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SACD

Ikuyo Nakamichi – Debussy: Preludes I; Images I & II; L’Isle Joyeuse (2021) [SACD / Sony Classical (Japan) – SICC-19053]

adminFebruary 28, 2026 70 Views

Title: Ikuyo Nakamichi – Debussy: Preludes I; Images I & II; L’Isle Joyeuse (2021)
Genre: Classical
Format: DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Pianist Ikuyo Nakamichi is known for her Beethoven performances, but she has also performed Chopin’s piano music with multimedia accompaniment and, occasionally, Debussy. This set of the Preludes and Images, with a vigorous concluding L’isle joyeuse, isn’t exactly the kind one would pick for a multimedia presentation, for Nakamichi doesn’t lean heavily on the atmospherics. When she deploys abundant pedaling, it’s in the service of images that are specifically supposed to be hazy in some way, as in La cathédrale engloutie or Cloches à travers les feuilles. Elsewhere, Nakamichi’s textures are clear and her articulation detailed. Her goldfish (Poissons d’or) are little flashes of light in the pond, not inhabitants of a deep watery realm, and many of the Preludes benefit from careful tracing of structural and motivic details. It would be too much to call this a Beethoven specialist’s Debussy, but it may reflect Nakamichi’s primarily German and Japanese training rather than French traditions. None of which is meant as criticism, just as a suggestion to sample to see what one is getting into; the performance is distinctive, and RCA’s sound, from a live performance in Tokyo at the Toyo Bunkakaikan Recital Hall in the fall of 2020, is impressively clear and immediate.

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2 min read

SACD

Ike Quebec – Soul Samba (1962) [Analogue Productions 2009] [SACD / Analogue Productions – CBNJ 84114 SA]

adminFebruary 28, 2026 64 Views

Title: Ike Quebec – Soul Samba (1962) [Analogue Productions 2009]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Soul Samba (aka Bossa Nova Soul Samba) is an album by American saxophonist Ike Quebec recorded in 1962 and released on the Blue Note label. It was Quebec’s final recording before his death in January 1963.

With his thick, engaging sound and elegant romanticism, it only made sense for Ike Quebec to try his hand at the bossa nova boom Stan Getz kick-started in 1962, and that’s what he did with Soul Samba. However, Quebec makes the session much more than mere bandwagon-jumping. He takes some chances with the repertoire and consciously adds a heavy blues inflection that makes Soul Samba one of the more unique interpretations of the bossa nova style. It’s also one of the more sensuous, thanks in part to the combination of Quebec’s natural tendencies and the soft, light style itself, but even more so with the extra bit of meat added via the blues. The music is warm and danceable, yet with a late-evening hush that’s more suggestive of winding down and getting cozy with someone. Quebec’s choices of material are never obvious – the Brazilian selections do not include any Jobim standards, for one thing, and both Quebec and guitarist Kenny Burrell (absolutely stellar in support) contribute original material that ranks among the album’s best performances (particularly Quebec’s “Blue Samba” and Burrell’s “Loie”). What’s more, Quebec adapts some unlikely sources – the traditional standard “Liebestraum” and the Dvorak theme “Goin’ Home” – into surprisingly effective samba pieces. The whole project is thoughtfully conceived and beautifully executed, treating bossa nova as a new means of personal expression, not just a fad to be cashed in on. Sadly, Soul Samba was Quebec’s final album, but at least his career ended on a high note.

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2 min read

SACD

Ike Quebec – Blue & Sentimental (1962) [APO Remaster 2011] [SACD / Analogue Productions – CBNJ 84098 SA]

adminFebruary 28, 2026 55 Views

Title: Ike Quebec – Blue & Sentimental (1962) [APO Remaster 2011]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Ike Quebec’s 1961-1962 comeback albums for Blue Note were all pretty rewarding, but Blue and Sentimental is his signature statement of the bunch, a superbly sensuous blend of lusty blues swagger and achingly romantic ballads. True, there’s no shortage of that on Quebec’s other Blue Note dates, but Blue and Sentimental is the most exquisitely perfected. Quebec was a master of mood and atmosphere, and the well-paced program here sustains his smoky, late-night magic with the greatest consistency of tone. Part of the reason is that Quebec’s caressing tenor sound is given a sparer backing than usual, with no pianist among the quartet of guitarist Grant Green, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones. It’s no surprise that Green solos with tremendous taste and elegance (the two also teamed up on Green’s similarly excellent Born to Be Blue), and there are plenty of open spaces in the ensemble for Quebec to shine through. His rendition of the Count Basie-associated title cut is a classic, and the other standard on the original LP, “Don’t Take Your Love from Me,” is in a similarly melancholy vein. Green contributes a classic-style blues in “Blues for Charlie,” and Quebec’s two originals, “Minor Impulse” and “Like,” have more complex chord changes but swing low and easy. Through it all, Quebec remains the quintessential seducer, striking just the right balance between sophistication and earthiness, confidence and vulnerability, joy and longing. It’s enough to make Blue and Sentimental a quiet, sorely underrated masterpiece.

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2 min read

SACD

Ike Quebec – It Might As Well Be Spring (1964) [Analogue Productions Remaster 2010] [SACD / Analogue Productions – CBNJ 84105 SA]

adminFebruary 28, 2026 61 Views

Title: Ike Quebec – It Might As Well Be Spring (1964) [Analogue Productions Remaster 2010]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Working with the same quartet that cut Heavy Soul — organist Freddie Roach, bassist Milt Hinton and drummer Al Harewood — Ike Quebec recorded another winning hard bop album with It Might As Well Be Spring. In many ways, the record is a companion piece to Heavy Soul. Since the two albums were recorded so close together, it’s not surprising that there a number of stylistic similarities, but there are subtle differences to savor. The main distinction between the two dates is that It Might As Well Be Spring is a relaxed, romantic date comprised of standards. It provides Quebec with ample opportunity to showcase his rich, lyrical ballad style, and he shines throughout the album. Similarly, Roach has a tasteful, understated technique, whether he’s soloing or providing support for Quebec. The pair have a terrific, sympathetic interplay that makes It Might As Well Be Spring a joyous listen.

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1 min read

SACD

Ida Haendel, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra – Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole & Ravel: Tzigane (1964) [Japan 2018] [SACD / Columbia x Tower Records – TWSA-1050]

adminFebruary 28, 2026 65 Views

Title: Ida Haendel, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra – Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole & Ravel: Tzigane (1964) [Japan 2018]
Genre: Classical
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

This is the world’s first SACD reissue of Lalo’s famous performance, which combines the beautiful and rich sound of violin of Ida Handel with Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Karel Ančerl. This reissue uses a new DSD sound sourced from the original analog master tape. The jacket photo uses the original LP design, renews the sound quality and reprints.

Lalo’s “Symphonie espagnole” is in fact a violin concerto, pure and simple: the title was intended to concentrate the listener’s mind on the Spanish nature of the music. The bold and close recording imposes this flavour immediately, although there is surely more subtlety in the balancing of textures than this; not that the results are less than acceptable. By the time the Spanish rhythms and themes have made their influence tell, Haendel has delivered some commanding virtuoso playing. Perhaps it is in the lighter sections of the middle movements (Nos. 2, 3 and 4 of 5) that the performance comes off best. Here the subtleties are experienced and the clarity of the re-mastered sound is at its most effective. For all that this repertoire makes an unlikely combination, the playing has real style and panache and the disc will give much satisfaction. Ravel orchestrated his single–movement “Tzigane” soon after he had completed the violin-and-piano original. The piece begins with a cadenza, and while Ida Haendel is held in close focus by the microphone she passes this test of her accuracy and tone quality. When the orchestra appears there are some odd balances, though the overall effect is not unpleasing. Given the vintage of the recording, made nearly 55 years ago, the sound is very good. Karel Ančerl was a skilful orchestral accompanist, among his abundant other talents.

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2 min read

SACD

Ichimujin – Rui (2006) [SACD / Pony Canyon – PCCY-60004]

adminFebruary 28, 2026 44 Views

Title: Ichimujin – Rui (2006)
Genre: Easy Listening
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

New generation guitar duo by Kochi Prefecture-born classical guitarist “Yasuto Uko & Shunsuke Yamashita”. Now his debut, even while keeping our focus on the classic base, business card instead worthy familiar classic music of “one unmanned” that will show with a broad music, from the movie “Cinema Paradiso” 3 songs, songs from the drama that participated in the soundtrack “unfair”, “in love with the pupil of the ugly”, and even the music selection that flew to the original song three songs and a variety of. Producer and the recording engineer, hired Ezaki TomoYoshi of Okuda via record representative that has won many awards applied to the recording production in the inside and outside.

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1 min read

SACD

Ian Shaw – Drawn To All Things (2006) [SACD / Linn Records – AKD 276]

adminFebruary 28, 2026 54 Views

Title: Ian Shaw – Drawn To All Things (2006)
Genre: Jazz
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Ian Shaw’s debut album on Linn Records is a stunning collection of re-workings of classic and lesser-known Joni Mitchell songs. Ian Shaw records a personal tribute to his personal heroine Joni Mitchell. Drawn To All Things includes three songs which had not previously been recorded by anyone other than Joni; ‘Talk to Me’, ‘Love Or Money’ and ‘Stay In Touch’. Top jazz vocalists and musicians lend their support; Claire Martin and Lea de Laria on vocals, plus trumpeter Guy Barker and guitarist Jim Mullen.

For years now, Ian Shaw has been topping Britain’s Best Jazz Singer polls. An ardent believer in all things Joni Mitchell, it was only a matter of time before he delivered his versions of the Joni songs he deemed most suitable for reinvention. An emotional, expressive interpreter with the ability to explore every aspect of both lyric and melody, he’s at his most creative on ballads like A Case of You and Stay In Touch, the basic rhythm section sometimes cushioning solos by guest guitarist Jim Mullen and horn men Guy Barker and Nigel Hitchcock. There’s also fun to be had – Talk To Me jumps happily, Chelsea Morning appears in breezy guise, Harlem in Havana is a basis for scatting between Shaw and Lea de Laria, while Night Ride Home finds Claire Martin stepping up for duet duties.

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2 min read

SACD

I Musici – Serenata Italiana (2009) [SACD / Fonè – 063 SACD]

adminFebruary 28, 2026 54 Views

Title: I Musici – Serenata Italiana (2009)
Genre: Classical
Format: SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

In 1952, 12 young and promising Italian musicians, mainly Roman and mostly graduates of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, got together ‘inter pares’ to create a unique chamber orchestra comprising six violas, two cellos, one double bass and one harpsichord. At present days, I Musici are regular guests at the most important international festivals and they carry out an intense concert activity in prestigious theatres and concert halls. On “Serenata Italiana” I Musici take you on a journey of the Italian serenade, with music by Rossini, Respighi, Bossi, and film composer Nino Rota. Featuring string playing that is both pulsing with energy and delicately sweet, this programme will leave you exhilarated.

Could a serenade of the 1900s possibly exist? Could two, apparently contradictory terms, be compatible? (They were accepted as such for a long period). How does one reconcile the expression of a selected poetic and musical form which was the favourite vehicle of an amorous relationship (that we often see as cloying), with the longing for renewal, for technology, with the magnificent and progressive destiny of the beginning of the 20th century? This is the riddle that I Musici tried to answer with the Serenata italiana (Italian serenade). The work takes us on a listening course covering a temporal arc from the end of the 1800s to the 1960s. Arturo Toscanini was the mentor who shaded the protagonists’ lives in various ways. First and foremost was his enthusiastic approval of the group I Musici, which in 1952, had just got started. The great conductor’s presence frequently hovered between the biographical and the artistic vicissitudes of the composers chosen to represent the Italian instrumental background. Toscanini conducted three movements of the Intermezzi goldoniani (1901-1905) by Marco Enrico Bossi (Salo’, 1861 – during the crossing from New York to Le Havre, 1925) on 8th April 1905 in the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, while the first performance in its entirety was heard only in 1910. These Intermezzi dedicated to Wilhelm Weber by the composer, also refer to literary influences in the texts, not so much by Carlo Goldoni, but by 18th century Venetian culture itself. The work consists of a suite of dances in six movements which follow the baroque tradition, revised and yet effective and, because of their difficulty, rarely heard. The composition is a jewel that refers to the 18th century nachtmusik tradition. It is in suite form with marches at the opening and at the end of the Prelude and Minuetto but it freely interprets the characteristics of antique dances, the courtly tidiness (Gagliarda and Coprifuoco), going on to yearn for the orderly precision of the 19th century salon (Serenatina) or the severe contrapuntal structure (Burlesca). The connection to the title is rather transient since the intermezzo form is probably only a leftover of the 1700s theatre tradition (connection to Pergolesi is obvius) that saw the overbearing emergence and affirmation of the comic forms, not dissimilar to what happened particularly to the tools Goldoni uses in comic theatre. Almost all of the composers represented on the CD (except Puccini) refer to dances, which characterises and unites them. This doesn’t seem strange to us since, from the point of view of the traditional instrumental development, they had a fundamental role and were an important predecessor for the birth of the musical tradition that freed itself from the heaviness and conditioning of vocal music. Even in Respighi’s case (Bologna, 1879 – Roma, 1936), the past relives through the connection to the court dances of the 16th century tradition and also in this case we are looking at an assent that is not by chance. His interest in Gregorian chant and his love for Monteverdi was known. The interest in antique arias was part of a rather complex project, seeing that the third suite on the CD, composed in 1931, follows the first from 1917 and the second from 1923.

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4 min read

SACD

I Musici, Felix Ayo – Vivaldi: Le quattro stagioni, L’estro armonico Nos.6, 8 & 10 (2021) [SACD / Esoteric Company – ESSD-90238]

adminFebruary 28, 2026 66 Views

Title: I Musici, Felix Ayo – Vivaldi: Le quattro stagioni, L’estro armonico Nos.6, 8 & 10 (2021)
Genre: Classical
Format: DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

I Musici perform Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni from “L’estro armonico”, Op. 3. Recorded April 29 – May 6, 1959, Wien [1-12]; September 24 – October 2, 1962, Switzerland [13-15, 19-21]; and June 10-14, 1962, Netherlands [16-18]. The reissue of classical music masterpieces by ESOTERIC has attracted a lot of attention, both for its uncompromising commitment to recreating the original master sound, and for using hybrid Super Audio CD (SACD) technology to improve sound quality. This series marks the first hybrid SACD release of historical recording selections that have been main stays of the catalog since their initial release. These new audio versions feature ESOTERIC’s proprietary re-mastering process to achieve the highest level of sound quality.

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1 min read

SACD

I Ching – Of The Marsh And The Moon (1996) [Reissue 2003] [SACD / Chesky Records – SACD265]

adminFebruary 28, 2026 49 Views

Title: I Ching – Of The Marsh And The Moon (1996) [Reissue 2003]
Genre: New Age
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Take three Chinese musicians schooled in the ancient art of traditional music making. A tradition that evokes images of romance and mystery. Add the futuristic, yet always musical sound of a synthesizer and apply state-of-the-art Chesky sonic technology. The result? I Ching: Of The Marsh and The Moon. This instrumental recording offers melodies that are at times distressingly beautiful, rhythmically driving and lushly melodic. Featuring Sisi Chen playing the Yangqin (Chinese hammered dulcimer), Tao Chen on Chinese flute and Bao Li on Erhu (two stringed Chinese fiddle) with the synthesizer of Joel Goodman, this is World music meeting New Age. This is I Ching.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

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1 min read