Records To Die For

Henning Sommerro: Borders
Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Nick Davies, cond., Sigmund Groven, harmonica; Roar Engelberg, pan flute; Marianne Thorsen, violin
2L 2L-173-SABD (Pure Audio Blu-ray & hybrid SACD/MQA CD; available for download as 7.1.4 48k Dolby Atmos TrueHD, 7.1.4 96k Auro-3D, 5.1 24/192 DTS:X, discrete 24/88.2 and DXD 7.1.4 immersive, and 24/192 PCM, 24/352.8 MQA and DXD stereo). 2023. Morten Lindberg, prod., balance, editing, mix, and mastering eng. TT: 48:04

As readers of my reviews will be aware, I judge stereo imaging accuracy by listening to how narrow and stable an image placed at the center of the soundstage is produced by a pair of loudspeakers. However, with classical concerto recordings, even if the image of the solo instrument is well-focused and stable, it is too often too large. The recording favors the soloist by placing him or her too far in front of the orchestra with too loud a relative balance. That is not the case with this album from Norwegian label 2L, engineered and produced by Morton Lindberg. Lindberg has been at the forefront of producing immersive recordings—see above for the surround-sound formats in which this album is available—but since surviving the quadraphonic wars in the 1970s, I exclusively enjoy my recorded music in stereo. I therefore listen to Borders, which features three 21st Century works for soloist and orchestra, as two-channel 24-bit MQA files. This is how it's done—whether it was the harmonica in Solkverv (Solstice), the pan pipes in Vårfest (Ostara), or the violin on Grenzer (Borders), each instrument was the correct size in proportion to the image of the orchestra spread behind it and to its sides and had the appropriate loudness. Two channels, yes, but musically immersive.

André Previn with Joe Pass & Ray Brown: After Hours
André Previn (Bösendorfer piano), Ray Brown (double bass), Joe Pass (guitar)
Telarc CD-83302 (CD; 16/44.1 FLAC, Tidal and Qobuz). 1989. Robert Woods, prod., Jack Renner eng., Elaine Martone, ed. TT: 65:54

I don't know how I missed this album when it was released in 1989, which has been in heavy rotation since Roon's Radio function served it up last October. My philosophy as a recording engineer was influenced by the late Jack Renner of Telarc, whom I interviewed for Hi-Fi News magazine in 1983, and who engineered both this album and André Previn's performance of Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony, which was one of my 2021 R2D4 choices. I have been a fan of Joe Pass since I saw the guitarist live in concert with Oscar Peterson in the 1970s, and bassist Ray Brown is, of course, masterful at supplying the rhythmic foundation for this drummer-less trio. The surprise for me was just how empathetically Previn plays the 11 tracks—10 standards and one original composition. He allows Pass a lot more space than I remember Peterson doing and his own soloing is a master class in how to respect the composer's intentions while inventively exploring the composition's harmonic and melodic potential.

Jimmy Buffett: A1A
MCA Records MCA-1590 (LP). 1974. Don Gant, prod.; Tommy Semmes, eng.

After traveling from Mobile to Coconut Grove early in his life to hang out with Jerry Jeff Walker, James William Buffett then wandered farther south, to Key West, where he played for drinks at the Chart Room and made friends with writers Jim Harrison and Thomas McGuane. I, a book-obsessed Alabama transplant growing up in Florida a few years later, trying to carve out an identity for myself, found that biography attractive.

I lost touch years later when his parrothead image overtook his songwriting, with a chain of restaurants and retirement communities including a resort in NYC's Times Square. But I was a fan for a long time, and I've been listening again since his death in 2023. I've been reminded how fine some of his music is.

AIA, named for the coastal highway I spent much time driving on in my younger days, often chemically impaired, was an easy and obvious choice. Sure, I can now see that several of the songs are weak, but any album containing "A Pirate Looks at 40" and "Tin Cup Chalice," with its evocation of that special feeling of salt on skin, earns it a place on any list of life-affirming records, as does the song's refrain:
I wanna go back to the island
Where the shrimp boats tie up to the pilin'
Give me oysters and beer for dinner every day of the year
And I'll feel fine, I'll feel fine.

Jimmy Buffett: Coconut Telegraph
MCA Records MCA5169 (LP). 1980. Norbert Putnam, prod.; Gene Eichelberger, Putnam, engs.

I had decided that both my selections would be Jimmy, but choosing a second Buffett album proved difficult. How could I pass over songs like "Pencil-Thin Mustache," "He Went to Paris," and "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" Viewing albums as a whole—and noting that these selections are personal and sentimental—I'm going with Coconut Telegraph, which contains, in addition to the great title track, "Growing Older but Not Up," "The Weather Is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful," and "Stars Fell on Alabama." And then there's "Island"—that special place again, the place Jimmy aches to return to, but six years after A1A, he knows there's no going back:
Island I see you in all of my dreams
Maybe someday I'll have the means to reach your distant shore.

Something tells me, though, that he's there now, sucking live oysters off the shell.

Kirsty MacColl: See That Girl 1979-2000: A Kirsty Maccoll Anthology
UMG (8 CDs). 2023. Gavin Povey, Barry Farner, Steve Lillywhite, others, prods.; Alan Douglas, Steve Chase, Chris Duckie, others, engs.

While there have been a number of compilations focused on the varied career of singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl, none are as complete or well-organized as this 161 track behemoth. With early solo tracks like "They Don't Know," a wealth of live recordings including "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis," from the '92 Glastonbury festival, and tracks from her sidewoman gigs, this is MacColl's memory done right.

The Mountain Goats: Jenny From Thebes
MRG841 (LP). 2023. Trina Shoemaker, Isaiah Page, Cade Roberts, prods.; Shoemaker, Page, Roberts, engs.

One of the least recognized creative engines in music today, John Darnielle continues to fashion great albums out of his endless well of songcraft. Bringing back a character from past song stories, Darnielle and his sturdy trio of collaborators have here made their best indie rock album since 2005's The Sunset Tree. "Only One Way" is guitar pop to perfection, and the horns on "Cleaning Crew" and "Fresh Tattoo" are a welcome new flavor. Long may he run.