Recorded June and December of 1956 in New York City, this match-up features a superb big band arranged by the then young Quincy Jones and the extraordinarily gifted Dinah Washington who belts them out here with breathtaking conviction.

Washington could sing jazz, blues and R&B with equal power and dexterity. She had it all: a big, powerful voice, crystalline enunciation, an exquisite sense of timing and a totally unique, easily identifiable style.

This Capitol release features an extraordinarily pure, tactile orchestral recording and a solo violin recording of equal sonic stature.



Milstein’s reading of the weepy, dramatic Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto throws in every imaginable bell, whistle and cheap trill in a masterful performance that had me thinking of Jimi Hendrix’s dexterity. It’s a veritable schmaltz-fest suitable for a 1950’s Catskill Mountains hotel ballroom performance and I loved every teary-eyed second of it.

For those of you who know the pleasures of guitarist John Fahey’s Takoma recordings (Fahey was a rabid audiophile, BTW), or Robbie Basho’s, or even Sandy Bull’s extraordinary experiments in guitar-based world music fusion on Vanguard, James Blackshaw may already be on your radar screen, as may some of the other contemporary guitar experimenters who fly equally low beneath the mainstream musical radar screen, but until this LP, I’d not encountered the 24 year old Blackshaw who’s been recording and performing since 2003.

Composed in 1937, Shostakovich’s dramatic 5th symphony is cinematic in scope and thematically rich and varied. Though 20th century modern in its angular musical approach, it retains elements of Tchaikovsky’s romantic 19th century, though many of the musical gestures more closely resemble those of Shostakovich\\'s contemporary, Sergei Prokofiev. In fact if you’re familiar with Prokofiev’s “Lt. Kije Suite” you will hear some similarities along with some touches of Rimsky-Korsakov.

Let’s get right to the point of this reissue, which is the sound, since anyone shelling out big bucks for it is doing so because he or she is familiar with the music and loves it to death.



This new Cisco reissue is vastly superior to both the original pressing (ABC AA 1006) and to Mobile Fidelity’s ½ speed mastered reissue (Mobile Fidelity MFSL 1-0333).

Written in 1959 to celebrate his father and mark his passing, Astor Piazzolla’s “Adiós Nonino” is a moving, appropriately sentimental work that occasionally veers into melodrama.



The opening piano solo on this orchestral edition arranged by Francesco Fiore for Italian-born violinist/composer/conductor Salvatore Accardo expresses the composer’s profound sadness in stark terms. The orchestra follows, anchored by Mr. Accardo’s weepy violin, behind which the piano reprises the opening pain.