.]In 1973, Joni Mitchell wrote the song “A Free Man in Paris,” which, at the time, I found somewhat confusing. The confusion remained until I later learned that Mitchell had written the lyrics from the perspective of her friend David Geffen, the legendary music agent and promoter. So, it was not Joni herself who was... Read More