Tag: Diane and Craig Martin

Yuko Mabuchi Trio Vol. 1 Yarlung Records 45 RPM Vinyl

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“The Real Deal!” Anthony Kershaw reviews Yuko Mabuchi Trio Vol 1, 180 Gram pressing, 45RPM Diane and Craig Martin, executive producers (Randy Bellous, executive producer for CD) “Mabuchi is a jazz pianist blessed with taste, a gorgeous piano tone… superb improvisational skills and can swing. Unless we’re talking about the greats, many jazz pianists today may possess two or even three of those talents, but Mabuchi has all four. “The recording by Yarlung is an audiophile’s wet dream.” This was a very fortuitous vinyl find during a typical internet search of interesting LPs via Amazon, Discogs, eBay, you know, a basic Saturday morning record search. What’s good out there? What can I afford this weekend? … The 45 RPM mastering on this release was by Bernie Grundmann. So, the gold standard for an all-analogue LP. Japanese jazz pianist Yuko Mabuchi began playing piano at the age of 4. She was Continue Reading →

Earth & Wood: “Flawless”

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Writing about Yarlung executive producers Diane and Craig Martin‘s most recent release Earth & Wood, featuring Smoke & Mirrors percussion ensemble, page 29 of Tone Audio Issue No. 116 celebrates: Yarlung Records’ latest is not only a flawless recording, it’s incredibly engaging on a musical level as well. This is one to keep the beat going as we get into the issue! Many thanks to Tone Audio‘s maestro Jeff Dorgay and Abey Fonn from Elusive Disc for this wonderful splash. More information about Smoke & Mirrors percussion ensemble and their Yarlung Releases available on the website.

Michael Fremer writes about Earth & Wood: “Sonically Spectacular”

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A Sonically Spectacular Percussion Record Worth Repeated Plays —Michael Fremer, Tracking Angle COMPOSITIONS BY LOU HARRISON AND STEVE REICH PLUS A WORLD PREMIER CO-COMMISSIONED BY THE ENSEMBLE Recorded during the same 2011 and 2012 Zipper Hall, Los Angeles sessions that produced the remarkable percussion record “Smoke & Mirrors” (Yarlung 17255-195V), “Earth & Wood” is another sonic spectacular recorded directly to tape using a single AKG C24 stereo microphone (with Elliot Midwood mic amplification). The one-mike recording technique required “just so” placement of both it and the seven member Smoke and Mirrors Percussion Ensemble that performed the intricate pieces “without a net”. The quartet tackles on side one of the 45rpm LP Lou Harrison’s early 1940’s piece “Canticle No. 3” for ocarina (Italian for “little flute”) and percussion. Joe Beribak plays an earthen Aztec/Mayan ocarina, Derek Tywoniuk adds steel guitar to the exotic assortment of percussion instruments that include both standard Continue Reading →

“I have not ever heard, in my lifetime, a better solo violin LP…”

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Bob Levi responds to Petteri Iivonen’s vinyl release of J. S. Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D Minor AKG C-24 Stereo Tube Microphone, No mixer, direct from the microphone amplifier to the Tape Deck using the shortest possible length of custom wire. Agfa Formula 468 Tape…. One has to understand that Yarlung Records is a non-profit organization and releases its amazing productions when financially feasible. This performance was included in a CD compilation of Petteri Iivonen’s work titled Art of the Violin, Yarlung Records 05787, in 2008, to rave reviews. Being a CD with its limitations, I did not realize the overall importance of this recording. The performance was both exciting and nuanced but not what you would expect from analog’s ability to make the violin come alive in the room. Now we have the BOMB! I talked with Bob Attiyeh the other day, and he mentioned that Elliot Midwood, Partita‘s executive Continue Reading →