ORG Music Reissue of Shirley Horn's Softly at Positive Feedback

My latest review for Positive Feedback, the ORG reissue of the 1988 Shirley Horn album Softly, is now live. You can read it here.

The ORG Reissue of Dave Brubeck's Time In Now Live at Positive Feedback

My latest music review for Positive Feedback, the ORG Music reissue of Dave Brubeck's 1966 classic Time In, is now live. You can read it here.

Sunny War's With the Sun Now Live at Positive Feedback

My review of Sunny War's extraordinary new LP on ORG, With the Sun, is now live at Positive Feedback. You can read it here. Enjoy!

Tom Hook's 62 Now Live at Positive Feedback

My review of Tom Hook's 62, an exceptionally fun and lively jazz revue, is now live at Positive Feedback. You can read it here.

The Fred Hersch Trio's Live in Europe at Positive Feedback Online

My review of the Fred Hersch Trio's Live in Europe is now available at Positive Feedback Online. You can read it here. Enjoy!

The B3B4 Organ Jazz Quartet

My latest review for Positive Feedback Online is now live. This one is on the B3B4 Organ Jazz Quartet, a great new release featuring one of my favorite instruments, the Hammond B-3!

You can enjoy it here.

Takaaki's New Kid in Town Now Live at Positive Feedback

My review of Takaaki's New Kid in Town is now live at Positive Feedback. If you're a fan of the original Three Blind Mice recordings from the '70s, you'll dig this! You can read it here.

Michael Rabinowitz' Uncharted Water on CD Now at Positive Feedback Online

My review of Michael Rabinowitz' Uncharted Waters is now up at Positive Feedback Online. If you've never heard a jazz quartet led by a bassoon, it's quite good. You can read it here.

Tinariwen's Elwan on LP

My review of the incredible new album from Mali supergroup Tinariwen, Elwan, is now live at Positive Feedback Online. You can read it here.

The Avalanches' Wildflower--Review Now Live at Positive Feedback Online

My review of The Avalanches' exciting new album Wildflower is now live at Positive Feedback Online. In fact, I'm listening to this album while I'm typing this. It's been playing on my turntable constantly since I bought it two days ago!

You can read the review here.

Jane Ira Bloom's Early Americans--Review Now Online at Positive Feedback Online

My latest review for Positive Feedback Online is now online. This time it's Jane Ira Bloom's stunning new jazz CD, Early Americans. You can read it here. Enjoy!

Ingvild Koksvik's Og sangen kom fra havet--Review in Positive Feedback

My review of Ingvild Koksvik's Og sangen kom fra havet on LP is now online at Positive Feedback Online. Ingvild's album is simply astonishing for its sheer beauty and its amazing recording quality, not to mention another pristine Fyrlyd LP pressing. Enjoy!

Todd Hunter Trio's Eat, Drink, Play Review at Positive Feedback Onilne

Positive Feedback Online has just published my latest music review on the Todd Hunter Trio's Eat, Drink, Play. Great timing, because I just packed the CD into my suitcase to play at the Newport Show next week!

You can read the review here.

The 3.5.& Ensemble's Amongst the Smokestacks and Steeples LP at Positive Feedback Online

My latest music review for Positive Feedback Online is now up on their website. This one is from The 3.5.7 Ensemble's new double LP release, Amongst the Smokestacks and Steeples, an amazing and comprehensive contemporary jazz work that's quite fascinating.

You can read it here. Enjoy!

New Review of Janet Feder's New LP, T H I S C L O S E, at Positive Feedback Online

My review of Janet Feder's new LP, T H I S C L O S E, is now up at Positive Feedback Online. I haven't written for the good folks at PFO for quite some time, and David Robinson was gracious enough to get this review up the day after I wrote it! I have some more LP reviews coming up, so hopefully it won't be as long until my next PFO article appears.

You can read it here. Enjoy!

A New Review of the Trenner & Friedl ART Loudspeaker

Positive Feedback, a high-end audio publication that occasionally publishes my articles, made me smile today by reprinting a wonderful review of the Trenner & Friedl ART monitors by Marek Dyba. I usually praise these speakers to the skies without concern for conflict of interest--they are the loudspeakers I've used in my own personal system for several years, and I'll gladly recommend them to anyone who wants a high-performance premium two-way monitor that offers a huge sound from a little box. Plus, they are absolutely beautiful--they are built by hand in Austria using the finest materials and exemplary craftsmanship. I am proud to own these.

I guess I'm excited about this review because the ARTs haven't had many reviews...other than mine, of course. It blows my mind that everyone isn't familiar with the ARTs and what they can do. Over the last few years, I've met a handful of fellow ART owners within the US, and we tend to act like one of those guys who discover a great band in a small club, conflicted and hesitant to spread the word because we don't want everyone to come along and make them popular, making us feel less special. Actually, we should be doing the opposite--telling every audiophile we know that they need to sit down and audition a pair before they die.

In Texas, I hosted a few audiophiles at my house--audiophiles who just wanted to hear the ARTs. At least one of those audiophiles wound up buying a pair, and another keeps telling me he's saving up. So this review is most welcome--not because audio journalism can make or break a product as much in 2015 as in 2005, but because this speaker deserves the buzz.

You can view the review right here.

My Review of the Audio Intelligent Solutions' Premium One-Step Formula No. 6 Now Online at Positive Feedback!

I was quietly and patiently waiting for my review of the Audio Intelligent Vinyl Solutions' Premium One-Step Formula No. 6 to appear in the latest issue of Positive Feedback Online, and had no idea that it's been out for a while--just under the "Audio Discourse" section instead of the review section! You can read it here.

Enjoy!

The "Women in Audio" Debate Continues

The debate has been heating up over the last few days.

The day after my article on women in audio was published on the Part-Time Audiophile website, Kirsten Brodbeck-Kenney's piece appeared on the same website. Her article, "No Girls Allowed: Why I Hate 'Wife Acceptance Factor," made a much bigger splash than mine did--probably because she's a woman and that's the point, we want to hear from women on this issue and second, her piece is just brilliant. I went to bed that night and had a weird dream, a dream like none other I've ever had, where I had written and directed a Broadway play (I'm not not a big fan of the theater), and when I stepped out on the stage to thank the audience the lights had already come on, the microphone had been turned off and most of the audience had already left.

I don't know, there might have been a connection. (Oh, and for some strange reason the dream morphed and revealed a new aspect of my play--that I had quietly been on stage the whole time playing a homeless man swaddled in blankets and sleeping on the sidewalk. W. T. F.)

Anyway, a couple of days later Scot Hull, chief bottle washer at Part-Time Audiophile, also published a piece by Cookie Marenco, owner and founder of the awesome label Blue Coast Records. Her piece, "Of WAF and Wimps," is yet another brilliant piece on women in audio, written by a woman. While I'm suddenly feeling a little self-conscious about my article--I'm just another guy writing about what women supposedly think about something--I do feel proud to be a part of something that's gaining momentum.

I've seen a few other men chime in with their thoughts on the subject, even re-hashing old articles they've written on WAF in the past. But let's face it...who cares what the men think? It doesn't matter. The "wimmens," as Kirsten likes to say with her tongue in her cheek, know the answers to all these questions from male audiophiles, and the men simply aren't interested in shutting up and listening. On the original forum discussion that prompted Kirsten and me to write our articles, one man keeps asking for other women to chime in on the subject...women other than Kirsten, of course. It's as if he's saying that he needs a consensus of women to tell him he's part of the problem--one single intelligent and thoughtful woman won't do. In other words, we still have a long way to go.

And to the man who keeps asking me what Colleen thinks about all this, well, Colleen and I wrote an article some time ago for Positive Feedback Online called "He Said, She Said: Pink Turntables on Parade." We often think about writing a follow-up or turning it into a series, but we haven't been able to think of more subjects. Now, thanks to all this renewed interest in women in audio, maybe we will.

But for now I'll take my own advice and stay out of the discussion. Like the old saying goes, we have two ears and only one mouth for a reason.

New Review of the SOTA RCM Record Cleaning Machine on Positive Feedback

It's been a while since I've done an equipment review, but Positive Feedback just published my thoughts on the awesome SOTA RCM record cleaning machine. You can read it here.

Enjoy!

Positive Feedback Exchange Now Online!

High-end audio trading posts have been around for quite a while, but many audiophiles have been complaining about their experiences on such sites as eBay, Audiogon and others. Over the years I've bought and sold on these sites and have usually been satisfied with their services, but others haven't been so lucky. For instance, eBay has regulated shipping and handling costs to the point where most sellers actually lose money completing a transaction. Audiogon, on the other hand, has gone through so many changes and revisions in recent years that many buyers and sellers are turned off.

So what makes the new classified service from the folks at Positive Feedback Online so special? Well, first of all it's run by true audiophiles, audio industry reviewers and one of the most trustworthy online audio publications in the world. These people are in it for the love of audio. I know, I know--it sounds like a line. But I've been associated with PFO for some time, and I have to say that these people have integrity, an increasingly rare commodity in the hi-fi community. For example, check out the site and you'll notice the high quality of the offerings. I just checked it a few minutes ago, and they're featuring such outstanding products as a pair of Magico Q7 louspeakers--my pick for the finest speakers on earth--for about $60K off the retail price. In addition, you get an outstanding forum where you can discuss audio with some of the most knowledgeable and friendly folks in the biz.

I always get nervous selling gear on some of these sites--spammers run rampant and I've spotted some real shenanigans in the past (like the guy who wanted to sell me a pair of new, in-the-box Quad ESLs for an amazingly low price because he bought them for a disco in the Far East--yeah, right). The PFO site is new, unsullied by hucksters and run by some of the kindest and straightforward audiophiles I know.

If you don't believe me, check out the site at https://exchange.positive-feedback.com/ and let me know what you think. I have a beautiful Rega P3-24 that I've needed to sell for quite a while, but I've been procrastinating because I dislike dealing with some of the other sites. I'm going to give the PF Exchange a try and I'll give everyone my impressions of it.