Someone on one of the Facebook turntable groups asked what "overhang" was. None of the answers that I read properly defined it, (though a few talked about the head shell slots being involved) and I've forbidden myself from ever again participating on any of those groups after being called a "liar and a bullshit artist" in response to one innocent comment I made and "an industry puppet" following another.

"La Nevada" means "snowfall" but the opening track of this Gil Evans classic begins as a musical desert mirage of a distant train that approaches slowly, with you sitting on the tracks directly in its path. As the train gets closer (and louder) the repeated simple four bar riff grows in intensity adding growling, snarling brass and reeds drivers by Ron Carter's and Elvin Jones's insistent yet slinky rhythmic drive. Aside from the trombone section's part being notated, the performance is improvised, a highlight being Ray Crawford's guitar searing the left channel behind which trombone locomotive horns warn you to get out of the way, but by then it's too late and the music runs you over!

Register to win a Pro-Ject The Beatles SGT. Pepper Essential III, Special Edition Turntable (value $500.00) we are giving away.

According to the company:

"Pro-Ject is celebrating the 54th anniversary of a Beatles' landmark with our "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"-inspired Essential III turntable. This high-performance table is based on one of our most popular models and features variable 33/45 RPM speeds. It's also one of the most striking pieces in our entire collection. We're excited to be collaborating with our friends at Stereophile and Analog Planet to offer readers a chance to own this historic piece."

[This Sweepstakes is now closed.]

I meant to review this album of Norah Jones "extras" that she released last year but it kind of slipped through the cracks. It plays like a carefully thought out thematic song cycle but it isn't. Instead it's a set of "leftovers" from a series of collaborative efforts, many of which were released as singles. You might even think it's a personal "break-up" album, particularly given the album title, but it's not that either.

Ashley Kahn author of the definitive "Kind of Blue" book moderates a live panel discussion with Ron Carter, Christian Scott, aTunde Adjuah, Vince Wilburn, Jr. and Chad Kassem Wednesday, May 26th 4PM, ET (ignore the time on the image).

Fifty one later Déjà vu still delivers a powerful musical, lyrical and sonic jolt, especially on this newly remastered 50th anniversary set that includes the original record on 180g vinyl mastered by Chris Bellman, cut using the original master tape.

Is it possible to now write anything that hasn’t already been written or said about this record? I haven’t any fresh insights to offer that might advance what you probably already know. A good Kind of Blue pressing puts you in the 30th Street studio to hear the performance. Ashley Kahn’s “Kind of Blue” book sets the pre-recording stage, offering both musical and technical details and puts you as much in the control room as in front of the band.

September 26th, 1997 marks the release date of Travis’s debut effort Good Feeling. It’s also the day the group didn’t take the world by storm.

In May of 1913, just one year before the start of the first World War, Igor Stravinsky premiered his third ballet with the Ballets Russes in Paris: Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring). The premiere would go down in history for a number of reasons, primarily due to the unruly Parisian audience that descended into what could be referred to as a riot. What was so scandalous about the Rite? Stravinsky, along with choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky, wanted to evoke a picture of Russia from the distant, pagan past. A story of an ancient pagan rite where a young maiden would be chosen to dance herself to death to appease the ancestors and secure a bountiful harvest. The music, while stylistically not a huge departure from Stravinsky’s two previous and successful Parisian ballets, was dissonant, brutal, and rhythmically disorienting. Likewise, Nijinsky’s choreography was rigid, and was meant to mimic the flat, two-dimensional style of prehistoric paintings. The audience that night was not having it, but their uproar helped launch the Rite into infamy, helping it to become one of the most talked about and often performed works of the 20th century.

Legendary Englewood Cliffs, NJ Van Gelder Studio, the famed recording venue in which hundreds of the greatest jazz records ever were produced is the site for this recently announced second "Live from Van Gelder Studios" virtual music concert, happening on May 15th at 9PM EDT, with live re-streams on May 16th at 8PM JST for Asian markets and 8PM CEST for European markets.