caponsacchi's channel

Welcome evidence that there's life after J-Lo.

He was dying, but he wasn't telling anyone anything. He didn't know what hit him. He was a commodity owned by Col. Parker and others who never gave him a life, a chance to grow up, or to perform without the clown suit, big buckle, and belly-concealing guitar. His only life was on stage, and th...

It's apparent that Elvis needed that guitar to conceal an increasingly protruding part of his anatomy. But what was he on? Peanut butter and banana sandwiches can't explain the meltdown we see here.

Why not use the universal favorite, the Shure SM57 or 58, to test the Icicyle. It's no small matter to convert dynamic mics to USB. They miss the fact that USB audio isn't as good as a regular mic.

Auto level sounds fine, which is what you want for stealth, dark room recording. And the H1 has more presence and body than the camera mics. Though the new built-in mics for the iPod and iPhone are so good they're making some of the accessory mics not worth the money. Blue's "Mikey" is no bette...

Sounds good. Glad I traded my H2 for this one. The H2 is too fragile, with too many tiny menus. Not good for stealth recording in a dark club.

All great art--Shakespeare's, for example--produces in the spectator a cathartic moment, or Joycean "epiphany" in which he/she see him or herself in relation to the social fabric and the grand design. It's not about self-esteem but the opposite--the exposing of hubris and its lethal effect. It's...

My first guess would have been Dexter. Anyway it's as good as Dexter's, which is the best I've heard.

Who's better than Harold Land? Listen to the connected lines, the dynamic sculpturing of phrases, the overall structure of the solo. At the time several important musicians called him the best in the business, on either coast. He shadowed Brownie note for note in the Max/Clifford quintet, then...

A strong clip. These guys show that jazz had life, complexity, and above all swing before the beboppers. Even though they don't play the language of Bird, Diz, Trane, etc., they know how to structure fresh complete solos and never to stop swinging. The stand-out by a long shot is Harry Allen's...

Compare Whitney's "I Will Always Love You" with McCartney's new version of "Always" with Sinatra's definitive take.: "I'll be loving you always" is neither an exhibitionistic display on the words "I" and "you" (Whitney) nor is it a pleasant and polite, nice-sounding sentiment (Paul); rather, it'...

If only, like Billie Holiday, she had gone with "standards," and not just those big-arena, blockbuster movie songs that rely on vocal power and bravado rather than interpretation. The melody is non-existent and the words repetitious. Had she revisited the "Great American Songbook" like so many (M...

Also, eminently self-protective. I don't recall Art Tatum doing this tune (perhaps insufficiently challenging), but Oscar certainly did. Anyone following him had better go for understatement or a radically altered, "original" interpretation.

Too bad Bezos isn't as photogenic as Steve Jobs, but he still remains 2nd only to Jobs as an internet visionary. Forget all of the nerdy Facebook nonsense. Bezos delivers "hard goods" in virtual time. He cares more about his customers than his stock-holders. He's not a prisoner of quarterly co...

Etta Jones (not James) was closer to Billie Holiday than anyone--except that she remained to the end a stronger singer, never showing the fraile, broken spirit that came through on Billie's last recordings (esp. "Lady In Satin"). Etta's signature recording was her unequaled "Don't Go to Stranger...

@carminav25 Worse, he's probably not as naiive and "dumb" as those who identify with their "moral," boy-scout hero would like to believe. He'll arbitrate leaps in logic, quickly sliding from 1=1 to 1=several, for his self-serving needs, or for his misguided defense of the threatened "Christian" w...

This session is a real sleeper, the best I've heard from Al. I love the opening number--"We Three"--which finds Al in the most relaxed, soulful, story-telling mode he's ever been. He couldn't have been much over 30 (if that), but he plays with the wisdom that usually comes only after paying you...

Interesting. Right now the highest rated mini-speaker on Amazon is the Ayl mini-speaker for under $20. I'm curious if the 5-star reviews are merited.

He preceded Oscar as pianist for Jazz at the Philharmonic. Of the 3 great Detroit near-contemporaries--Hank, Barry Harris and Tommy Flanagan--it's a close call. Hank really didn't feature himself as leader until he was 60. All wonderful musicians, but Tommy had a touch that made the piano "breat...

Not definitive. Normally I'd take a JBL product (Harman Industries), which is the company of AKG, over a company like Blue, Sansom, even Audio-technical. The built-in pop filter practically clinches it.

The AKG certainly has better gain. Moreover, AKG is part of Harmon Industries, makers of Harmon-Kardon and JBL speakers--one of the most respected, and oldest, audio names in the business. Blue is the new kid on the block. I went to company website and was attracted to the AKG's claim to have a...

She doesn't swing. The only prodigiy to make it in recent years has been Hiromi Uehara. People hare always throwing these young wunderkinds at me. You rarely hear of them in a few years.

I'm also impressed with guys like Pass and Art Pepper, who could be wasted on heroin addiction, yet come back to the level of musicians such as this. Oscar always talks about music as bloodsport. He enjoys humiliating the other sol musician, who has to at least offer a challenge. he got it with...

Beautiful sides made for tiny Transition records. Doug was from Detroit and a cousin to Paul Chambers. What a walker. Mobley plays the blues regardless of the tune. No gimmicks, he just takes the chords given him and plays the most beautiful, soulful melodies. Miles treated him badly, but lis...

No other pianist in modern jazz could play like Carl Perkins. After him, the others sound absolutely dull and predictable. And what a leader Counce was. Listen to him just walk for his solo instead of trying to sound like a front-line horn player. The most finely tuned group I've ever heard.

Compare Carl Perkins to all the others. They all sound the same with their single note lines, except Hamp Hawes always played with that staccato touch. But Carl was always orchestrating as he moved through his choruses, bringing in the uper register, octaves, beauitful voicings. The audio qualit...

Great stuff. Oscar was just as phenomenal in the mid fifties, when he didn't even use a drummer. First, he went with Barney Kessel on guitar and, when Barney declined the road wear, turned to Herb Ellis. The made some incredible albums, but Herb took to the bottle, and that's when Oscar went to...

Chaplin came out of the slums of London and, along with Louis Armstrong, was the most famous American entertainer in the world for the first 3 and one-half decades of the 20th century. The speech he gives here in "The Great Dictator" (circa 1940) is totally consistent with his critique of modern...

I've got the Yeti, but the At2020 is pulling away from the Yetl in Amazon sales. In fact, Blue appears to be languishing. The blew a wad on mics for The Flip, and then the parent company declared the camera dead. Next, they came to market with Mikey 2, which by the company's own admission is inc...

The At2020 is pulling away from the Yetl in Amazon sales. In fact, Blue appears to be languishing. The blew a wad on mics for The Flip, and then the parent company declared the camera dead. Next, they came to market with Mikey 2, which by the company's own admission is incompatible with the iPod...

Art's recordings from the seventies--almost all done in Europe and still unreissued on vinyl--are some of the best of his career because of the advanced compositions of Walter Davis Jr. and the extraordinary talents of two unsung heroes: Bill Hardman and Dave Schnitter. I've witnessed Art many t...

Blakey's most popular and most overrated album.

I'd rather listen to Dave Schnitter than Henderson (tho I'd take Mobley over either of them). But yes, Schnitter is one of the living greats. Listen carefully. He's outplaying Rollins and Jimmy Heath these days. People used to take the untouchable Harold Land for granted, even though Max and Cl...

The camera angle, unbalanced sound, etc. don't warrant posting on youtube. Good music, tho "Misty" is the new "Feelings." Try something fresher like "For Heaven's Sake" or "This Is Always." Groove Holmes did the up-tempo bit on Misty. Let it rest.

I play by ear (fingers work better). I'm missing certain voicings and progressions, some of the hip turnarounds. This could really prove useful. Now I've got to experiment with getting these on a tablet or iPod. I've learned everything by playing fake sheets of tunes and listening to Red Garland....