Tag: Review

Andrew Quint and “Takács Assad Labro” in “The Absolute Sound”

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Andy gives Takacs Assad Labro Five Stars for Sonics and for MusicJ and Helen Schlichting, executive producers “Yarlung Records hits the trifecta–engaging unfamiliar music, committed performances and spectacular sound.” This release Yarlung Records hits the trifecta—engaging unfamiliar music, committed performances, and spectacular sound.  Clarice Assad is a Brazilian-American composer/pianist, who moves effortlessly between classical, jazz, and popular idioms.  She accompanies her own scat singing on two selections (Luminous and Milton Nacimento’s Cravo e Canela) while Constellation for violin and piano features a touchingly songful slow movement.  Completely different is the slashing, angular Clash for bandoneón and string quartet.  Bryce Dessner’s quasi-minimalistic Circles is scored for the same forces, and Julien Labro, the album’s featured bandoneón virtuoso, contributes Meditation No. 1, an eight-minute reverie for this instrumental grouping as well.  Kaija Saariaho’s Nocturne, for solo violin, fits the program’s aura of anxious melancholia. The Takács Quartet is approaching their semicentennial, and Continue Reading →

Takács Assad Labro reviewed in “The Whole Note”

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“…a brilliant, wide-ranging and colourful disc”J and Helen Schlichting, executive producers The Takács Quartet was formed almost 50 years ago in 1975 in Hungary. Now based in the United States, original member András Fejér (cello) is joined by Edward Dusinberre and Harumi Rhodes (violins) and Richard O’Neill (viola). World-renowned for their performances of traditional mainstream string quartet repertoire and some contemporary works, here they expand outside the classical realm with guests Julien Labro (bandoneon/composition) and Clarice Assad (piano/vocals/composition). The seven compositions jump around stylistically yet still connect. Circles by Bryce Dessner begins with Labro’s calming bandoneon changing to fast florid virtuosic lines supported by contrasting strings with detached ascending/descending lines and rhythmic shots. Labro composed Meditation No.1 during the pandemic. The lyrical bandoneon plays held notes above string lines, tight conversations with strings, bellows shakes and tango stylings referencing Labro’s respect for Piazzolla and Saluzzi. Multi-talented Clarice Assad is represented Continue Reading →

Ron Schepper reviews Takács Assad Labro

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“…can’t help but be compelling, and Takács Assad Labro is assuredly that.  “ J and Helen Schlichting, executive producers An interesting backstory accompanies this collaboration between pianist-composer Clarice Assad, Takács Quartet, and bandoneónist Julien Labro. In truth it was Assad who jumpstarted the project when she contacted the powers-that-be at Yarlung about it. As a piece she’d created for Labro and the string quartet was already being performed by them, she thought a wonderful recording could accrue from an album featuring it, pieces by Labro and Bryce Dessner, and another Assad was developing for violin and piano. Once the label signed on, steps were taken to secure Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa as the recording site and reserve dates in April 2023 for the sessions. The resultant release augments single pieces by Dessner and Labro and three by Assad with treatments of material by Milton Nascimento and Kaija Saariaho. Continue Reading →

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 →

Karina Karina Cannelakis conducts Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra on Pentatone

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Bartok’s “Concerto for Orchestra” has long been one of my favorite symphonic compositions. I like the music, the story behind the commission, and the many extraordinary recordings available of this remarkable work. Live performances that stick happily in my memory include several with Esa-Pekka Salonen and one conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, all with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Walt Disney Concert Hall. This is an ensemble that prides itself in extraordinary performances of new music. The unique sound of LA Phil strings may have something to do with this well-deserved reputation. I have a personal confession to make. Before Yarlung Records was born, we used to gather with friends to listen to multiple recordings of the same work over long multi-course dinners and sometimes with exotic speakers or amplifiers to share with our friends. We haven’t had time to do this since and I miss these evenings. They enabled us Continue Reading →

Symmetria Pario: Creation “My immediate reaction was to stand and cheer”

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When you take contemporary compositions from nine different composers (six of which were commissioned for your recital), and you add the brilliant artistry of Pekka Kuusisto and Joonas Ahonen, and you record it in a world class, acoustically magnificent music hall using some of the best microphones and recording equipment available, and you then mix it all together with the musical sensibilities of recording engineer and producer Bob Attiyeh… YOU GET MAGIC! After listening through this album for the first time, my immediate reaction was to stand and cheer.  Bob Attiyeh had told me that he thought this might be the best sounding recording Yarlung has yet released. I thought to myself, “Naw…, this is just your most recent child and you love it because of that.” But no. Bob is right. Sonically, this album is a masterpiece. Musically it is equally compelling.  Executive producer Russell Ward generously underwrote six Continue Reading →

Suryodaya: “Magnificent Violin and Tabla interplay”

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In Suryodaya, the late Badal Roy made a triumphant return with his signature Indian drums, having played with legends like Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman. This audiophile recording, made in the iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, also features the incomparable Robert Gupta, who demonstrates his mastery of the Nathan Milstein Stradivarius violin from 1716…. Not only is Robert Gupta the youngest member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, but he is also a Senior TED fellow; the executive director of Street Symphony (which brings music to homeless mentally ill people); and the real-life violin teacher of Nathaniel Ayers, whose story was sensitively portrayed in the major motion picture The Soloist. Suryodaya takes us on a journey through time and across continents, from the opening Indian raga for violin in tabla (Raga Jaunpuri), to Medieval Europe with Biber’s famous Passacaglia, and to John Harbison’s Four Songs of Solitude and the Pereira suite Continue Reading →

“The more I listen to this album, the more I enjoy it. It becomes addictive.” Aditya Prakash: Karnatik Roots

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When Bob Attiyeh of Yarlung Records announces a new release, I come running. And I am never disappointed. The artists, the music and the performances are always a treat that I find myself wanting to hear again and again. I don’t know how Bob does this with such consistency over the many years I’ve listened to his recordings. He and his network of music appreciating supporters are just a marvel of artist discovery. And, as good as the performers and music always are in these Yarlung releases, it is the exceptional sound quality of the recordings that brings me back. The sound quality is always at the top of the world. Bob’s commitment to making fully natural acoustic recordings, using the best equipment and a minimal numbers microphones, in venues with beautiful acoustics, like the wonderful Samueli Theater at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa where this music Continue Reading →

Jacob Heilbrunn writes about “Absolutely Astounding New LPs From Yarlung Records”

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–Jacob Heilbrunn Tracking Angle VIOLINIST PETTER IIVONEN AND MEZZO-SOPRANO SASHA COOKE EACH DELIVER MESMERIZING PERFORMANCES Everything about Yarlung Records’ new album featuring the violinist Petteri Iivonen, the concertmaster of the Paris Opera, screams retro. The cover, a closeup photo of Iivonen, is in black-and-white, the violin is a 1767 Ferdinandus Gagliano, and the performance itself was recorded with an AKG-C-24 microphone with the original brass surround CK12 tube. But the LP itself could not sound more contemporary—deathly quiet, transparent and lucid. My 45rpm pressing had nary a tick or pop when I played it on my TechDAS Air Force Zero turntable. All the virtues of digital without any of its nasty artifacts, in other words, are present. The result is a humdinger of a recording of Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D minor. Bach wrote the Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin in 1720, when he was thirty-five-years-old and court 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.