“Sangam” nominated for 2022 ALBUM OF THE YEAR!

NativeDSD nominates “Sangam” as World Music Album of the Year. Many thanks to Paul Livingstone, sitar and Pete Jacobson, cello for this magnificent performance, and to Yarlung executive producer Arian Jansen for making this possible. Sangam… Confluence: Music from Inside the Heart of The Raga available in multiple formats. Check out Taos Mountain Meditations, also from Paul and Pete (thanks to executive producer Lucile Grieder) as well! Yarlung Records

Maria Tsakiri’s Yarlung article in “Yellowbox”

Yellowbox Editor in Chief Theodore Bafaloukas and Staff Reporter Maria Tsakiri reached out to me in 2020 to write an article about Yarlung and our upcoming anniversary. We communicated in English, but to read the original article in Greek, please click on the magazine cover image above. What follows is an English approximation of the topics we discussed (hyperlinks added by me after the fact). Hope you enjoy! Many thanks to the musicians, board members, volunteers and companies that make our work possible. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Yellowbox is a premium bi-monthly subscription-based Audio, Video, Home Entertainment and Music magazine published in Athens. –Bob Attiyeh, producer YARLUNG RECORDS IS A SMALL, INDEPENDENT RECORD LABEL FROM THE USA, BRAINCHILD OF A VISIONARY AND REMARKABLE MAN, WHO HAS BEEN RESPECTFULLY ADMITTING FOR 15 YEARS THAT THE HIGH QUALITY OF THE LABEL’S RECORDINGS RESULTS FROM A TRUE TEAM EFFORT. Continue Reading →

Jacob Heilbrunn, Stephen Estep and Michael Johnson wax poetic about “Korppoo Trio” in The Spectator, The Absolute Sound and Analog Planet

Executive Producer Jim Mulally’s 180 GRAM 45RPM release of Sibelius Piano Trio’s western hemisphere premiere performance of Sibelius’ Korppoo Trio excited audiophile listeners and writers around the world. Michael Leser Johnson reviews Korppoo Trio in Analog Planet, Stephen Estep writes about the release in The Absolute Sound, and Jacob Heilbrunn covers the pressing and more in The Spectator. From The Spectator: The Sibelius Piano Trio’s live concert, featuring Petteri Iivonen on violin, Juho Pohjonen on piano and Samuli Peltonen on cello, is a treat to hear. For one thing, Yarlung Records, which always goes to great lengths to ensure high recording quality, down to the microphone amplification and tape machines it employs, has produced another sonically stellar LP. The individual instruments are almost perfectly balanced and the timbral fidelity is impeccable. The pleasure that Sibelius must have had in playing with his siblings on a work that he himself had composed Continue Reading →

“Fire & Fancy,” the new LP from Sibelius Piano Trio

Michael Leser Johnson reviews Fire & Fancy in Analog Planet …Both sides of this record are a tour de force…. All the little details such as note decay, string bite, pizzicato tone, piano weight, are all here in spades. “Nene” by Diego Schicci takes the listener through four themed movements: I. Jumping on the Walls, II. Dozing on a Hanger, III. Riding a mosquito, and IV. Oozing Away. The compositional style is assuredly tonal, but with enough modern thematic elements to appear new and refreshing. The perpetual motion of the first movement; ‘Jumping on the Walls’, as well as mvmt 4 ‘Riding a Mosquito’, is masterfully played by the trio, particularly in the frantic and seemingly random string ostinato that weave in and out of the texture. On another note, I was very impressed by the depth of the recorded Steinway piano tone, which is almost always frustratingly difficult to Continue Reading →

Catching up with Bob Attiyeh in The Absolute Sound

Yarlung Records Catching Up With Bob Attiyeh Jeff Wilson Much has been made of the vinyl resurgence that began a little over a decade ago, but that was really part of something larger that had already started brewing.  Suddenly new audiophile labels were popping up that switched or added formats as tastes changed and new technology became available. When Yarlung Records released its first album in 2005, it was definitely ahead of the curve, and for a small, hands-on label, Yarlung quickly achieved an outsized presence, with both GRAMMY® nominations and awards and a large international audience.  Recently, we interviewed the Executive Director of Yarlung, Bob Attiyeh, whose passion for music and insight into the record process have served the label well.  The lockdown has thrown a curveball into the music industry, and I’m curious how it affected you. Did you stay busy, or did everything grind to a halt? Continue Reading →

Yuko Mabuchi plays Miles Davis vol 1

Yuko Mabuchi – Yuko Mabuchi Plays Miles Davis, Volume 1  By Eddie Carter  Yuko Mabuchi has been making a positive statement on the jazz scene since her 2018 releases, Yuko Mabuchi Trio, Volumes 1 and 2.  She steps into the spotlight this morning to give her second live performance at Cammilleri Hall before an enthusiastic crowd.  Yuko Mabuchi Plays Miles Davis, Volume 1 (Yarlung Records YAR45588-171V) is a single 45-rpm audiophile album offering two jewels from Kind of Blue and two original tunes by the leader.  She’s working again with trio members Del Atkins on bass and Bobby Breton on drums, plus JJ Kirkpatrick on trumpet.  JJ is a member of Sophisticated Lady Jazz Quartet and my copy used in this report is the 2020 Stereo album. Yuko sets the groove for Side One with Miles’ All Blues, her enthusiastic notes on the introduction flowing as naturally as spoken words.  Continue Reading →

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

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

Carlos Guzmán raves about Smoke & Mirrors

Mono & Stereo Senior Contributor Carlos Guzmán raves about Smoke & Mirrors: “…the sound of this production is exquisite. A great ambiance is captured in this tape and the effortless flow of music is graciously submitted with precision and focus. The instrument timbres are accurate and the performance is second to none. “…Game of Clocks [by Argentine composer Diego Schissi] is a valuable tool for audiophiles evaluating Hi End equipment as it’s capable to exhibit the weakness and strength of the gear in question. “…Geographical Fugue is highly adventurous and novel. I was so engaged in the Game of Clocks flow that when the next track opened with a loud “TRINIDAD” I jumped [off] my sofa…! Very ingenious combination of percussion and vocal performance. “The quality achieved by the Yarlung’s team is excellent and their commitment to their label is clearly expressed in their recordings. The use and combination of Continue Reading →

Classics Today Review: “Sasha Cooke’s Captivating Orchestral Songs”

Yarlung| Amazon | NativeDSD | HDTracks | iTunes  Excerpts from a review on Classics Today of Sasha Cooke — “If You Love for Beauty” — by David Vernier American mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke… has a voice of substance, lustrous and silver-toned, especially rich and vibrant in the lower register, with the assured technique of one who has the goods and just knows what to do with her gift…. She characterizes the mood, various colors, and moments of rising intensity, or more “dreamy” or reflective passages in the Chausson Poème particularly well, expertly abbetted on all counts by a very fine orchestra and its sensitive music director Yehuda Gilad. Cooke’s voice has the size and expressive range to sustain focus on and interest in whatever she is doing, in true collaboration with an orchestra that’s sizable and exceptionally colorful in its own right. Throughout the Chausson, and also in the Mahler (excellent solo horn and Continue Reading →

Myles Astor review in PFO of Smoke & Mirrors Percussion Ensemble

HDtracks | iTunes  | Native DSD Volume 1 | Native DSD Volume 2 | SoundCloud | Yarlung Records Myles Astor, New York, writing for PFO, December 11th, 2013 Reel-to-reel Recording of the Year: Smoke & Mirrors Percussion Ensemble, Yarlung Records. Steve Reich: Nagoya Marimbas; Lou Harrison: Canticle No.3; Maurice Ravel: Sonatine. Producer and engineer: Bob Attiyeh. 15-ips/2-track, CCIR, Yarlung Records. In contrast to past years, there was absolutely no shortage of candidates in this category including The Tape Project’s Lee Morgan Sidewinder, International Phonograph’s Ravi Shankar in Luxembourg, 1980 and Opus 3’s One, Vol. 2 Sampler tape. When push came to shove, however, Yarlung Records newly recorded and released Smoke & Mirrors walked away with this year’s top prize! This single, roughly 31 minute reel, features a potpourri of percussion music from a trio of 20th century composers ranging from the likes of Steve Reich to Lou Harrison to Maurice Ravel. Each track is a musical and sonic spectacular with Continue Reading →