M+A’s Todd Garfinckle at Milan Hi-End

 

One of my recording-gurus 🥇 and such an handy and down-to-earth guy 🙏

Mojo 🥇

 

Keith Jarrett

 

The Art of Improvisation - A Documentary About Keith Jarrett                            Directed by Michael Dibb/Written by Ian Carr (2005)                                         Running Time: 1 Hr. 25 Min.

I stumbled upon a used DVD copy of this illuminating and comprehensive documentary about Keith Jarrett which was largely written (and with interviews conducted) by the late musician/author Ian Carr who had written the excellent 1991 biography [Click on 'See More' to continue] about the pianist, titled 'Keith Jarrett: The Man and His Music'.

Carr provides some very insightful discussions with Jarrett who is always self-effacing and incredibly self-critical. One could see how his inner drive and intensity, even back in 2005, had already taken a physical and emotional toll on his health. The documentary is filled with great film clips from all points in his career -- including live footage with Charles Lloyd, Miles Davis, and in a classical piano duo configuration with Chick Corea (performing Mozart). Also, Keith's brother, guitarist Scott Jarrett, offers honest assessments of his brother's personality and contributions.

There is much ECM-related content here via on-screen interviews with the Standards Trio, Gary Burton, and members of both the American and European quartets. One aspect of Jarrett that is rarely explored on film is his acumen on other instruments: in this documentary, there is substantial footage of Jarrett playing and discussing his approach to the soprano saxophone as well as segments of him playing percussion and discussing his lesser-known recordings such as 'Spirits'.

Even though many people, here, have commented on his surly temperament, you can't come away from viewing this film without great admiration for the musician. Highly recommended!

Salt & pepper

 

Spot the difference 😏

A one of a kind, “rock solid” Garrard 301

 

My pal Raymond Stanley Clark of Classic Turntable Company Ltd made bingo!

He just completed an unique, superb 301 for Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler.

Long live vinyl and classy, handmade turntables.

Long live rock 🎶

🥂🥂🥂

Severalgoodears

 

Moms who made rock comes true 🥇

 

Bird on Savoy 10”

 

Charlie Parker is such a Giant 🥇

Disc of the Month - John Zorn - Masada Book 3 - The Book Beri’ah

 

Super Power

 

EMT 139st phono-RIAA preamp

 

Iconic design, seldom seen schematics…

Thanking Jürg Schopper 🥇

Take care of your needle

 

Desert Island disc 🥇

 

Kees Otten, Tojohiko Satoh, Marius van Altena, Rita Dams… such a dream team and the music and recording are just incredible… one of the best Telefunkens’ in my discotheque 🥇

An MCI family portrait

 

PDU - Produzione Dischi Ultrafonici 2.0 - the Mina's project for Third Millennium

 

… or, if you prefer: Platten Durcharbeitung Ultraphone was (and still is) a label founded by Giacomo Mazzini - Mina’s dad - in 1967 and devoted to produce and market his daughter’s music, first and later other top artists.

Mr. Massimiliano Pani - Mina’s son and manager of PDUmusic.com and Lugano’s studio - and his team (Michele di Lernia, Celeste Frigo, Marco Bosisio and others) today presented to the press in Milan, in a luxurious location in Piazza Duomo, Milan’s heart, the brand-new project: PDUMusic.com.

This already is a reality, an online-shop of very limited edition (2000 copies per title) vinyl records, fully produced (pressed and printed) in Italy and mastered in Lugano,Switzerland.

The available titles are at the moment ten: some Mina’s, Domenico Modugno, Ivano Fossati, Sergio Caputo… but other artists and titles will be added to the catalog.

What’s unique to the project is all discs will only be available at PDU online-shop, no Amazon.

Furthermore, beside the carefully, lovingly made vinyls, an even more limited edition of same titles are available to the collectors worldwide as 1/4” 2 tracks 15 IPS/CCIR reel to reel tapes, painstakingly made one-by-one dubbing the original master-tape. The production will be of 25 pieces per title, very limited due to the € 500 cost. The whole process is fully under in-house control of Marco Bosisio and Celeste Frigo, both very skilled and passionate technicians and recordists.

The back of each tape-box is printed on scratch-proof vinyl 🥇

Marco Bosisio and Massimiliano Pani (with Duomo in foreground)

Mina 🥇🥇🥇

The premium Italian vinyl-discs pressing facility 🥇

The press-kit🥇

… and some of well-known journalists attending at the PDU’s event:

Marino Bartoletti

Mario Luzzato-Fegiz

Celeste Frigo and yours truly…

A jazzy Mina’s covers/standards disc just out on PDU: judge by yourself the quality 🥇

The event location entry

What a view🥇

One of Mina’s tapes 🥇

The metal reels are precision-made, self-centering, bespoke stainless steel not those anodized-aluminum so often found around!

When digital masters were involved, a very transparent and no-frill, uncompromising and uncompressed dubbing was used to preserve best master quality.

Mr. Pani - who publicly self-professed himself as “an audiophile” - cleverly pointed out the niche, low-digits/highest quality, PDUmusic.com aims to occupy: as premium quality olive oil has a cost, these products are priced accordingly… BUT the booklet, vinyl pressings and limited-edition makes the difference vs. a mass-produced item.

These discs and tapes are at the very Zenith of technology and quality, so folks: let’s stop to consider as “super-discs” only products coming from U.S.A. or UK… Italians are second to none!

Please take your time to browse the PDU’s site… an in-deep review of open-reels tapes will be in my agenda in the very next weeks.

Stay tuned and… long live those lunatics never tired of searching, experimenting and sharing Beauty.