The latest news from Yarlung Records
Writing in The Absolute Sound, Rick Brown reviewed Yuko Mabuchi Trio’s January 25th performance at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Yuko opened for the great Branford Marsalis Quartet, and the two ensembles had no problem filling the 1,800 seat Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. As Brown concludes “Mabuchi and her trio are primed to take their music to the next level.” Please visit the article in The Absolute Sound.
Eddie Carter reviews Yuko Mabuchi Trio, Vol 1 for Jazztracks, December 2018 On the stage, a beautiful young woman sits at a baby grand piano unleashing an aggressive flood of sound into the audience. Behind her are two elegantly dressed gentlemen on bass and drums, who match her creativity, precise timing, and articulation with their own musical artistry note-for-note. Her name is Yuko Mabuchi, her bandmates are Del Atkins on bass and Bobby Breton on drums. Their 2018 release, Yuko Mabuchi Trio, Volume 1 (Yarlung Records YAR88157-161V) was recorded live at The Brain and Creativity Institute’s Cammilleri Hall in Los Angeles, California on March 31, 2017. The performance was in honor of the 25th Anniversary of The Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society, and their President, Bob Levi who was celebrating his 70th Birthday as well. I know Bob from his years as a member of The Atlanta Audio Continue Reading →
Yuko Mabuchi Trio performed for the 25th Anniversary gala and awards ceremony for the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society on December 2nd, 2018. Michael Fremer won the Founder’s Award and a similar recognition from Los Angeles, Ray Kimber won the President’s Award, Don Was earned the society’s first Audiophile of the Year Award and the City of Los Angeles recognized Yarlung Records and Yarlung Artists for the important work our board, executive producers, volunteers and staff do for musicians and composers around the world. Albert Edmund Lord III presented this award to the Yarlung team for Mr. Herb J. Wesson Jr., president of the Los Angeles City Council. Gratefully receiving the award on behalf of the Yarlung family that makes this work possible, including Yarlung musicians, composers, board members, donors and executive producers were Yuko Mabuchi, Special Advisor Billy Mitchell, Yarlung board president Aaron Egigian and executive director Continue Reading →
Every year, PFO gives a few cherished Writer’s Awards for albums, audio equipment or presentations that particularly move PFO’s senior staff. This year, Brian Moura selected Yuko Mabuchi Trio’s NativeDSD release executive produced by Claude Cellier at Merging Technologies to receive one of these coveted prizes. Engineers Arian Jansen and Bob Attiyeh recorded stereo and our friend Tom Caulfield recorded surround sound. Many thanks to Brian Moura for his award description: Yuko Mabuchi Trio (Yarlung YAR80161DSD) In 2014 one of my Writer’s Choice Awards went to Bob Attiyeh for his contribution to the recording arts and giving new artists a state-of-the-art platform to launch their careers. It seems fitting that in 2018 I return to Bob’s stellar work at Yarlung for another award. The Yuko Mabuchi Trio features talented pianist Yuko Mabuchi along with jazz veterans Bobby Breton on drums and Del Atkins on bass. In their self-titled debut album Continue Reading →
Myles Astor from Audio Nirvana gives the analog tape album Nostos Tes Mousikes his prestigious PFO Writer’s Award! 15-ips reel-to-reel Tape (new) of Nostos, Tes Mousikes (The Homecoming of Music), Cal. State Fullerton Singers, Robert Istad (music director), Yarlung Records $500 (three reels) Undertaking a choral recording is no easy task. For instance, the hall’s acoustics can make or break the recording not to mention having to carefully balance the direct vs. reflected sound. With that in mind Bob Attiyeh (of Yarlung Records) set out to find just the right venue to record Nostos, and in the end chose the recently finished Valley Performing Arts Center at Cal. State Northridge. (Nostos was also the premiere recording at this new hall.) Fans of the old Decca/Argo choral recording will love this new Yarlung recording. Nostos features the likes of Howell’s Requiem, Brahms’ Schaffe in mir, Gott, ein rein Herz (Psalm 51), Martynov’s Zapovedi Continue Reading →
Music critic Neville Roberts from the UK writing for “Reel to Reel Rambler” discusses Yarlung’s important mission, “Jung-A Lee,” “Yuko Mabuchi Trio” and “Dialoghi.” Yarlung Records isn’t just about producing top quality audio recordings, it’s equally focused on supporting its growing list of young musicians. …profits from the sale of the recordings, plus donations from supporters and recording underwriters, are re-invested in supporting emerging young musicians. The 501(c)(3) tax-exempt arm of the organization, Yarlung Artists, raises money to support these young musicians as they begin their performance careers. The company’s board of directors, executive producers and special advisers help Yarlung to record, market and distribute debut albums for selected young concert artists to help them gain stature and visibility with their audiences, critics and peers. Bob notes on his website that artists like Yo Yo Ma and Martha Argerich gained worldwide acclaim through the sale of CDs, LPs and downloads, Continue Reading →
Yuko Mabuchi Trio: Some Standards and some nice surprises On this album, Yuko Mabuchi is joined by Del Atkins on bass and Bobby Breton on drums to perform some jazz standards and some nice surprises. The repertoire is varied with respect to style. We get to listen to pensive songs such as Valse Noire (which is borderline melancholic), medleys, Latin Jazz and spirited tunes. This live recording starts with What Is This Thing Called Love and Yuko’s playing, along with Bobby’s drum solo, immediately engages the audience. Throughout the album, Yuko is very sensitive and lyrical in her playing and does not go for bombast unless the music demands. When it does though, like in Sona’s Song (a composition of her own), we are in for a real treat: a very intense outburst erupts, breaking a simple delicate melody. Del Atkins and Bobby Breton are supportive in their playing, with Continue Reading →
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 →
Maestro Kal Rubinson enjoys Yarlung’s first project at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, and celebrates James Matheson’s music in surround sound. “Stereophile,” March 7, 2016 [Yarlung Surround Sound engineer Tom Caulfield shared early files with me from] …a group comprising musicians of the Chicago Lyric Opera and the Chicago Symphony, for a recording of James Matheson’s String Quartet, to be released this year on Yarlung Records. The opening notes were startling—I had the disturbing but exhilarating feeling that music was actually being made in my room, not merely reproduced. The sound was no more “multichannel” than it was “stereo”—the four players seemed almost within reach, and my room seemed to expand around me…. I kept thinking, If others could only hear this, hi-rez multichannel music would take off. Page 1 of Kal’s article, and Page 2.
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.