Sabbagh Turns Out a Joy

A few months back I mentioned a Kickstarter campaign by Jerome Sabbagh to have his new album, The Turn, released on vinyl. Well he reached his target, kept the project going through some difficult and unexpected er, turns, not least the death of Doug Sax who was involved in the mastering, some initial test pressing problems, sleeve foul ups and so forth. This month, the albums shipped to backers and the results are worth the wait.

The release comes as two LPs in separate but identical sleeves on beautiful slabs of thick vinyl, with 56 mins of music spread across four sides. Yes, you will need to get up every 15 mins or so, making you feel like you've played one of those 45rpm sets so beloved by some (not me) but even though this album is available in other formats, you will want the vinyl set. At the time of writing, Jerome tells me that he still has copies of the 500 original run an will be selling them from his web site  www.jeromesabbagh.com (I backed early but still only got #226, so don't sit around on this one).

But what about the music? Well where do I start. Sabbagh's band (who have recorded together before) consists of some real top notch players, the always striking Ben Monder on guitar and a rhythm section of Ted Poor and Joe Martin  all of whom are given plenty of room to breath and play on this album. Sabbagh's sax is earthy, groove-oriented and truly captivating. The group range mostly over Sabbagh originals and a cover of Paul Motian's Once around the Park, with a mix of sombre, spacious chill giving way to high energy, driving bop. Though the soloists are captivating, it's the collective experience of four guys weaving a musical tapestry in seeming total synchronicity that gives the album its stand-out qualities for me. The opening, title track sums the mood well, a slow drawn out motif on bass and sax sets a contemplative, faintly sinister tone before drummer Poor kicks everyone into swing and Sabbagh embarks on a winding solo that is taken on by Monder who seamlessly drives us further into edginess until rejoined by Sabbath for a powerful band-in-motion ending. This album tells you these guys not only can play, but they can play seriously well together, a unified force that carves solid shapes in thin air,  and you better pay attention.

Yes, Monder goes all out in an almost Hendrixian limb on Cult, an 11 minute drama but his playing never loses perspective or jars the listener because of the brilliant accompaniments of Poor and Martin. The end result being an example of what tradition with innovation can bring to the listener prepared to give current musicians some space. Long Gone is a more traditional groove that lovers of moody sax recordings will immediately resonate with but even here, the music warrants consideration of all that the band are bringing to bear, from sweet chordal backings to percussive voices that add texture and twists to the melodies up front.

One very distinct attribute of the vinyl is that the music just seems to make more sense. I don't really know how else to explain it but even though I had the digital download of this album for a few months, I never really heard it until I spun it on my table. It's not the resolution as much as the mood-capture that the records bring. Once cued up, I have been unable to spin just one side and always end up listening through the whole album, each subsequent listen giving up more to me of this music and this recording's charm.  Listeners in my home who find some bop too jarring for their ears have enquired about this album positively when I played it for them. The Turn is a slow burner, has edge with purpose, and for me the best new jazz record I've heard in a long while.  Stop buying re-releases of old stuff you already have. Get The Turn and go see these guys;  talent this good has to be nurtured.



UPDATE -- I think the copies on his web site are now gone but you might be able to get this still through Amazon. Sounds to me as if this release needs to be backed by a label with more copies.

The vertical LP boom box....kickstart this..

OK, the PR might be a bit stylized, the obvious opportunist timing for the vinyl comeback (TM) but hey, you never know till you hear it right?



and when you've bought one, be sure to check out this helpful guide on record collecting and proper handling or cleaning:

The Mastering Lab acquired by Acoustic Sounds

Not just a PR piece - this is a more poignant telling honoring the work of the late Doug Sax --

Just what you were waiting for, right?

Another f'in edition of Kind of Blue....

someone make it stop.... It's not that I don't love this album but how many copies are we supposed to need? There's been originals, re-releases, speed corrected releases, what's next...corrected speed-corrected? New tapes found in the back pocket of the studio sweeper's suit by his grandchild. Buy it? What else.

Audition struggles again - where can you actually hear the VPI Classic Direct?

I’ve been trying to find somewhere local and even not so local where I could hear the VPI Classic Direct table. The well-reviewed direct drive model is a change for VPI, not just in terms of technology but in terms of price, VPI not really known for $30,000 tables. I’ve seen the table at RMAF but given the circumstances of show conditions, I could not really say I ‘heard’ one so I thought I’d locate one somewhere in Texas and make an effort to hear it privately.

There are 4 listed dealers in Texas for VPI, a number that initially surprised me and suggested I’d find one to hear pretty conveniently. Turns out one of these dealers is no longer in business and none of the other three have the Classic Direct or even plan to have one in their store any time soon.  There are no dealers in Louisiana. In fact, it would appear that I’d have better luck if I flew to NJ to find a dealership where I could hear one. So, not only do I have to spend a fortune to get the table, I’d have to spend a small fortune just to have the option of auditioning it first. And we wonder why high end sales are threatened?

Essence Electrostats now direct-sell to customers

Now available direct to customers, Essence Electrostats announced today that they are no longer selling through dealers. These beautiful looking speakers accordingly drop in price from $4k to $2k a pair, with a variety of payment options possible, and supplementary sub available too. Add another $600 to get the taller 63"  pair for those of us who think height matters. This brings some serious competition to the market place and might just capture a new audience who never thought of listening outside the box. Hope to hear a pair in-house myself soon. For further info, check out the Essence site.

Ultrasonic cleaning on the cheap

I’ve lusted after an ultrasonic cleaner (USC) for the last few years but could never bring myself to part with the necessary money for the Audio Desk or KLAudio machines. I mean, $4k is no small sum, even if I still buy and play tons of vinyl. I tried to rationalize it by determining the unit cost for each record, and even added in the time saving to tell myself that it would be worth it but no, that price was just too much for me. I nearly pulled the trigger on a reconditioned model from KLAudio, and even bookmarked their site just in case one appeared again but nothing could quite get me to write the check.

Like many of you, I’ve looked into the DIY options. There’s a ton of info on the web, some of it very useful but I was always left a bit concerned. Which of those E-bay USCs would work? Then there’s the LP rotating issue. How do you get the records into the water and keep them spinning there safely? Those selling the cleaners never seemed to mention LPs. Those selling record holders/spinners never seemed to mention which USC device would it would fit, other than gross measurements. I signed up online to get one of the most highly recommended cleaners, built to allow timing and temperature control, and even asked the guy making them if he knew about the rotating holders and if one I had my eye on would fit. He answered that it would, but he never said so on his listings and just as I was about to buy one, they always went out of stock.

Well, problem solved now,  so let me share some practical advice. I bought a DIY set up put together by a local audiophile who demonstrated proof of concept and wanted to move on to other devices. You can put this exact rig together yourself for about $700, maybe less if you are lucky, buy used,  or if you are willing to use cheaper machines. But compared to the price of other set ups, this one seems a good deal. Here’s the parts (each one linked to a relevant eBay listing, but check Amazon on the Kendal):

The Vinyl Stack Sonic Spin Kit:

which fits perfectly with a 9L Kendal ultrasonic cleaner 

There are cheaper but this one I can assure you works well.

To clean the water (or keep it minimally clean while cleaning crud from your records) there’s a TopFin aquarium filter that sits on the side of the cleaner. These are about $15 from Pet Smart.

With these three in combo, a little photo-flo, drop of organic dishwasher detergent and a couple of gallons of distilled water from the supermarket, I’ve given this rig a work out on 20 Lps so far. The results are impressive. The records look cleaner than ever, and coupled with a distilled water rinse on my Loricraft afterwards, the sonic results are impressive. More as I go, there’s no end of discussion online about better combos of cleaning fluid and drying but the real advantage here is that I got 20 lps cleaned in about two hours total time, some of that learning the set up, developing a decent workflow, and  running 9 mins ultrasonic cycles (longer than most people recommend but I’m experimenting).

I think I can easily get 10 records cleaned, dried and sleeved in under an hour if I employed air drying, dabbing dry with microfiber cloth,  or if I would cut back on the final run through distilled water on the Loricraft (a process that adds almost 3 min per record on its own given the suction rate of the Lori’s point nozzle system).  But for now, this set up is the best I’ve achieved in home cleaning, better than the Loricraft/Audio Solutions combo that I was using, and it’s comparatively quick. No, you don’t get Audio Desk or KLAudio auto-dry/ready-to-play convenience but you can make a real dent in your cleaning backlog with this set up. If you are on the fence, give this a try.

Waterboys still got it

Went to see Mike Scott and the ‘Boys launch their new US tour this week. It’s been 25 years since I last saw them, far away on another continent and it was one of my most memorable gigs. Sort of worried that the memory would be tainted by the time but I need not have worried. The venue was perfect, the wonderful Paramount Theater on Congress where all seats are excellent, sonics are good and the bar stays open throughout. The opening act, the Bluebonnets, were fine, quite fun once they found their groove and did not overstay their welcome. But the Waterboys were the business. A nice mix of old and new members, and that was true of the music too. Mike Scott is to my mind one of the great songwriters in rock and roll, and continues to write memorable, haunting songs while retaining his rock edginess. He was still cool, the riffs kept coming, and yes, he played almost everything I wanted to hear, including a rocking version of Glastonbury Song.

Highlight -- Mike Scott going over the piano then saying, by way of introduction, ‘let’s see if we can nail this one to the wall’ and hitting those familiar chords to Whole of the Moon. Cue crowd moving to the front, dancing in the aisles, singing along, sharing the pure joy of live music played well in a great space. New album now out, Modern Blues, I just ordered the vinyl version. Welcome back to a great band, it’s like they were never really away.

And this just in -- live on Letterman, or as live as TV allows....the real thing is even better:

Collecting without listening? The man with 75,000 CDs

Slightly annoying style (and the video is very dark so turn up your brightness setting) but this episode of the BBC series on ‘collectoholics’ offers a fascinating glimpse into the world of one collector who is amassing a sizable but un-listened to trove of contemporary CD releases. He’s bought apartments to house the collection but at least they’ve increased in value. And you thought you had an obsession! Still, the teddy bears are worse, right? Enjoy.

Raven Nighthawk review is live

I thoroughly enjoyed a few months listening to the Raven Nighthawk integrated amp and the review is now live at HiFi'Zine. I've enjoyed tube amps in the past but this little 20w design reminded me why, it had that great midrange we all love but amazingly it also had decent bass that belies its power rating. Watch out for Raven -- they offer a range of tube amps and are cooking up some neat smaller set ups as well as powerful monoblock designs.

I've been using the Audience B2 bluetooth speaker with my various Macs around the house and will add some listening comments in due course to my colleague, Oliver Masciarotte's solid review on 'Zine. Fair to say, it makes hearing music outdoors quite an experience.

Audeze Headphones suffer major theft

Sadly, Audeze, makers of what some consider the best headphones in the world, were victims of a major theft this week, with almost $250,000 worth of product stolen from their factory.  If you see an amazing deal somewhere on these, be warned, and warn others.  From their site:

“Yesterday morning we learned there was the break-in at the Audeze factory. It looks like a well-planned coordinated job. The thieves crawled under and behind the racks to defeat our security system. Our finished goods inventory is wiped out and there is damage to our property. The thieves went through some of the raw materials and boxes and we are not sure of the full extent of the damage. The Costa Mesa police department is going through the factory collecting information and they’re being very helpful.

We’re a small company and all our employees are like family. As news of the break-in spread many of our employees came to the office. A lot of them were worried about the consequences and what’s next if something of this magnitude happens to a small company like ours. Everyone was milling around the assembly line talking about how to get back on our feet. 

The new EL8s were supposed to ship and were in a separate area of the facility. Luckily this area was left untouched. In an impromptu act of solidarity, Ivan who handles our shipping started packing EL8s. Marco our assembly lead started working on organizing the space. Justin and Dave joined and started working as well. Nearly every one turned out and started working, picking up the pieces. Our sales team got in, getting the word out on social media and sending emails to our dealers. We’ve had calls from customers and friends. People are posting leads for us on Facebook and other social media. The outpouring of support is really tremendous. 

We have announced a reward for anyone helping us arrest and convict the culprits. If you find any information or leads, please contact us at support@audeze.com or the Costa Mesa Police department at, 99 Fair Dr, Costa Mesa, CA, (714) 754-5280. Meanwhile security is being beefed up at the warehouse. 

While this may be a big hit for a small company like Audeze in the short-term, we will actually grow stronger from all this. We will be back in business on Monday building headphones with the same love, care and craftsmanship. 

On behalf of the entire team at Audeze we thank you for the overwhelming support over the last few days. 

Team Audeze”

Wired article on Hot Stampers and audiophile needs

Why Audiophiles Are Paying $1,000 for This Man's Vinyl

			Why Audiophiles Are Paying $1,000 for This Man's Vin... Collectors of so-called "Hot Stamper" LPs think a thousand bucks is a bargain to hear a classic rock opus sound better than you've ever heard it befor...
			View on www.wired.com	Preview by Yahoo

PBN doing vintage tables - who knew?

Certainly not me, but I've always liked PBN's products and the prime man Peter Noerbaek's straight talk on audio  so I drop by their site occasionally just to see what's going on. Their Groovemaster tables always caught my eye, being a mix of great looks, practical use of existing technology and innovative design. So today I find another table option there, the Vintage Direct line -- a mix of the beautiful PBN wooden plinths, old Denon direct drive tables, and a choice of arm. Find out more here  I'm usually not one for vintage tables, give me a contemporary product with today's best engineering anytime but I have to admit, this table hits so many hot buttons for me. Price on request, guess it's tied to various options, but how come this design is not better known? 

Some sad goings on at Stereophile

There's been lots of internet fallout from the announcement that Sam Tellig and Wes Phillips are leaving Stereophile. In the case of ST, that's after 32 years of contributions. Hard to make too much sense of the various commentaries on this but it does appear ST was aggrieved at not receiving payments for columns in a timely fashion, a result of corporate reorganization it would appear. You can read some of the direct complaints and responses here: 

None of this makes for particularly pleasant reading but beyond the name calling from a few, it's probably worth reading  in order to learn that some regular contributors are not salaried employees but contractors, and yes, they are likely justified in being annoyed at their payments being delayed. It's hard to reconcile the allegedly short-lived delays with the departure of writers after decades, so one wonders if there is more to this, but for me S'phile remains a worthy read -- it's beautifully produced, has measurements, covers music, and costs little on subscription. And hey, it arrives on time every month, no mean feat. As usual, John Atkinson handles the flak with grace despite some provocation. Personally, I'm not going to miss one writer too much (it would be a different story for me if Mikey F or Art D were to leave) but I would miss Stereophile if it disappeared.  Still, with HP dying, and now another couple of long-term contributors going away, it's easy to see why some are wondering if the end of audio journalism as we know it is nigh.

Diggin' the TTW tables

Am running some fun gear at the moment (new integrated  tube amp from Raven Audio doing duties now, plus some great tweaks to review, stay tuned). Am on such a major vinyl kick at the moment that it's causing all sorts of renewed interest in tables. Cue then the amazing number of new videos from Canadian manufacturer TTW, whose new line of Precision tables and Avro arms offers precise VTA setting with a gauge for measurement (though quite how a dial is going to tell you anything other than where the arm is in relation to parallel, I'm not clear). Still, these are lustworthy, about the best looking tables this company has produced. I used to think the other models looked kind of industrial but the Precision line starts to look really sweet.  Main man there Larry D just seems to be on a roll. I'd love to give one a run through my system, especially with the 12" arm...check this out: