Macy Gray – The Trouble With Being Myself (2003)
DSD128 (.dsf) 1 bit/2,82 MHz MHz | Time – 49:01 minutes | 1,93 GB
or FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 49:01 minutes | 1,02 GB | Genre: R&B, Soul
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: AcousticSounds | Front Cover | © Epic
DSD file created by Gus Skinas from the original Sony Super Audio CD cutting masters.
In 1999, Macy Gray stepped onto the scene with her critically-acclaimed debut, On How Life Is. She would eventually become a Grammy Award winner and sell over nine million albums worldwide with On How Life Is and The ID. The Trouble With Being Myself is the third album from Macy. Once again, she hits us with that raspy but sexy voice that’s become so recognizable.
“I love it, it’s definitely the best album that I’ve made.” — Macy Gray
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Maarten Ornstein, Tony Overwater, Wim Kegel – Jungle Boldie (2010/2015)
DSD64 (.dsf) 1 bit/2,82 MHz | Time – 51:57 minutes | 2,05 GB
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 51:57 minutes | 1,1 GB
Genre: Jazz | Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: NativeDSDmusic | Booklet, Front Cover | © Turtle Records
The Jungle Boldie consists of three of Hollands most renowned jazz musicians. Overwater, Ornstein and Kegel met at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague during their studies and have been playing together ever since. They have the shared vision of what it is to play and perform ‘free’ music in the true sense of the word – creating a joyful interplay without any assumptions. “Jungle Boldie” features a pure sound painted by this unity, from the heart – in the strumming of strings,in the striking of sticks, in the sliding of screams.
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Rachel Podger, Jane Rogers – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Michael Haydn – Duo Sonatas (2011)
DSF Stereo DSD64/2.82MHz | Time – 01:12:51 minutes | 2,87 GB | Genre: Classical
Source: ISO SACD | © Channel Classics Records B.V. | Front Cover, Booklet
The Duos for Violin and Viola by Mozart have long been favourite pieces of ours – pieces we’d take out and play when there wasn’t a keyboard player or cellist to hand, or busk as teenagers to earn extra pocket money. Back then, the audience’s response clearly indicated how appealing these pieces were as our takings always doubled when we played them!These works never cease to amaze – Mozart uses the two instruments so effectively and with such exquisite craftsmanship that he never leaves one wondering where the rest of the string quartet might have gone….They are also hugely engaging to play and so endlesslyrich and interesting that the appeal to the listener is guaranteed. Mozart’s reference to other genres is always fascinating. In this case the writing is dramatic, operatic even (the violin taking the role as soprano diva (!) and the viola as the heroic tenor?!). One could perhaps go as far to say that these duos are distillations of the art of chamber music as in the Haydn quartets, but more naturally recreational and less self-conscious.For a violist they are about as exposed as you can be; hitherto very few sonatas or concerti had been written for solo viola – and the accompaniment would seldom have been as scant as a single violin. The conversational and imitative nature of the writing allows for freedom andcharacterization, and it was refreshing and rewarding to be as spontaneous as possible in the recording sessions. It was also a diverting and enjoyable experience to record two of the Michael Haydn duos, previously unknown to us both. The character of these pieces is often reminiscentof Austrian folkmusic and it really seems as if you can hear the yodelling vernacular bouncing off the mountains in timely echoes. The challenges in these works are quite different to those of his friend Wolfgang – the demands placed on the violinist are obvious as the writing is busy,yet in need of a casual fluidity, whereas the violist has the task of being constantly inventive with material which is largely accompanimental (melody and bass, in effect). Who knows?Maybe Wolfgang and Michael tried these out during Mozart’s visit to Salzburg when he helped his friend complete a set of six Sonatas in 1783.Rachel & JaneDuos for Violin and Viola
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Rachel Podger, Pavlo Beznosiuk, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment – Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante; Haydn: Violin Concerti 1 & 4 (2009)
DSF Stereo DSD64/2.82MHz | Time – 01:08:06 minutes | 2,68 GB | Genre: Classical
Source: ISO SACD | © Channel Classics Records B.V. | Front Cover, Booklet
It was a joy and an honour to record Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante – such a beautifully crafted masterpiece with those memorable, elegant and distinctive themes in the first movement and both soloists weaving in and out of symphonic textures, the remarkable poignancy of the second movement with its dramatic dialogue which is then dispersed by sheer delight and comic playfulness in the Presto.Delving into these moods was personally enriching and helped me gain a little bit more insight into Mozart’s genius and being. Pavlo and I had the extreme good fortune to play a Strad each! Generously loaned to us by the Royal Academy of Music for this project, we savoured every minute of having these esteemed and valuable instruments in our hands! ‘Mine’ is a proud instrument which demands careful negotiation and warming before it will expose it’s beautiful colours. An amazing experience in itself to play an instrument like this, it was even more of an event when the two Strads met and ‘spoke’ to each other with a feeling of being acquainted, perhaps not for the first time…
Violinist Rachel Podger has secured a name for herself as a master interpreter and performer of all things Baroque and early Classical. Her recent recordings of the complete Mozart violin sonatas thrust her career forward from her already prestigious beginnings as a member of the Palladian Ensemble and Florilegium. This Channel Classics album finds Podger in front of the innovative Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment performing two Haydn concertos written during his time in the employ of the Esterházy family, as well as the instantly recognizable Mozart Sinfonia Concertante. Written for Luigi Tomasini, the concertmaster of the Esterházy Court Chapel, the two concertos are filled with dazzling pyrotechnic displays and soulful, sustained melodies, characteristics that play to Podger’s strengths. Any hints of stuffiness or rigidity conjured up when thinking of period instrument performances are at once dispelled with Podger’s vitally enthusiastic but well-controlled approach to her instrument. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment likewise focuses on spontaneity, vibrancy, and beauty of tone. Joined by violist Pavlo Beznosiuk, the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante is treated with similar energy and excitement. A change of instrument, bow, and strings results in a warmer, more hushed tone from Podger that provides a nice contrast to the brightness heard in the Haydn. Keen listeners will also notice that the viola is tuned a half-step higher than usual, which was indicated in Mozart’s original score. The result here is a brighter, more clearly projecting instrument.
Sergei Filchenko, Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya – Mozart: Sonatas For Piano & Violin (2009) MCH SACD ISO
Sergei Filchenko, Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya – Mozart: Sonatas For Piano & Violin (2009)
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | SACD DSD64 2.0 & 5.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 01:05:16 minutes | 3,31 GB
Genre: Jazz | Front Cover, Digital Booklet | © Caro Mitis/Essential Music
Russia’s Caro Mitis label has staked out territory in both the audiophile and the authentic-performance realms, and the label has often accomplished releases that combine its two strengths. The present release, featuring fortepianist Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya (say that fast five times) playing one of the very clean-sounding Walter fortepiano replicas by Belgian builder Chris Maene, offers a good example. Nepomnyashchaya and violinist Sergei Filchenko, playing a 1738 Florentine violin in the two outer sonatas and a Jacob Stainer instrument that produces a haunting effect in the Sonata in E minor, K. 304, deliver really compelling performances of these very familiar sonatas, with the sharp contrasts historical instruments can bring. The Sonata in G major for piano and violin, K. 379, has a very restless central fast movement and a lightly graceful theme and variations that give the listener the impression that the two have rethought the work from the ground up. Nepomnyashchaya applies added ornamentation in the slow movements and the variation finale of the G major sonata, always tastefully and carefully done, and the performers bring a real sense of spontaneity to the interaction between piano and violin that attracted reviewers and customers to these pieces in the 18th century; they push the tempo a bit but keep the expressive dimensions intimate. A very fine recording of some well-worn sonatas. Notes, in a rather breathy old-fashioned mode, are in English, Russian, and German.
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Ute Lemper – Time Traveler (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 40:49 minutes | 815 MB | Genre: Vocal Jazz, Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Jazzhaus Records
Ute Lemper, the New York-based German singer and dancer, is renowned for her interpretations of Brecht Weill songs; she slipped into the skin of Marlene Dietrich and has made a name for herself worldwide as a musical performer and specialist for the repertoire of the 1920s. “Time Traveler” is not the first album on which Ute Lemper sings her own material and yet, since the story of this collection of songs already began 23 years ago, it is a turning point in her self-perception.
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City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, University of Birmingham Voices – Stanford: Requiem (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:14:24 minutes | 1,29 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Hyperion Records
Recorded in association with a live performance from Birmingham’s Symphony Hall in 2022, this account of Stanford’s Requiem from Martyn Brabbins and massed Birmingham forces thrillingly captures all the grandeur and intimacy of a neglected choral epic.
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TV Priest – My Other People (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 41:22 minutes | 486 MB | Genre: Alternative Rock, Post-Punk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sub Pop Records
TV Priest were only about a year old when they cut their first album, 2021’s Uppers, and while it was a powerful and effective debut, the group’s stylistic similarities to Protomartyr were painfully obvious, and it sometimes felt like they were still working out their own creative identity. Sixteen months later, with some touring under their belts, the band’s template has changed a bit on their second LP, 2022’s My Other People. The harsh, jagged guitar figures of Alex Sprogis and the heavyweight rhythm section of Nic Bueth (bass) and Ed Kelland (drums) once again create a wall of sound that vocalist Charlie Drinkwater plows through with his powerful voice and blank-verse lyrics, just as they did on their first long player. That’s not all they can do, though, and My Other People sees the band adding additional levels to their game. The languid and understated “Limehouse Cut” is built around moody synthesizer lines punctuated by slinky bass, “The Happiest Place on Earth” strips away Sprogis’s usual attack in favor of acoustic guitar, and “The Breakers” could almost pass for a pop song in its relatively gentle melodic framework. Most of the time, TV Priest are in attack mode here, but even then, their approach has grown a bit more artful, such as the dramatic build to an explosive climax on “Unraveling,” and “One Easy Thing” leaves just enough room in the arrangement for the shards of guitar to stand out in greater relief. One thing that hasn’t changed is Drinkwater, who still writes and hectors like Joe Casey gone to London on an exchange program. His saving grace on Uppers was that he was very good at what he was doing, and he’s only improved on My Other People, reciting with an authority and edgy energy that makes the instrumentalists feel even more powerful (and vice versa). TV Priest are still working on an individual sound judging from My Other People, and at the same time they’re growing into a more accomplished and interesting band, and their obvious talent makes them an act only a fool would ignore. – Mark Deming
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Trio Wanderer, Catherine Montier, Christophe Gaugué – César Franck: Violin Sonata, Piano Trio No.1 & Piano Quintet – Vierne: Piano Quintet (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:58:21 minutes | 4,10 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi
The Trio Wanderer follows up its multi-award- winning Schumann set with an exploration of the fascinating world of César Franck.
The gulf between his youthful trios and the prodigious works of his maturity reveals a fundamental turning point in the history of French chamber music.
Continuing along the trail that Franck blazed with such brio, Louis Vierne’s deeply moving Quintet offers an echo of the older man’s work.
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Trio Agora – Hotel Tango (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:11:50 minutes | 1,27 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Accentus Music
With their highly anticipated album “Hotel Tango” Trio Agora invites us on a journey through the history and development of the tango. From its roots to its manifold manifestations worldwide, the trio presents tango as a unique mixture of European, South American and African idioms. With arrangements and dedicated compositions, the trio explores the genre from a personal perspective. Look forward to a reimagined version of Astor Piazzolla’s “Las cuatro estaciones porteñas,” works of Stravinsky, Gardel, Ravel, Ginastera and more.
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Trampled by Turtles – Alpenglow (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 40:05 minutes | 860 MB | Genre: Bluegrass, Alt. Country, Indie Folk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Banjodad Records
Produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Alpenglow is the Minnesota-based sextet’s tenth album. The album, named after the optical phenomenon that takes places when the sun casts a reddish glow across the mountains at dawn and dusk, opens with the wistful beauty of “It’s So Hard To Hold On”. The narrator contemplates the passing of time and how imperative it is to savor it while you have it.
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Tom Ollendorff – Open House (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 46:16 minutes | 538 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Fresh Sound New Talent
“There is no crowd like an expectant crowd. Hailed by Gilad Hekselman as “one of the world’s finest guitarists,” Tom Ollendorff certainly had some billing to live up to as he kicked off the Irish leg of an international tour to promote Open House (Fresh Sound Records, 2023). Just his second album, following the impressive debut A Song For You (Fresh Sound Records, 2021), it may seem premature to burden the young English guitarist with such a loaded label, but in this short but brilliant set Ollendorff allayed any fears that this was a case of hype. If the shoe fits…
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Tito Puente – Mambo Diablo (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 40:41 minutes | 1,61 GB | Genre: World
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Concord Picante
Although he was never inactive, the 1980s found Tito Puente in a bit of a renaissance. His exciting Afro-Cuban jazz band had found a home on the Concord Picante label, and his music was increasing in popularity again. This particular CD has a stronger than usual repertoire, including “Take Five,” “Lush Life” (done as Latin jazz), “Pick Yourself Up” and “Lullaby of Birdland”; the latter song has its composer George Shearing guesting on piano. Puente wrote half of the arrangements, contributed some excellent playing on timbales and vibes, and is heard heading a spirited three-horn, three-percussion octet. Very enjoyable music. – Scott Yanow
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Tim Ray Trio – Fire & Rain (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:15:06 minutes | 1,50 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Whaling City Sound
Tim Ray’s new release Fire & Rain features his jazz piano trio with John Lockwood on bass and Mark Walker on drums. The ensemble showcases their harmonically rich and balanced sound, playing uncommon yet effective choices such as Oliver Nelson’s “Stolen Moments” and Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Mojave,” as well as newer material including three original pieces and the collective “Improv #1 (for Chick).” This collection pays tribute to Ray’s heroes, including Monk’s “Bye-Ya” and Jarrett’s “The Windup,” while also featuring works by overlooked composers such as Carla Bley and Dave McKenna. The album includes a track from the singer-songwriter genre, James Taylor’s iconic “Fire and Rain,” which builds to an inexorable group climax. Also in the collection, is a family portrait piece, “The Meeting,” alternatively titled “The Jbug and the Kman” and a groovy track called “NO Worries,” which has a hint of electric keyboard and New Orleans-style rhythm. Despite the varying moods and themes, the trio’s level of creativity never falters, making Fire & Rain “some of the most inspired trio music of what we might call the surround-Covid era.” according to Bob Blumenthal in the excellent liner notes.
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Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane – Thelonious Monk With John Coltrane (1961/2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 37:58 minutes | 1022 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Jazzland
Seldom does a “cash in” turn into a “classic,” but in the case of this 1961 album of outtakes and leftovers by Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane recorded four years prior, that’s exactly what happened. Monk and Coltrane only played together briefly, during the last half of 1957 when Monk’s quartet was in transition and Coltrane himself was juggling a busy solo recording schedule after being booted from Miles’ first great quintet due to his heroin addiction. While Coltrane may have been struggling a bit at the time, Monk was at the height of his powers; over the course of 1957 the pianist would record and release four albums, at least two of which—Monk’s Music and Brilliant Corners—are classics. Of those four, Coltrane was only featured prominently Monk’s Music (his playing on the otherwise solo Thelonious Himself was limited to a single cut), the only album for which they had an official recording session.
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