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You are here: Home / Archives for Bill Hart

Incoming- Mrs. Henry Keep on Rising

February 23, 2025 by Bill Hart Leave a Comment

Mrs. Henry Keep on Rising   A 21st century rock opera? Recorded to tape? And mastered at Bernie Grundman’s shop? I’ve started to explore this box (3 LPs, 2 CDs and a substantial book) in more depth and plan on interviewing the producer in an upcoming piece. ... Read More

Filed Under: In Brief

Pharoah Sanders-Welcome to Love

February 23, 2025 by Bill Hart Leave a Comment

Pharoah Sanders-Welcome to Love Known for his signature multi-phonic squawk and his contributions to the foundational recordings of the spiritual jazz firmament, this record is a departure from all that; it’s a bluesy, late-night excursion into a raft of standards that will make you wish you could hear more. Taken from several sessions recorded in France in the summer of 1990, the recording first appeared on LP recently. My copy, from Light in the Attic, claims that it is the first time the record has been released on vinyl. A quick search reveals that Timeless released a CD in 1991 and... Read More

Filed Under: Records

Know What I Mean? Adderley, Evans, et.al. Shoot-Out

February 23, 2025 by Bill Hart Leave a Comment

Know What I Mean? Adderley, Evans, et.al. Shoot-Out   This album, featuring Cannonball Adderley and Bill Evans, is considered one of the best older jazz records available, both musically and sonically. I am not going to delve into the history or importance of the album since it has received considerable attention from the date of its release in 1962. Instead, we will devote time to comparing three accessible copies: OJC-1984 Side 1 First up, the common OJC from the mid-‘80s. I used to be able to find records in this series new for less than ten bucks at places like Tower; these were... Read More

Filed Under: Features

Beer Budget Digital for Analog Buffs

February 23, 2025 by Bill Hart 1 Comment

Beer Budget Digital for Analog Buffs  I finally broke down several years ago and added some digital “front-end” components to my main system. I’ve never invested heavily in digital gear given that my mainstay format has long been LP. I’ve been buying vinyl records for almost 60 years- and have barely scratched the surface. If all production of the LP stopped tomorrow, I’d still have access to millions of existing records in circulation. But I first learned the value of digital in the archival world, where I heard ancient recordings brought back to life. And for both work and... Read More

Filed Under: Features

Pharoah Sanders-Black Unity

August 13, 2024 by Bill Hart Leave a Comment

Pharoah Sanders -Black Unity That a vinyl LP is essentially one long, continuous groove is probably nowhere more evident than listening to Pharoah Sanders’ Black Unity. This album was recorded and released during the peak of his creative power with a cast of ensemble players that are notable for their work in the avant-garde/free jazz space. There’s a whole lotta music packed into these grooves and trying to make sense of this album is not to listen in studied fashion—better to absorb it as a whole than to concentrate on its parts or look for some over-arching theme. The music is... Read More

Filed Under: Features

Power to the People-Back Up Generator

June 24, 2024 by Bill Hart Leave a Comment

    Shortly after the Texas “big freeze” in February 2021, I contacted various vendors of back up generators. Some did not bother to respond, a few came out, ostensibly to give me a quote and I never heard from them again. One vendor did send me a blank form with a very high total price, without completing the cost analysis for running gas lines, electrical wiring and the other things that are “adds” to the cost of the generator itself.  I kicked this around for a while– given the heat in Central Texas during the summer–110F for days on end, we got... Read More

Filed Under: In Brief

Incoming-Know what I mean?

June 24, 2024 by Bill Hart Leave a Comment

Cannonball Adderley’s “Know what I mean? is a warhorse, to be sure,but one that deserves its reputation. I was prompted to explore a few different pressings as a result of a thread on the Hoffman forum: https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/do-you-have-cannonball-adderley-bill-evans-know-what-i-mean-the-best-sounding-vintage-jazz-lp.1175660/  I used to shop these OJCs as bargains back in the day when Tower Records was thriving. They were a solid entry point into some very good sounding jazz–some of it “straight ahead” but well made, taken from analog masters... Read More

Filed Under: In Brief

Muriel Grossmann- Devotion

June 24, 2024 by Bill Hart Leave a Comment

Muriel Grossmann Devotion I’m a fan of Muriel Grossmann, though I have yet to meet her. She lives and works in Ibiza, which sounds like a constant party, but this woman is always working, striving, and challenging herself. Her newest release is another notch in her ascent as an important artist committed to modern spiritual jazz. The album, pressed at Third Man Records (nice clean, well-made wax), played flawlessly. This is the first album with Abel Boquera on Hammond B3. Side I “Absolute Truth”— takes the entirety of side one, some spacy sounds which are soon joined by a regular... Read More

Filed Under: Features

We’re Back!

March 25, 2024 by Bill Hart Leave a Comment

We’re Back! Some fresh content for your consideration. Neil Antin did some modest updates to his seminal book on Precision Aqueous Cleaning of Vinyl Records. Neil did not regard these changes as a “new version” so the download is now 3.1 with a “Record of Changes” at the end. I’ve talked to Peter Ulrich, the drummer from Dead Can Dance a few times over the years because I was fascinated by the group. They hit it big in audiophile circles with “Into the Labyrinth” which became a “demo” record with the MoFi release. I got that, but also sought out an original 4AD pressing,... Read More

Filed Under: In Brief

KING CURTIS Live at Fillmore West

March 25, 2024 by Bill Hart Leave a Comment

KING CURTIS Live at Fillmore West King Curtis is another great jazz/soulman who died young but left a legacy. He is famous for playing jazz, rock, soul, recorded with Jimi Hendrix and backed Aretha Franklin. This appearance at the Fillmore West followed a night backing Aretha. It’s funny how some records catch your attention. I knew of King Curtis but it was a debate on Bosch Legacy– between Titus Welliver and his computer hacker accomplice “Maurice”– over which rendition of “Memphis Soul Stew” was better, that led me to buy a couple copies. The band is stellar and... Read More

Filed Under: Records

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In Brief:

Incoming- Mrs. Henry Keep on Rising

Mrs. Henry Keep on Rising   A 21st century rock opera? Recorded to tape? And mastered at Bernie Grundman’s shop? I’ve started to explore this box (3 LPs, 2 CDs and a substantial book) in more depth and plan on interviewing the producer in an upcoming piece. … [Read More...]

Power to the People-Back Up Generator

    Shortly after the Texas "big freeze" in February 2021, I contacted various vendors of back up generators. Some did not bother to respond, a few came out, ostensibly to give me a quote and I never heard from them again. One vendor did send me a blank form with a very high total price, without completing the cost analysis for running gas lines, electrical wiring and the other things that are "adds" to the cost of the generator itself.  I kicked this around for a while-- given the heat in Central Texas during the summer--110F for days on end, we got constant warnings last summer (2023) to reduce power consumption, lest we suffer rolling blackouts. And then there's the fact that Austin really isn't "built" for freezing temperatures. Black ice with no road crews, downed power lines, and demand that teeters off the edge of power failure catastrophe. I do not want to go into the power grid … [Read More...]

Incoming-Know what I mean?

Cannonball Adderley's "Know what I mean? is a warhorse, to be sure,but one that deserves its reputation. I was prompted to explore a few different pressings as a result of a thread on the Hoffman forum: https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/do-you-have-cannonball-adderley-bill-evans-know-what-i-mean-the-best-sounding-vintage-jazz-lp.1175660/  I used to shop these OJCs as bargains back in the day when Tower Records was thriving. They were a solid entry point into some very good sounding jazz--some of it "straight ahead" but well made, taken from analog masters for the most part and did I say cheap? Back in the day, these were bargain records when they were released, and until the more recent surge in prices of older LPs, could be readily found for little money.  The recent Craft reissue cut by Kevin Gray has brought renewed attention to the record. I thought it might be fun to do a … [Read More...]

We’re Back!

We’re Back! Some fresh content for your consideration. Neil Antin did some modest updates to his seminal book on Precision Aqueous Cleaning of Vinyl Records. Neil did not regard these changes as a “new version” so the download is now 3.1 with a “Record of Changes” at the end. I’ve talked to Peter Ulrich, the drummer from Dead Can Dance a few times over the years because I was fascinated by the group. They hit it big in audiophile circles with “Into the Labyrinth” which became a “demo” record with the MoFi release. I got that, but also sought out an original 4AD pressing, and as I delved into their music, bought more original copies- they were not crazy expensive at the time. When Peter told me he was doing a book on the history of his involvement with the band, I was eager to read it. It offers some great insight into a period when this band was inventing new sounds in the post-punk … [Read More...]

Drumming with Dead Can Dance: and Parallel Adventures- Peter Ulrich

  Drumming with Dead Can Dance: and Parallel Adventures Peter Ulrich   I didn’t really get on to Dead Can Dance until “Into the Labyrinth,” their most popular LP that made the audiophile rounds here in the States. 4AD, their label, wasn’t well distributed in the US when the band was first developing, it wasn’t exactly mainstream stuff here, even in the audiophile community. Yet the band had a following, starting in Australia, where Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry had a band and moved to a council flat in London where the two met our narrator, a soon to be jobless publicist for a theatrical/live show venue. Ulrich had the time, interest, musical background, and chops as a drummer to become part of their band. So we get the story of DCD from the outset of their adventures in England, playing local venues and developing a following. The scene was a sort of post-punk, … [Read More...]

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