News doesn’t get much better than this! Elusive Disc, Inc recently announced its appointment as the exclusive distributor of the JVC XRCD product line for North America. They assumed operations in November of 2006. With the help of former JVC employee Kevin Berg, the Elusive Disc staff, has been able to restore XRCD operations in the USA to their previous levels and beyond. Always Elusive Discs’ best selling digital format by a margin of 4 to 1 they currently have 100’s of titles to choose from with more on the way. Additionally, Elusive Disc has created the Audio Wave label to release the discs. For many audiophiles the XRCD process, is still considered the gold standard of 16-bit/44kHz technology. The first wave of discs will be a series of classic jazz Blue Notes to be followed by are an ever expanding selection of classical, other jazz, and pop/rock. Alan Yoshida continues on at the helm handling the digital mastering duties. Joe Harley will be producing and selecting Blue Note titles. Not all will mirror the Music Matters LP releases, but the first four will. They are :
Horace Parlan: Speakin’ My Piece
Tina Brooks: True Blue
Sonny Clark: Cool Struttin’
Hank Mobley: Soul Station
The dedicated should also check out the audiowavemusic.com website for a Blue Note subscription where as a bonus the 25th Blue Note title is free. And be sure to look for Wayne Garcia’s full and comprehensive coverage and reviews in an upcoming TAS.
By Neil Gader
My love of music largely predates my enthusiasm for audio. I grew up Los Angeles in a house where music was constantly playing on the stereo (Altecs, if you’re interested). It ranged from my mom listening to hit Broadway musicals to my sister’s early Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Beatles, and Stones LPs, and dad’s constant companions, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. With the British Invasion, I immediately picked up a guitar and took piano lessons and have been playing ever since. Following graduation from UCLA I became a writing member of the Lehman Engel’s BMI Musical Theater Workshops in New York–working in advertising to pay the bills. I’ve co-written bunches of songs, some published, some recorded. In 1995 I co-produced an award-winning short fiction movie that did well on the international film-festival circuit. I was introduced to Harry Pearson in the early 70s by a mutual friend. At that time Harry was still working full-time for Long Island’s Newsday even as he was writing Issue 1 of TAS during his off hours. We struck up a decades-long friendship that ultimately turned into a writing gig that has proved both stimulating and rewarding. In terms of music reproduction, I find myself listening more than ever for the “little” things. Low-level resolving power, dynamic gradients, shadings, timbral color and contrasts. Listening to a lot of vocals and solo piano has always helped me recalibrate and nail down what I’m hearing. Tonal neutrality and presence are important to me but small deviations are not disqualifying. But I am quite sensitive to treble over-reach, and find dry, hyper-detailed systems intriguing but inauthentic compared with the concert-going experience. For me, true musicality conveys the cozy warmth of a room with a fireplace not the icy cold of an igloo. Currently I split my time between Santa Fe, New Mexico and Studio City, California with my wife Judi Dickerson, an acting, voice, and dialect coach, along with border collies Ivy and Alfie.
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