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Those who've read past articles know my admiration for the recordings of independent Dutch recording and mastering engineer Bert van der Wolf (now and hereafter, in honor of his recent marriage, Bert van der Wolf-Oude Avenhuis), Northstar Recording Services. Bert's recordings are a touchstone of excellence. He captures acoustic music in a most engagingly natural... Read More »

High Definition Tape Transfers continues to strike gold with its releases. Here are some excellent new classical and jazz transfers, plus one folk music transfer of the fingerpicking guitar persuasion. Much good music and good sound to share in this Recent Notes. Enjoy Ellington Jazz Party In Stereo, Duke Ellington and his Orchestra. HDTT 1959... Read More »

Freddie de Tommaso, Puccini Arias with London Philharmonic Orchestra/Edward Gardner. Decca 4870768 (digital EP, no booklet. La Bohème: Che gelida manina. Manon Lescaut: Donna non vidi mai; Guardate, pazzo io son. La fanciulla del West: Una parola sola...Or son sei mesi. Le villi: Torna ai felici dì. We don't ordinarily associate the EP format—the extended-play CD—with classical... Read More »

For some time I've wanted to share with you some of this outstanding music, performance excellence, and superb audio quality coming from Sono Luminus' ventures with Icelandic composers and performers. Why Iceland? I didn't have any clear understanding other than that Sono Luminus CEO Collin Rae has some connections there and they got started with... Read More »

By the mid-2000's, my growing appreciation of jazz music was also developing into a full-blown fascination with the artistry of jazz singer and pianist extraordinaire Patricia Barber. And when Taylor Perry of Shore Fire Media approached me mid-year 2021 to gauge my interest in covering Barber's soon-to-be-released album Clique!, I was quite nearly thunderstruck. I... Read More »

It's been a very passionate and rewarding journey for me when it comes to Patricia Barber and her music. As a long term resident of Chicago, I was able to see her and her band perform at the Green Mill many times over the last 30 years. Though she is now performing at several additional... Read More »

NativeDSD continues to earn highest recommendations from me as a preferred source for high resolution downloads. There are some labels they don't have access to, unfortunately, but their catalog continues to grow with new labels showing up every few weeks. This means their new releases outpace my ability to write about them. But, I'll keep... Read More »

Frank Doris:  a portrait. AXPONA 2025, Chicago, IL. (Photograph by David W. Robinson.) I have been extremely impressed with the reissues I've heard from Impex Records, including Patricia Barber's Nightclub and more recently, Companion, the absolutely astonishing 1STEP Getz/Gilberto 45 RPM 2-LP release, and their 2020 reissue of Sing and Dance With Frank Sinatra. Impex has reissued the... Read More »

With such a rich history of music in the western world, it is too easy to get lost in centuries past. We can too easily fail to see the amazing music being written today. With this article, I want to offer up some outstanding music of the 21st Century I've been privileged to hear these... Read More »

In today's world, Eydie Gormé (1928-2013) is most famous for being part of a successful singing duo with her husband, Steve Lawrence (1935-2024). As a pair, they were successful from the earliest days of stereo LPs and well into the digital era. They also excelled at comedy, and they looked great too. By all accounts,... Read More »

David Fung, Evening Conversations. Yarlung Records 2006 2025 (Pure DSD256) HERE  Edit Master Sourced I found myself talking recently on the phone with my friend Bob Attiyeh, the creative founder and visionary of Yarlung Records. I'm always intrigued by these occasional calls with Bob. One never knows whence they may wander. That day, Bob was... Read More »

Last year Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab began releasing six of Joni Mitchell's most iconic albums, making them all available not only as hybrid SACDs, but also in MoFi's ne plus ultra analog statement format, their UltraDisc One-Step 180 gram LP set. The series began with Ladies of the Canyon (1970), then moved to Joni's deeply... Read More »

Bob Witrak has been busy these past months with additions to the HDTT catalog. The biggest news is that the International Phonograph Jazz recordings are back! See my earlier note about this great news, HERE. Below are some of the new reissues (not IPI) that have caught my ear in recent weeks. Witches Brew, Alexander... Read More »

Record Store Day typically always takes place on the third Saturday of April in any given year, but for 2025, that date fell on what is a bank holiday across much of the globe, so the date was pushed forward to April 12. Rhino is again offering a broad selection of 47(!) limited edition LPs... Read More »

Craft Recordings again offers an interesting mix of collectible, limited-edition, rare, and long out-of-print LPs for Record Store Day 2025 (RSD) that's happening on Saturday, April 12. Record Store Day typically always takes place on the third Saturday of April in any given year, but for 2025, that date fell on what is a bank... Read More »

Let there be rejoicing among fans of Pure DSD recordings—transfers from the IPI analog master tapes to Pure DSD256 are back at HDTT! They disappeared for a while when IPI owner and recording engineer Jonathan Horwich decided to retire and withdrew them. But now the International Phonograph, Inc., catalog is returned to HDTT. These albums... Read More »

I unabashedly love listening to early music, from medieval to renaissance. And much of this music is for voices. Not all, by a long shot, but there is a lot that is a cappella. Early music will be the theme of today's Recent Finds because this is what has consumed much of my recent listening.... Read More »

k.d. lang, Ingénue. Because Sound Matters, 33 RPM One-Step. $99.98 The k.d. lang, Ingénue One-Step reissue from Because Sound Matters has been an absolute delight from the first day that it arrived! It is clearly my favorite reissue so far this year! I was unfamiliar with this title, yet it has been on constant rotation... Read More »

A couple of nights prior to performing this finger workout on my keyboard, I had a craving for some vinyl with a male vocalist. I wasn't in the mood for Joe Cocker, Jim Reeves, or Frank Sinatra. I wanted something frothy, and free from deep thought. I just wanted to be swept away by blissful... Read More »