Xrcd

Norman Granz's idea to match Zoot Sims' lyrical, swinging tenor sax with Johnny Mandel's equally arresting compositions was a masterful one. Sims' tart, alternately lush and furious solos were wonderfully spotlighted on such tunes as "Cinnamon and Cloves," "Emily" and "Zoot." The six-tune session also contains effective piano solos from Mike Wofford. The date's tour-de-force was its final selection, the wonderful "Low Life," which Sims probed, illuminated and ultimately redefined via his solo.

Jacintha is a Singaporean jazz singer/torch singer and stage actress who has been well-known in parts of the Asia-Pacific region since the '80s and has been increasing her exposure in North America since the late '90s. Jacintha has never been the type of jazz artist who goes out of her way to be abstract, difficult, or complicated; her work has been quite accessible and easy to absorb, drawing on direct or indirect influences that have included Julie London and Shirley Horn as well as Brazilian star Astrud Gilberto. Jacintha has long been fluent in English, which is widely spoken in Singapore and is one of its four official languages along with Malay, Mandarin Chinese (as opposed to Cantonese Chinese), and Tamil.

Isaac Albeniz - Suite Espanola
New Philharmonia Orchestra / Rafael Frühbeck De Burgos
EAC+LOG+CUE | WV: 174 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: First Impression Music # FIM XR24 068 | Country/Year: US 2005, 1968, XRCD24
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic

…FIM put a great deal of loving attention into this reissue, and it has paid off. Some of the original lines notes are reprinted and the front cover is a frame for a reproduction of the original LP’s cover. The music is currently available on a Decca CD coupled with Falla’s Love the Magician, and at less than half the cost of this xrcd, but sonically it doesn’t come even close. In fact, I found the xrcd to actually surpass the Cisco vinyl Super Analog Disc reissue on most counts. It is cleaner, has a more extended frequency range, and not the slightest troublesome surface noise or even hiss – the vinyl having both…