Herrmann "The Mysterious Film World of Bernard Herrmann" Herrmann/National Philharmonic Orchestra (London SPC21137) "Phase 4 Stereo" Rachmaninoff "Concerto No.3" Van Cliburn/Kondrashin/Symphony of the Air (RCA LSC 2355) Tchaikovsky "Concerto No.1, in B-Flat Minor, Op. 23" Van Cliburn/Kondrashin (RCA LM-2252) |
Listening right now to a delightful performance of Beethoven's 7th Symphony: Kajski conducting the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, Tacet L 149. A very lithe, dynamic performance; and the all tube recording chain makes for a unique sonic quality - highly recommended! Earlier today: "Blues Jam at Chess" - a great live blues jam captured at the Chess Records studio in 1969 with the original Fleetwood Mac members (Peter Green era) and some great blues players like Otis Spann, Willie Dixon, Shakey Horton, Honey Boy Edwards. A great reissue by Pure Pleasure. "Clair de Lune" - collection of orchestral short pieces performned by Raymond Agoult and the London Proms Symphony Orchestra in another great recording by Kenneth Wilkinson. RCA LSC 2326 (45 rpm reissue by Classic Records) . |
Simon & Garfunkel - "Bookends" (Columbia KCS 9529) in an early 2-eye red label pressing. This 40-year old LP has been played to death on low-fi equipment and it still sounds great tonight! (My listening partner wouldn't head off to bed until we'd finished playing the second side, and it's her LP that she bought in high school and played to death on an old "suitcase" model Magnavox player. Don't ever tell me vinyl doesn't have longevity.) Joni Mitchell - "The Hissing of Summer Lawns" (Asylum 7E 1051). I've read some rave reviews of the recent Speakers Corner reissue of this LP, but the original sounds great to my ears here. The advantage of the reissue is supposed to be the elimination of compression used in mastering the original, but my original copy sounds very dynamic. Anyone heard the Speakers Corner reissue? The White Stripes - "Elephant" (V2 Records 63881-27148) - OK, I'm impressed with Jack and Meg White. I picked up this LP some months ago and have only gotten around to listening to it tonight. (Somewhat ear shredding in the top end, requiring the addition of a bit of damping on the tonearm to clean up some of the edge, but great overall impact.) Now I have to clean and listen to "Icky Thump." Telemann - "Trio Sonatas" performed by the Ensemble Rameau on Lyrinx 7908-020. Lovely period instrument performances captured in quite good sonics by Lyrinx, a label with consistently good quality engineering, mastering and pressings. . |
"Antiphone Blues" (Proprius 7744) in honor of Arne Domnerus, the Swedish saxophonist who died this past Monday at the age of 83. A wonderfully unusual combination of jazz saxophone and organ (particularly at the time originally recorded in 1974); you owe it to yourself to listen to this recording. Domnerus' better known recording likely is "Jazz at the Pawnshop." "Thunderbolt Pagoda" (Mutant Music MMLP025) - I've mentioned this LP before and have enjoyed it once again this evening. Thanks again, Ralph! James Taylor - "Sweet Baby James" in the Steve Hoffman / Kevin Gray remastered reissue from Warner Bros. A very worthy improvement over the original pressing. Too bad other reissues from the major labels are not coming anywhere close to the superb quality of this one. The Nylons - "One Size Fits All" (Open Air OA 0301) - just sensational music making and total fun! . |
