JAN GARBAREK: Sart

Jan Garbarek.  Just bought 2 of his CDs off eBay for not much money. The first, ‘Sart’ is to my ears very odd indeed. A bit too way out for my taste. So after 6 repeat plays (I try to give everything a fair chance) it’s going back on eBay when I can get around […]

Read More

BLIND TESTS: Show that louder is better … or what?

Blind tests show that louder is better (hence the importance of precise level matching). In practice (and I assume in blind tests, too), this is true up to the point at which too much volume produces effects that are detrimental to sound quality–distortion, for example, or excessive room resonances. This leaves me with a couple […]

Read More

From the archives: Japanese gagaku: Music that’s out of this world – by Ivan Hewett

The Western world’s love affair with “world music” has always had its blind spots. Japanese traditional music is one. You won’t find recordings of Shomyo Buddhist chanting or bunraku ensembles among the world music bestsellers. And you certainly won’t find gagaku, even though it’s the most extraordinary and riveting of all Japanese traditional musics. The […]

Read More

SO … WHAT ABOUT: The opera novice?

Originally published in January 2012 Until last year Sameer Rahim had little interest in classical music – but now he is hooked on opera. In a new column he offers a novice-eye’s view of this seemingly forbidding but truly magical art form. Continues HERE

Read More

ESTHER PHILLIPS: (5CD)

    After 3 years and over 1 million sales worldwide, the ‘Original Album Series’ continues to offer music lovers the easiest way to get their hands on the catalogue of the world’s biggest artists. Each one houses 5 albums all with their original artwork and music in slipcase form. With near 100 artists available […]

Read More
Quill

JOHN SURMAN: Invisible Threads

By SAMUEL STROUP January 24, 2018 Half a century into his musical career, English reed player John Surman continues to find outlets to explore a wide variety of introspective compositions. Invisible Threads, out on ECM, finds Surman exploring folk and world music, accompanied by pianist Nelson Ayres and mallet percussionist Rob Waring. The album features […]

Read More

BOSE: Are the Bose 901 speakers still considered among the best?

Eric Huang replies …. I’m not an audio equipment expert. But I can share some things I learned about the Bose 901 speaker from the man himself, because I took Professor Bose’s acoustics class when I was undergraduate, and we got to ask him lots of questions. When people buy speakers, what sounds “best” is […]

Read More

Blues in Britain: Interview – Paul Rishell & Annie Raines

  From the archives – several years ago Paul Rishell & Annie Raines were interviewed by Y6 pupils* at Russell Hall Primary School, West Yorkshire following their workshop at the school and prior to their appearance in Keighley. * Thanks to Laura, Daniel, Natasha, Emily, Holly, Scott, Lauren & Lucy. Who or what encouraged you to start playing music? Annie – […]

Read More

BARTOK: Concerto for Orchestra

A complete live performance by the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and Andrés Orozco-Estrada The Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra’s YouTube channel continues to present some wonderful live performances. A couple of weeks ago we featured their account of Prokofiev’s First Symphony conducted by François Leleux, today it is a complete performance of Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra conducted by […]

Read More

A-Z of Wagner: B is for Bayreuth

From The Guardian: The next letter of our fortnightly alphabetical tour of the world and work of Richard Wagner is B, for Bayreuth and Brünnhilde. B is for Bayreuth, the capital of Upper Franconia in southern Germany, but more to the point the capital of Wagneria – it styles itself “Wagnerstadt” on local signs. It […]

Read More