IS IT TRUE that Miles Davis liked what Jimi Hendrix was doing and that Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis planned/discussed to record/play together?

ALEX JOHNSTON … Yes. Miles was supposedly introduced to Hendrix’s music by his then-wife, Betty, née Mabry, who was a figure on the counter-cultural scene at the time: a model, a singer, a DJ and a general scenemaker. Betty and Miles’ marriage didn’t last very long. Sources disagree as to why it ended: one version […]

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AUDIO INSIDER

Class H amplifiers are different. Their amp circuitry is rather common but their power supplies are variable: only a little voltage for small audio signals and jumping to big voltage outputs as the music gets louder.

Power amplifiers come in classes determined by their design. Their classifications are listed by simple letters of the alphabet, but underlying that simplicity is a whole lot of complexity. For example, amp classes as determined by their bias and turn-on cycle include A, AB, B, and C. The differences in this class of amps is […]

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SOFT MACHINE: Floating World Live (CD)

Re-issue in digipak with 16-page booklet This CD marks the first release of a live performance by Soft Machine’s Bundles line-up featuring Allan Holdsworth on guitar. This concert, recorded forRadio Bremen in January 1975, consists of most of the Bundles material, which hadn’t been released although in the can since the previous summer, plusa couple […]

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AUDIO INSIDER

The acoustic pattern that is created is somewhat of a figure 8.

It is fascinating to me the myriad of seemingly endless variations designers apply to sound reproduction equipment. Take the rarely seen today bipole loudspeaker. The last mass-produced version I remember was by the Canadian company, Mirage. Let’s start with a smidge of reference. Most loudspeakers are monopoles: sound comes out of one plane of the […]

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CANNONBALL ADDERLEY: ‘Dis Here’ (4 CD)

“This 57 track set follows Cannonball’s story from 1955 through to 1959 where he is joined by the likes of Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Kenny Clarke, Bill Evans and Milt Jackson. Also included is a 24 page book with the Cannonball Adderley story, discography and rare photos….”  DISC ONE / “SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION – Spontaneous Combustion […]

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THE DREAM SYNDICATE: The Days Of Wine …

The Dream Syndicate’s debut album, The Days Of Wine And Roses, has long been considered a cornerstone release of the early ’80s Paisley Underground scene. However, it was more influential than that, and is one of indie-rock’s essentials. The original Steve Wynn/Karl Precoda/Kendra Smith/Dennis Duck line-up took seminal ’60s rock and filtered it through more […]

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Harmonic synthesizer

            Lord Kelvin’s harmonic synthesizer is basically Henrici’s harmonic analyzer in reverse. Originally designed as a tide predictor in 1873, the system can combine numerous component waves—in some devices, up to 64 separate components—into a single curve. It is based on the earlier pin-and-slot device, which produces simple harmonic motion […]

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NINA SIMONE: What Happened, Miss Simone? Episode #1 of 5

Inspired by the Oscar-nominated TV documentary, Alan Light’s biography draws on Nina Simone’s early diaries, rare interviews, childhood journals and input from her daughter Lisa Simone Kelly to paint a picture of the classically-trained pianist who became a soul legend, a leading civil rights activist and one of the most influential artists of our time. […]

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Video Frame Rate – how a fortunate technological accident is on the verge of being ‘corrected’ (Part 5)

Overview: What could this possibly have to do with a music web site? Guest contributor Ray Purchase explains: Live Music Needs High Frame Rate But the worst film-effect travesty of all, I suggest, is its use for live music. Programmes such as From the Basement and Live from Abbey Road are made in film-effect video […]

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Quill

ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND: Woodstock 1994 (CD)

The classic Allmans Woodstock 2 appearance in its entirety In August 1969 at the time of the original Woodstock Festival in upstate New York, the Allman Brothers were barely out of nappies. They had however travelled to New York from their hometown of Macon, Georgia. ABB were in town to record their eponymous debut album, […]

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