What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol. XIII)

Filipe posted:

Clive B posted:

Pat Metheny always seems to get a great recorded sound and this is a fine example in jazz trio form with Roy Haynes (drums) and Dave Holland (bass). I think I paid 99p for this mint vinyl from a market trader in Bath - bargain of the decade!

@Clive B I live up the A46 in Gloucestershire. It would be interesting to me to listen each other’s systems. I have wondered about moving to a 252 or just going straight to a 552. The latter would have to make a big difference, as where I am is very very good.

Phil

There have been many before me on here praising the NAC552. I am sure the NAC282, especially when powered by a Supercap DR, is very good, but I found the NAC552 to be a giant leap forward from my previous preamp, which was a NAC52/Supercap. There have been discussions on here too discussing the merits of 252 versus 282 and each has its supporters. 

Tidal.   Al Jarreau Live In London

Tidal.  Sara K. - Closer than They Appear

Clive B posted:

Filipe posted:

Clive B posted:

Pat Metheny always seems to get a great recorded sound and this is a fine example in jazz trio form with Roy Haynes (drums) and Dave Holland (bass). I think I paid 99p for this mint vinyl from a market trader in Bath - bargain of the decade!

@Clive B I live up the A46 in Gloucestershire. It would be interesting to me to listen each other’s systems. I have wondered about moving to a 252 or just going straight to a 552. The latter would have to make a big difference, as where I am is very very good.

Phil

There have been many before me on here praising the NAC552. I am sure the NAC282, especially when powered by a Supercap DR, is very good, but I found the NAC552 to be a giant leap forward from my previous preamp, which was a NAC52/Supercap. There have been discussions on here too discussing the merits of 252 versus 282 and each has its supporters. 

Nothing like hearing with ones own ears. Not something my dealer has succeeded with - it was a leap of faith. I can loan a 252 but not a 552.

Phil

Grant Lee Buffalo - Mighty Joe Moon

CD

Paul Mauriat and his orchestra, the king of easy listening of the sixties:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McMD4cKSxV0

sjust posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

And I thought I have EVERY possible recording ever made involving Charlie Haden, my all time hero on the bass (must have seen him more than 20 times around the globe, of course nothing compared to [@mention:1566878603881681] - who sees people 50+ times, but I notice I am drifting away )

Great music, great musicians. Listening now.

Thanks Nigel ! (?)

Adrian is in a league of his own. He probably saw Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden live more times than I played their discs.

Never had a chance to see Haden though we have a parakeet at home named after him.

Just Finished.......

Jan Garbarek, Egberto Gismonti, Charlie Haden - Magico Carta de Amor

Jan Garbarek (saxophone), Egberto Gismonti (Guitarist), and Charlie Haden (bass)

Streamed from NAS .......  CD 1

Excellent!

Note From ECM Records: A fascinating set from three strong and contrasting musical personalities: Norwegian saxophonist, Brazilian guitarist-pianist, and US bassist making purposeful and creative music together on this previously unreleased live recording. “Carta de Amor” documents music captured at Munich’s Amerika Haus in April, 1981. Two years on from the much-loved albums “Magico” and “Folk Songs”, the trio’s improvisational empathy and sensibilities were further honed by experiences as a touring group. Repertoire includes five pieces from Gismonti’s pen, with the title track heard in two variations, opening and closing this enthralling double album. Also heard here are Garbarek’s folk song arrangements and an extended, freewheeling version of his composition “Spor”. Charlie Haden brings in “La Pasionaria”, from the repertoire of the Liberation Music Orchestra and “All That Is Beautiful”, not previously documented on disc. Recorded by Manfred Eicher and Martin Wieland in 1981, mixed from original analog tapes by Eicher and Jan Erik Kongshaug.

Now Playing.......

Carla Bley, Andy Sheppard, Steve Swallow - Andando el Tiempo

Carla Bley (piano), Andy Sheppard (saxophone), and Steve Swallow (bass)

Streaming from NAS.......

Fantastic!

Note from EMC Records: Andando el Tiempo features new music of wide emotional compass by Carla Bley, and underlines her originality and resourcefulness as a jazz composer. “Saints Alive!” sets up animated conversations between the participants with striking statements from Steve Swallow’s bass guitar and Andy Sheppard’s soprano sax. The stately “Naked Bridges/Diving Brides” draws inspiration from Mendelssohn and the poetry of Paul Haines. And the powerful three part title composition – which addresses the trials and tribulations of recovery from addiction - moves through sorrow to hopefulness and joy. The trio with Sheppard and Swallow has been an ideal vehicle for Carla’s writing for more than 20 years and also provides one of the best contexts for her unique piano playing. Like the critically lauded ECM album Trios (2012), Andando el Tiempo was recorded at Lugano’s RSI Studio and produced by Manfred Eicher.

NHK Symphony Orchestra - Bach / Mendelssohn

Hannes Minnaar - Bach: Inspirations

Weezer (Blue album). On original CD from 1994. Among my favorite debut albums and on my radar for the vinyl version to hear the increased DR.

The Vulgar Boatmen - You and Your Sister

AFAIK the earliest album by the Boatmen. Jangly guitars, harmonies and steady beats make it a great opener to the day. Drive Somewhere is my favourite track.

All a bit homemade and all the more charming for it.

Prestige put out a lot of ordinary material but this is a good overview of their best artists. Only £4.50 as well, two cds.

Alison Krauss - So Long So Wrong (1997) - UnitiServe SSD

Some sublime tracks on this CD. I particularly like “It Doesn’t Matter”.  

How does this CD rate among her releases?

I really like her collaboration with Robert Plant “Shifting Sand”.

Phil

Thundercat - Drunk via Tidal

This is totally bonkers but very addictive.

The Silver Seas - Alaska

Beyond wholesome. A pleasure this Saturday morning.

Great execution of these pieces...

Nice tuneful modern jazz...

Andras Schiff - Bach: The six partitas.

Allmusic.com:

When it came time for Johann Sebastian Bach to publish his Opus 1, what work do you think he picked? One of the sacred cantatas? One of the Brandenburg Concertos? One of the cello suites? No, none of the above. In 1726, Bach chose his B flat major Partita to start his publishing career -- and once a year for the next five years, he published five more partitas, then collected them under the title Clavier-Übung in 1731.

When it came time for Hungarian pianist András Schiff to make his major-label debut, what work do you think he picked? Yes, that's right. In 1985, Schiff released his recording of the complete partitas -- and followed it with many more Bach recordings over the next few years until he'd released nearly the complete canonical works by 1996.

And yes, Schiff's partitas are wonderful. Schiff has an elegant technique that never draws attention to itself no matter how knotty the notes, a graceful tone that always concentrates on the lyricism no matter how thick the counterpoint, and the consummate taste to know exactly how to place an accent, turn an appoggiatura, bend a phrase, and inflect a rhythm to make the music wholly his own without making it any less Bach's. In short, if you want Bach's partitas played on the piano, Schiff is your man. Reissued in 2007, Decca's early digital sound somehow seems warmer and richer than it did in 1985.

Ray Lamontagne  - Trouble

The more I play this album the more I realise its theme, or the way he deals with it, is, in fact, incredibly upbeat.

(Don, if you are reading this, I'm not sure my English teacher in Remove B would have been happy with my punctuation there ).

On CD:-

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

Way to Blue - An Introduction to Nick Drake - Island - 1994

Nothing new, but a lovely, mellow side step from the frantic race towards Christmas

Peter