Category: News

Press Releases and News from Yarlung Records.

Don Saltzman writes about “Lifeline: Music of the Underground Railroad” in The Absolute Sound

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Yarlung takes that bold step beyond reissuing older recordings: they make new recordings of interesting music with outstanding musicians.  They are to be applauded for the effort alone.  I have been to a few of their recording sessions and can report that along with the quality of the performance, they take recording and sound quality as their highest priorities.  Many of their recordings are available on vinyl and CD, while all of them are available as high-resolution digital downloads.  I downloaded many of their recordings to my computer, but for now I listened primarily to a new recording… called Lifeline.  Lifeline is a collection of beautiful spirituals recorded by Yarlung at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa, California.  The songs are performed by the Lifeline Quartet and feature spirituals from the Civil War era and earlier.  The singers are spectacular; in particular, the power and range of Michelle Mayne-Graves will give Continue Reading →

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Paul Seydor reviews Sasha Cooke’s “If You Love For Beauty” in “The Absolute Sound”

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If You Love for Beauty.  Sasha Cooke. Colburn Orchestra, Gilad. Yarlung (LP). “Every once in a while, there come along singers who have a quality of singing so beautifully, and touchingly, that it kind of makes you cry, just the sound of their voice,” observed Michael Tilson Thomas.  “I think Sasha Cooke is one of those people.”  He’s right, so it’s curious Cooke isn’t better known after performing with many of the leading opera companies, symphony orchestras, and conductors; winning two Grammies; and boasting repertoire from the baroque to contemporary avant-garde.  Recorded in analog with minimal miking, Cooke’s debut album has been available on CD since 2012, but Yarlung has now released it on vinyl.  Cooke’s ravishing voice is complemented by her sensitivity and imagination, apparent in the depth of feeling and lyricism she imparts to Mahler’s Rückert–Lieder. Also on the program are two Handel arias, including a powerful performance Continue Reading →

Yuko Mabuchi

City of Los Angeles honors “Yuko Mabuchi plays Miles Davis”

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The City of Los Angeles presented Yuko Mabuchi with commendation for her 2019 release Yuko Mabuchi plays Miles Davis, an album she recorded in the Brain and Creativity Institute’s Cammilleri Hall with JJ Kirkpatrick, trumpet; Del Atkins, bass and Bobby Breton on drums.  Tellingly, Albert Edmund Lord III presented this appreciation from the City of Los Angeles at the Catalina Jazz Club gala event supporting SAPPA, the after-school music education program in Watts where Yuko volunteers part of her time as the orchestra pianist and accompanist.  As Mr. Lord explained, Los Angeles appreciates Yuko’s interest in serving the community as much as it appreciates her meteoric abilities as a concert performer and recording artist.  The text of the commendation reads: Congratulations on the release of your album “Yuko Mabuchi plays Miles Davis”.  Your passion and mission to ensure that influential and significant music and artists continue to live on in Continue Reading →

Writing for “The Ear” in the UK, Jason Kennedy gives “Yuko Mabuchi plays Miles Davis” Five Stars, and “Hot Pick”

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It’s unusual to find a pianist creating a tribute to jazz’s most successful trumpeter but you have to give Mabuchi her due; she does a fine job.  Davis tunes are famous because of the way he played them, so an interpretation might be jarring but it’s the emphasis on the keyboard that makes this work.  That and the excellent quality of the live recording, which is dynamic, spacious and natural enough to put you in the moment, then the applause comes and the scale of the venue is fully revealed.  Available on tape, PCM and DSD this could become a hi-fi classic.  –Jason Kennedy Please click here to see the entire page

Yuko Mabuchi Trio & Branford Marsalis Quartet in Orange County

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Yuko Mabuchi Trio and Branford Marsalis Quartet ushered in the New Year in Orange County with great jazz.  Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa produces one of the most important jazz series in the country.  I drove up from my home near San Diego to attend the Yuko Mabuchi Trio/Branford Marsalis Quartet performances on January 25th in the 1800 seat Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.  I’ve been attending concerts for many years in North America, Europe and Asia and this performance will remain among my greatest memories of live jazz.  Segerstrom Center uses two concert halls for its jazz series.  The more intimate 300-seat Samueli Theater hosts most of the musicians on the jazz series, which recently included Cecile McLorin Salvant, Kurt Elling and The Kenny Barron Quintet.  But for Ahmad Jamal last year and the recent Yuko Mabuchi Trio/Branford Marsalis Quartet performances, Segerstrom needed the large Continue Reading →

Organ virtuoso Richard Unfried[¹] reviews Jung-A Lee’s Private Organ Recital

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Organ virtuoso Richard Unfried[¹] reviews Jung-A Lee’s Private Organ Recital in Walt Disney Concert Hall. For the concert or recording organist, the bench of the Glatter Götz/Rosales pipe organ’s stage console in the Walt Disney Concert Hall must be, like its theme park namesake, “The Happiest Place on Earth.” It is hard to imagine a finer instrument, and it inspires more than one’s best performance from all who play it. Jung-A Lee is no stranger to this organ, having released her first recording on it (Amazing Grace) in 2015. She is also seasoned in the art of conquering larger pipe organs through her extensive concertizing around the globe. The recording session for A Private Organ Recital was attended by fifteen lucky people including the executive producer and underwriter, his select guests, and the recording technicians. While some of the twelve tracks on the CD are take one, Jung-A asserts that Continue Reading →

Jason Serinus reviews Antonio Lysy’s South America

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Jason Serinus reviews Antonio Lysy’s South America in the April 2018 edition of Stereophile. One unifying factor is the Boulanger-trained Argentinean composer Piazzolla, whose infrequently performed Resurrección del ángel (Resurrection of the Angel), surfaces in an arrangement for four cellos by Emilio Colón. The work is heard in an ingenuous multi-track version on which, thanks to Arian Jansen’s all-analog Sonorus Holographic Imaging technology (SHI), Lysy plays all the parts. Please view Jason’s full article.

Scott Yanow appreciates Yuko Mabuchi Trio in LA Jazz Scene, April 2018

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A young pianist who was born and raised in Japan and recently moved to the Los Angeles area, Yuko Mabuchi had extensive training in classical music. However she loved the music of Herbie Hancock and Oscar Peterson and listened to all types of music while growing up, choosing to play jazz instead of classical. Her recent CD for the Yarlung label has her accompanied by bassist Del Atkins and drummer Bobby Breton and is her finest recording so far. The wide-ranging but swinging set features the pianist stretching out on “What Is This Thing Called Love,” “On Green Dolphin Street,” “St. Thomas” and a medley of “All The Things You Are,” “Take The ‘A’ Train” and Satin Doll.” In addition, the pianist performs the classical-oriented “Valse Noire,” the funky “Seriously” her tender “Sona’s Song,” and a “Japanese Medley” comprised of three songs. Yuko Mabuchi occasionally lets loose with stunning runs, showing Continue Reading →

Newsletter: July 7, 2018

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Dear Friends, Music for the heat wave! Here is our first video from Yuko Mabuchi Trio and JJ Kirkpatrick performing So What by Miles Davis. Enjoy! This is part of our next Yuko Mabuchi album from The Brain and Creativity Institute’s Cammilleri Hall, not yet released. Contact MM Music Agency for Yuko Mabuchi booking info. Yuko’s first Yarlung release on LP, CD, DSD and HD Tracks continues to thrill, reviews and articles here. Yuko Mabuchi Trio Analog tape available by special order. Special thanks to executive producers Randy Bellous for both Yuko CDs, Craig & Diane Martin for the LP, and Claude Cellier and Merging Technologies in Switzerland for our DSD release. Kudos to master organist Jung-A Lee for her spectacular playing in Walt Disney Concert Hall for Yarlung’s first organ recording last month, underwritten by Jim Mulally in honor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s new CEO, Simon Woods. We are selecting images and writing text for the CD booklet now. Our friend George Klissarov underwrote the new DSD release of Ciaramella Dances, and provided a special discount through July 14th to celebrate the release of two new DACs from Continue Reading →

Yuko Mabuchi Trio helps celebrate Bob Levi’s 70th Birthday

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Happy Birthday Bob Levi! Robert H. Levi, President and CEO of the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society, has done everything he can to encourage audiophile enthusiasts around the world.  This whipping up of enthusiasm results in tremendous support for musicians, labels and equipment manufacturers.  Yuko and our executive producers Craig and Diane Martin wanted to dedicate the new Yuko Mabuchi Trio vinyl pressing to the Audio Society’s 25th Anniversary, and to Bob Levi in honor of his 70th Birthday. Not a week passed, from concept to delivery, when Maestro Levi didn’t call me asking for updates, enthusing in advance, and generally saying thank you.  Fortunately, Bob liked the album when I sent him the first copy the other day.  He arranged a listening party the next morning with two critic friends, played the CD first, and then the sparkling new LP.  Michael Wechsberg and Richard Revell were Bob’s Continue Reading →