Petteri Iivonen: J.S. Bach Partita No. 2 in D Minor 180g 45RPM Vinyl
After living a number of years in the United States, GRAMMY® and ICMA Nominated Finnish violinist Petteri Iivonen returned to Europe where he became concertmaster of the Finnish Opera orchestra in Helsinki before moving to Paris to serve as concertmaster for the Paris Opera. Petteri's ability to play in many styles with sincerity and his natural lyrical facility with his instrument made him the ideal candidate to work with luminary conductors such as Esa-Pekka Salonen in Helsinki and now Gustavo Dudamel at Paris Opera.
Peter, Paul & Mary – Album 1700 – Analogue Productions 180g 45 RPM Vinyl
This is a phenomenal reissue of a significant album for the famed folk rock trio. Album 1700, released in 1967, yielded the group's final hit single (and only No. 1), "Leaving on a Jet Plane." It also yielded graceful folk-rock trappings for their repertoire of originals and covers by, among others, Bob Dylan and Eric Anderson, writes David Wolf for Amazon.com.
The Young Rascals – Groovin’ – MoFi Mono SACD
Mastered From The Original Master Tapes For Supreme Sound
Simultaneously elevated and bypassed by the artistically prolific year in which it was released, the Young Rascals' Groovin' remains high-water mark of a collective Rolling Stone boldly proclaimed "the blackest white group of all" in 1970. Home to three Top 10 singles and a diverse array of pop music in step with the era's exploratory creativity, the set belongs aside the Beatles' Sgt. Peppers' Lonely Hearts Club Band, Love's Forever Changes, Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow, and 1967's other pioneering recordings. Particularly now that it boasts definitive sonics.
Van Halen – Diver Down – MoFi SACD
Johnny Hodges – Blues A Plenty Analogue Productions 200g 45RPM Vinyl
One of the giants of the alto saxophone, Johnny Hodges was perhaps the most important soloist and sideman in Duke Ellington’s orchestra from 1928 up to Hodges’ death in 1970. The self-taught player made many solo forays during his long career – one of his ’50s outfits included a young John Coltrane – but history remembers Hodges for his virtuosic sidemanship, particularly his sensitive rendering of ballads.
Van Halen – Women and Children First – MoFi Ultradisc 180g 45RPM 2LP Box Set
NOW AVAILABLE
MASTERED FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES AND PRESSED ON MOFI SUPERVINYL FOR A DEFINITIVE LISTENING EXPERIENCE Van Halen vocalist David Lee Roth says it all on the second song of the band's third album – and third consecutive smash in less than three years time. "Everybody wants some!," he declares before immediately querying, "Baby, how 'bout, you?" Roth and the rest of Van Halen already knew the answer. The quartet further confirmed its status as America's leading rock band and principal party starters on Women and Children First while heading in harder, heavier directions with thrilling songs that Rolling Stone scribe David Fricke rightly deemed "works of high-volume art." Mastered from the original analog tapes, pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl, and strictly limited and numbered, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP set of the triple-platinum effort ensures demand for the 1980 record has never been higher.
Electric Light Orchestra – Eldorado – MoFi Ultradisc 180g 45RPM 2LP Box Set
MASTERED FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES WITH MOBILE FIDELITY'S ONE-STEP PROCESS: PRESSED ON MOFI SUPERVINYL, LIMITED TO 10,000 COPIES
Electric Light Orchestra leader Jeff Lynne did more than figuratively reach for the sky on Eldorado. Daring to be bold, and creating imaginative worlds that invite the listener to escape the mundane, the visionary composer-musician achieved a multidisciplinary fantasia and, in the process, a prog-rock landmark. Nearly 50 years later, the concept album's brilliance can be experienced like never before in cinematic, IMAX-worthy fashion.
Bach Cello Suites – PS Audio Gold SACD
Sonny Stitt – Blows The Blues – Acoustic Sounds 180g Vinyl LP
Sonny Stitt led a number of excellent record dates in 1959, especially at the end of the year when he produced three LPs for Verve over a span of three sessions with pianist Lou Levy, bassist Leroy Vinnegar and drummer Mel Lewis. Playing alto sax throughout this album, Stitt hardly sounds like a Charlie Parker clone, something that unfortunately was a frequent claim by tin-eared critics throughout a fair portion of his career. The music includes several potent originals, especially “Hymnal Blues” and the slow, powerful “Morning After Blues.”
Originally released in 1970.
Carol Kidd – Both Sides Now – UHQCD
Numbered, Limited Edition
UHQCD
Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio
Pressed at RTI
Glasgow’s First Lady of Jazz Carol Kidd, whose string of successful Linn recordings in the 1980’s have made her a staple of international audiophile artists, returns with an all-new collection of delectable jazz and pop standards delivered in her inimitably smooth and heartfelt style
Horace Tapscott: Dial ‘B’ For Barbra – 2 x LP Pure Pleasure Vinyl
“The best of pianist Horace Tapscott’s recordings for the tiny Nimbus label is this 1981 LP which features him in a sextet with trumpeter Reggie Bullen, altoist Gary Bias, tenor saxophonist Sabir Matteen, bassist Roberto Miranda and drummer Everett Brown, Jr. The group stretches out on a couple of Tapscott’s originals plus a 19½-minute version of Linda Hill’s”Dem Folks.” Although the music could be called avant-garde, its use of rhythms and repetition keep the results from being forbidding and the performances have a momentum of their own.”
Scott Yanow/AMG
