The "Jay Jay French Connection Podcast" just published the Ken Kessler and Michael Fremer "Analog Wars Part 1" Interview." Ken alone is hilarious, and me alone? Pretty funny, but the two of us together can be cataclysmic. No doubt you know who Ken is, but in case you don't know, Jay Jay French is a founding member of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister and a contributor to Stereophile. He also worked at now closed Lyric Hi-Fi in New York City.

I first met Brilliant Corners Artist Management Founding Partner Jordan Kurland back in 2017 at my friend David Hyman’s former home Northern California, holding in his hands a new Transfiguration Axia cartridge.

Some people collect Tone Poet Blue Note reissues the way some people amass baseball cards. I know more than a few Tone Poet enthusiasts who, after buying one, had a Bert Lahr Lay’s potato chip moment and couldn’t stop buying them—at least until they encountered the late pianist/composer/arranger Andrew Hill’s Blue Note debut Black Fire (ST-84151/B0029975-01).

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.