jazz1

My first parcel from Kalahari arrived with no problem - except it took so lllllloooooonnnnnngggggg. Frankly, no matter how bad things are in SA, I would expect Ghana to be a lot worse, and I've had two successful deliveries from there, so far (and quicker). MG

[ It's a scam. You'd be better off getting some sort of line conditioner, which will smooth any flucuations in your home's power and give the components a nice, steady diet of 115vac. That will have more of an effect than a cable. You know, many people are skeptical about a lot of things in audio, not only power cords but interconnects, speakers cables etc. I remember in the early 80's when cd arrived everybody was telling us that the sound would be perfect and constantly good. The fact is, that 5 different people prefered the expansive power cords in a complete blind testing 2 of them audiophiles the other 3 just visitors. It was done at different time thus they was no talking or influences taking place. But 5 out of 5 is maybe still a coincidence, thus I will carry on my experiment and report back.

I always been a skeptic about the use fancy power cords. Anyway I was given one to try for a few days and I have to admit that my system seems to sound better with it. The presence is improved it even seems slightly louder? I was wondering is the placebo effect was taking effect thus during the last few days I've asked as few friends to listen and give me their opinions, and at no stage they knew which cords was on. The std one or the audiophile (300$) one. Well unfortunately for me, they all prefered the audiophile cords, which is bad news at it means spending more money!! I used the cord on my integrated amp, (Pathos TT) I could not try it on my cd player as the cord was too short but I imagine the the cd player would also benefit. Any experience on power cords??

Just be careful the postal service here in SA is atrocious, lot's of my parcels disapeared. My experience is about parcels coming into SA especially. But I am certain the same fate can happen to outgoing parcels. Service from local suppliers is also poor.

WTF? Is this for real? Based on my experience, the quality of the lead from source to pre-amp is very critical, prior to any signal conditioning. Quality of loudspeaker cables can also have a big effect in terms of matching, signal dispersion, linearity etc. I've also found the quality of connection to the mains and the spec of the mains cable to have a significant effect. Really, you could write a pHD thesis on the whole thing and as ever it's a case of try things out and see what works for your system. The problem that it cost money. One of the point mentioned was that the new Quads where one of the few loudspeakers where difference could be heard. There is so much nonsense around this subject, I've tried a few +_ 500$ interconnects and I am not yet convinced that I am not a victim of the placebo effect. I also know that if I went in and out of the room I could not identify which was which consistantly

Hi Jim, Been reading an article where British sound engineer Tony Faulkner demonstated the new Quad ESL using Black&Decker extension lead as the speaker cables Any opinion on this? If they are difference where would it be the most noticable? Interconnects Speaker cables Power leads

Hi Jim, Got Gonzaldo "Solo: cd yesterday and thanx a million it is stunning, not only the sound of the Bosendorfer but Gonzalo playing as as you said the second track is the best although I love it all. Obviously on the second track one get to know how powerful a piano can sound. This is definetely my new piano demo cd. Other suggestions of this caliber would be welcomed. How is "Avatar' ?? is the same piano used?? Once again a million thanx

Thanks, Ive ordered "Solo" and will give you my impressions

Hi Jim, I don't have the Gonzalo Rubalcaba solo cd, but I will order it now. I see that their is 2 different releases, one on "Blue Note" and the other one marked as "import" Is there a difference?? (except for the price) if so, why? Thanks jazz1

Hi Jim, One point I am always a little concerned about is the size of the voice, in most cases (especially jazz vocalists) I find the voice to be too big, thus my question is. Who makes the decisision?? do the purchasing public want the voice to be big and you give it too them big. I am a jazz vocalists fan and have many friends singers whenever I make them listen to their recordings on my fairly high end system they say Woww! I never know I sounded this big! I also know that most audiophiles like to hear everything and I suppose that making the voice big does make this possible. The other point is, to my ears you are one of the few recording engineer that manage to get the piano sounding real, a case in point is "Mythologies" Why so few recordings engineers are able to do that, by now they should know what to do?? Thanks jazz1

[ Believe me, there is difference. JA

His playing on Norma Winstone new cd "Amoroso only more so" is some of his best. British jazz is alive and well.

I also have a few "4 seasons" and the one that keeps on impressing me is the one by Nils-Erik Sparf playing the baroque violin with the Drottningholm Baroque ensemble The cherry on the cake is that the recording is unbelievably good. These guys are playing in my house type of thing. it is on the Bis label and the cat no is CD-275, give it a listen!

Must we also dispose of our valves amplifier???

I have the 50" HD version of this model and it is absolutely stunning, I checked a few Lcd's (Samsung, sony, etc) but to my eyes this one has the most natural tints and the "Blacks" are blacks from all angles, a found LCD blacks are only good when facing the screen.

MEREDITH D'AMBROSIO "WISHING ON THE MOON" SCRIABIN PIANO SONATAS BY JOHN HOGDON

Agree 100% Jo had one of the most beautiful voice ever and perfect pitch. They are a few very good compilations around. In the same style Dinah Shore also made some wonderful music her cd "Dinah sings, Previn plays" is another master piece and it may well be one of the most realistic female voice you will ever hear in your living room.

"Jazz Meets Symphony" concert with Mary Stallings, Opie Bellas, Judith Sephuma, and Winston Mankuku Location : Theater on the track, Johannesburg south Africa. I thought that it maybe of interest to some. I have to admit that it went much better than expected as I was a little unsure of the 65 pieces local orchestra. The orchestra consisted of a string section and a big band. During the last rehearsal which I attended, they did sound a little hesitant but when the time came they did pull it off. Mary Stallings opened the show with "Muddy Water" a blues with a Count Basie arrangement. Well the moment Mary opened her mouth, you knew you where listening to jazz. She may well be last jazz singer alive to be able to do that. The blues is in her blood. A hint of Carmen McRae came to mind. Other songs she did where "Running Wild," "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You," "This Girl's In Love," "Deed I Do," all of them using Count Basie charts, Mary Stallings worked with the Count for three years and it shows. She is cool, yet so hot. I think that big band is her real forte, although she sang a ballad with just a trio that was in goose bump territory. I could not believe that she is 67, she looks and sounds so young Our local diva Judith Sephuma was next, she has a great voice but for my tastes her style and phrasing is not jazzy enough. She sang a beautiful version of "Over the Rainbow" unfortunately with no verse... the verse is so good it was a pity. She also did some nice South African compositions which I did not know. Judith is more of a "show" singer than a jazz singer, the crowd loved her, and actually it was a nice style contrast after the very jazzy Mary Stallings. The second half opened with Miss Bellas, this girl is so confident, great stage presence, beautiful voice and perfect pitch. She sang "I'm Beginning to See the Light" (no strings, arr./orchestrated by Mike Greensill), "Time After Time" (with the verse and strings, Greensill), "Tango Nefelis" (a Greek song, orchestrated by Michael Moricz), "Nice Work If You Can Get It" (arr. by M. Greensill), "Live for Life" (strings orch. by Michael Moricz) and to me the highlight of the evening a very stormy "Stormy Weather" which left us breathless. Both Mary and Opie used David Udolf on piano. David is based in San Francisco The last section of the concert was by SA legend saxophonist Winston Mankuku, well he did not disapoint, to my ears he sounded better than ever, his playing was modern, quite free, surprisingly for me it really worked well with the big orchestra as a foundation. I am not sure who did the strings and big band arrangements for Winston but the combination was a great match. All in all a wonderful evening. I would like to thank the the Jazz Foundation of South Africa as well as the sponsors to make such an event possible. (Hopefully there will be more.) Sunday, I was invited with the overseas artists to visit Soweto, had a great meal in an African restaurant, people there are especially warm and friendly, they made a great impression on all of us.

The Sony SACD was the most viable audiophile format to have come along, and among a sleuth of well-conceived characteristics that defined its prominence, such as a backward compatible layer, progressively affordable new disc players, and even active support of labels worldwide in the following years, it was the advent of the Direct Stream Digital mastering process that separated the SACD from everything else, and managed to engage even hardcore vinylphiles who had always reminisced over the eras of vinyl and reel-to-reel. Hence my dismay upon learning that the very purveyor of the hi-rez audio format itselt had moved on to the multimedia format of Blu-ray, leaving the manufacturing of SACD’s to other pressing plants. In a response to an SACD order from First Impression Music dated July 27, 2007, Sony DADC (formerly known as Digital Audio Disc Corp.), a worldwide CD/DVD manufacturing/press corporation with 13 facilities in Asia, Australia, Europe, South American and North America, speaks of a bright future for “higher density optical products such as Blu-ray”, and that “CD and DVD business is on the decline.” Hence: “With significant investment and expansion, Sony DADC is poised to transition to a ‘high density’ future.” The Sony letter goes on to say that “continued ‘right-sizing’ of our CD/DVD business is required. Declining market, increased competition and rising raw material costs have all negatively impacted our profitability. Based on the drastic drop in CD prices over the past several years, accompanied by increased material costs, it is now necessary to make a change to our customer base. As of August 13, 2007, Sony DADC will no longer be able to continue servicing your CD/DVD business needs .....” The letter goes on to refer a Portland, Oregon pressing facility, Cravedog, Inc., to FIM for its disc-pressing needs. In a telephone interview, Cravedog spokesman, Michael Fitzerald, confirmed the transition taking place in Sony, and commented that SACD orders remain steady at his company. Whether this will mark the end of the hi-rez format will have to be determined by hindsight from the future, what with the format now being supported only by considerably smaller labels and more specialized pressing facilities. With Sony DADC’s official position in transitioning its production capacity in favor of the Blu-ray multimedia format, audiophiles are faced with the prospect of converging their audio and video systems into one, centered around a possibly SACD sonics-equivalent Blu-ray-based system, in order to continue enjoying high-resolution audio playback – unless Sony also intends for the Blu-ray format to include 2-channel only reprints of classics, again. Of course, that is already plenty of wishful-thinking on our part, as there has yet to be an SACD-compatible Blu-ray player from any of the manufacturers, especially one from Sony itself. Perhaps it will serve as consolation that earlier this year, Victor Company of Japan (JVC) had announced the successful development of a new, pinnacle XRCD breakthrough, and had begun to offer the service of remastering of audiophile-caliber discs to other labels in this new standard at the FLAIR Studio, JVC’s own in-house, professional studio. This new JVC XRCD standard is called K2 HD. Follow this link to read Dagogo’s world premiere review of the first K2 HD disc released in United States.

On the other hand I'm not at all interested in contemporary jazz singers doing standards and mainstream stuff... different tastes here, I guess, but how boring it would be if that wasn't so!

I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt. I am an optimist, but you are most probably right.

Roberta is well known amongst the jazz vocalists FANS. there is lot's of controversy about her talent. Sure she has a nice voice and great chops but seems unable to do anymore than showing these assets. She is unable to move people like the great singers are able to do. Her scatting can become a little much after a while, especially to people that don't appreciate scatting. So what I am saying is that even with these assets she quickly becomes boring. She is still young and I am sure that in time she will improve.