Voltron

Shweeet!

Come on, Gene usually hammers out his meet impressions and pics posts between 3am and 4am.

Not sure what the official schedule really is but Tyll is talking at some point, Steve Hoffman and Joe Harley from Music Matters are giving two talks and there may be something else other than the standard national meet fare. The last I heard is that they are not planning an official event on Saturday night. Leaves it open to fun and frivolity and I am sure we can amuse you for as many hours as you can stay [mostly] awake. There were some discussions of a group trip to a bar or club or two and there will certainly be parties in various rooms, etc. Make it happen even if we do have to share you with your sister and you have rush back to your family.

Nina Nastasia -- The Blackened Air

Get dronk and fock! Cheers

I would have liked much more time with the Stacker Dos, but JP was late as usual. BUT, the time I did spend was very enjoyable. Wow is a good word for this amp at around $1K. It was very quiet with nice clean power from my Shunyata conditioner and Crystal Cable PC, which I think JP said was an improvement over his setup on the same circuit as the fridge. :rolleyes: No kidding. Anyway, the sound was fantastic with the PS-1 and for the minute or two I heard it with the 650s. Given where I was on the volume knob with the PS-1 -- about 10/11:00 -- I thought it might strain a bit with the 650s, but I was wrong. Full sound and plenty of power. Turned it up only slightly from where I had been with PS-1. The sound is not tubey in any negative way, but it has the warmth and body of a quality tube amp. Really detailed but not etched or edgy. Good soundstage, good tone, good everything. We couldn't compare it to the P-1 because of limited time and PC sharing, but it is surely a very strong amp and fighting way above its weight class as JP likes to say about bang for buck components. Great work dBel, but sorry we didn't take any smiling faces pics.

Hampton Hawes Trio -- The Seance

Dexter Gorder -- Quadromania: Blow Mr. Dexter

Thanks Jay. Glad to see you around! I sure as hell hope you are making plans to be in LA come May. Don't make us send Gene up after you.

[krmathis]A box the size of a Pico![/krmathis]

This one isn't all that acidic, and is more on the boring side although I have not listened to it more than twice.

Peter Doherty -- Grace/Wastelands

Buster Williams -- 65 Roses

Werks gud

OJC on Rhapsody

Death Cab for Cutie -- The Open Door (EP)

Sorry about that AB.

"water" proof

What's the idea? Phones for Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear?

Leonard Cohen -- Live in London

1990s -- Kicks

I'm sure he was using the iPoop app to record his stools and it kinda slipped out of his hand...

I thought something very similar to that.

Branford Marsalis Quartet -- Metamorphosen

A couple more shows to add. Nels Cline Singers with Jeff Gauthier's Goatette at Yoshi's in Oakland. First was the Goatette with Nels on guitar, Alex Cline on drums, Gauthier on electric violin and bass and keyboards by other guys. Not bad, not remarkable in any real way and electric violin is mostly annoying. Nels was cool and Alex was pretty boring. Then Nels played with his trio the Singers, with a different drummer and bass player. All three are great musicians but it was a little out there and too avant rock jazz. Most "songs" were untitled new pieces and for the most part I was disappointed. JP felt deceived because I told him I thought that it would be relatively song-based jazz not just noise. More noise than not, as it turned out. Last night, however, we saw the incredible Branford Marsalis Quartet at the Palace of Fine Arts in SF. We sat in the front row, on the drummer side because I love Jeff Tain Watts. First thing I noticed from the program was that Tain Watts was not playing drums. What?! The new album Metamorphosen is promoted as being recorded around the tenth anniversary of this quartet's existence without any personnel changes which is indeed rare longevity in jazz combos. Kinda reminds me of the interview from The Kids Are Alright where the interviewer points out that they had been together for a decade and had not yet decayed, and then Keith Moon gets up and says "I'm leaving!"... I don't know why Tain wasn't there, but they played a couple of his compositions and he got lots of applause every time. When the band came out, the drummer looked 12. Turns out he was 17. But damn, can this kid play. He is Justin Faulkner and he is known as a phenom apparently. YouTube is full of his solos and songs from even younger years. This kid kills. And not just fiery solos and showing off. He's got skills and the tools of a very accomplished player. JP pointed out that it would have really sucked to be sitting up front on the drummer side if he were terrible, but instead it was a thrill to watch the Keith Moon of jazz fly. They played two solid hours like they it was a walk in the park. Branford sounded fantastic on tenor and soprana sax and his tone is just amazing. Eric Revis is an amazing bass player and he was really in great form. Joey Calderazzo is always solid on the piano and JP suggested he was channeling Monk during Rhythm-A-Ning. The kid on drums integrated very well with the long-time members, and Branford gave all of them lots of room. Do not miss this quartet if you like jazz at all.