Category: Review

Rushton Paul writes about “Sacred Trance Music from Taos Mountain”

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“Go to your quiet place, turn out the lights, transport to the original recording session with these musicians. The sound quality is that good—immersive, translucent, and transcending. And the musical performances are that subtle, seductive, and enveloping. “Bob Attiyeh, Yarlung Records, has ever been an adventurous supporter of new, emerging artists. His recordings have long been favorites of mine. And he does not disappoint with this new release…. “At present, Habib is in the middle of two-year pilgrimage, studying the teachings, history, culture and music of venerated Sufi teachers and saints in India, Pakistan and other parts of the world. Habib is studying and absorbing more of this rich tradition to incorporate into his own spiritual, musical and practice. He looks forward to sharing these traditions and the experience of universal unity they inspire more fully with the world in coming years. Here he is, a traveler and seeker of Continue Reading →

Timothy Mangan reviews Tarik O’Regan’s “All Things Common”

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“fluent and sumptuous” Tarik O’Regan “handles the choir with panache; there seems not an unpolished moment in any of these pieces, and many a ravishing one, as O’Regan is a choral ‘orchestrator…’” “O’Regan creates layers of sound in many of his pieces, different strata that unfurl simultaneously but that remain distinct. His “Ecstasies Above,” based on Poe’s poem and the longest piece in the collection, is written for two solo vocal quartets, chorus and string quartet, and gives him many opportunities for spatial effects.” “Perhaps the “Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis” shows off O’Regan’s chops mostly blatantly — combining canons, minimalism, plainchant, a vocal quartet, full choir and solo cello in a wonderfully broad sound palette.” “Istad fashions fluent and sumptuous readings, nicely held together over the long haul. Each piece is represented by a single take on the recording, no splices. Minor blemishes are therefore heard here and there, but Continue Reading →

Remy Franck comments on Tarik O’Regan’s All Things Common in Pizzicato, Luxumbourg

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Contemporary Choral Works of Great Beauty ♪♪♪♪♪ Yarlung’s CD All Things Common includes Choral compositions by Tarik O’Regan.  Music Director Robert Istad leads the singers of the Pacific Chorale. This is spirited repertoire, often sung with great beauty. The seven largely tonal works, composed between 2011 and 2019, can be heard here in enchanting performances.  Catalog number YAR02592 Read Remy Franck’s comments in German All Things Common album page Yarlung Records · All Things Common: Choral music by Tarik O’Regan

Ty Webb discusses Janaki Trio’s “Young Beethoven” LP in Stereophile’s Analog Planet

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Janaki String Trio’s Young Beethoven Is Musical and Sonic Gold Yarlung 180g 45rpm LP lacquers cut by Bernie Grundman In this, the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s birthday, Yarlung Records offers a recording worthy of the master, a delectation from the Janaki String Trio…. …supremely self-assured emplacement of the violin, viola and cello in their respective positions in the soundstage.…  There is no smearing, no blurring, no nothing to interfere with your enjoyment of the music. This crack ensemble was in its matutinal hours during this performance, but it remains a treat to listen to this recording. Yarlung, you could even say, with this LP has hit a hole in one. –Ty Webb, writing for Analog Planet, September 28th, 2020  Read the article here. Mr. Webb gives Young Beethoven 10 for the music and 10 for sound.   Young Beethoven and Janaki String Trio debut are two 180 Gram 45rpm vinyl Continue Reading →

Yuko Mabuchi Trio, Volume 2 | By Eddie Carter

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I’d reached the end of a very long day and was ready to relax and unwind with some piano jazz. I went to the library and came across Yuko Mabuchi Trio, Volume 2 (Yarlung Records YAR71621-161V). The second LP from the trio’s live performance at The Brain and Creativity Institute’s Cammilleri Hall with bandmates, Del Atkins on bass and Bobby Breton on drums. The concert honored the 25th Anniversary of The Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society, plus President and CEO, Bob Levi’s 70th Birthday.  My copy used in this report is the 2018 45-rpm Stereo Audiophile release. Yuko starts Side One with a trio of solo standards, All The Things You Are by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, Take The “A” Train by Billy Strayhorn, and Satin Doll by Duke Ellington, Strayhorn, and Johnny Mercer.  She begins with a stunningly beautiful interpretation capturing the song’s romanticism. Yuko Continue Reading →

Yuko Mabuchi: Dee Dee McNeil

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Jazz Impresario Dee Dee McNeil reviews Yarlung’s 15th Anniversary release of the iconic “YUKO MABUCHI PLAYS MILES DAVIS” Yuko Mabuchi, piano; JJ Kirkpatrick, trumpet; Del Atkins, bass; Bobby Breton, drums; Bob Attiyeh, Producer. One of the things that always impresses me about Yuko Mabuchi is her ability to transform familiar songs into shiny, new, gem-like pieces.  For example, on her presentation of “All Blues,” (arranged on her tribute to Miles Davis album), she turns the waltz-time upside down by playing the piece in 5/4 and 4/4 time.  It works!  She follows this pleasant surprise with a poignant and heart-felt analysis of “Blue in Green.”  You may remember that Bill Evans and Miles Davis composed this one and it’s a star on the ‘Kind of Blue’ album. This is such an emotionally heavy song and pianist, Yuko Mabuchi, along with JJ Kirkpatrick on trumpet, squeeze out every ounce of beauty.  I Continue Reading →

Michael Fremer reviews “Lifeline” LP

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Michael Fremer remains one of the chief analog gods in the world of music writers and critics.  We might call him Wotan, except that Mr. Fremer hasn’t yet made a rash decision that costs the cosmos its future.  Michael writes that Lifeline: Music of the Underground Railroad is “an intensely transparent and three-dimensional recording produced live in front of an audience in the 500 seat Samueli Theater at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California….  “The sound is intensely three-dimensional, especially the sensation of being in the audience when the deserved applause come after each performance. The singers appear before you convincingly effectively spread across the stage, bathed but not buried…. “Yarlung’s recording engineer Arian Jensen and producer and label owner Bob Attiyeh used Agfa 468 tape on a SonoruS ATR12 recorder employing SonoruS Holographic Imaging technology. Whatever that is, works.  An AKG C24 stereo microphone captured it Continue Reading →

Jane Booth writing for Agora Classica and Early Music Today reviews “Ciaramella Dances.”

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Dances on Movable Ground Ciaramella, Adam Gilbert, Rotem Gilbert (dirs) Yarlung Records 96819 CD VINYL The Californian group Ciaramella specialises in Renaissance dance music; here they explore the Spanish and Italian grounds – passamezzo, passacaglia, ciaconna and so on – that underlie so many late Renaissance dances. Recorders and shawms predominate; playing of expressive fluidity and rhythmic vitality supports plentiful virtuosic divisions. Lifelike sound of exceptional clarity enhances the impact. As well as choosing an ideal acoustic, producer Bob Attiyeh has used an old-fashioned analogue tape recorder, equally old-fashioned analogue valves for the recording circuitry, and a single stereo microphone – viva analogue! Strongly recommended, even if for me a couple of fiddles would be welcome from time to time in this selection, on the cusp of the Renaissance and baroque periods. —Jane Booth Ciaramella Dances is available on CD | Vinyl | Tape | DSD | HDTracks | Apple Continue Reading →

Clifton Harris reviews Michelle Mayne-Graves and Lifeline Quartet

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Mr. Harris highlights the timeless appeal of Lifeline’s spirituals and points out that as important as the Underground Railroad code songs were before and during the Civil War, they resonate just as profoundly in today’s America.   “The Quartet’s Lifeline album comes at a challenging time in America for African Americans, especially with the Trump administration and the dangerous rhetoric that has incited racially charged violence all over the country since his election in 2016. This album covers Negro spirituals from the mid 1800’s to the early 1900’s and reminds us of the spirit we needed to be free as a people.” “Michelle’s range appears to be limitless on this 12 track album….” –Clifton Harris, San Bernardino American News Please read the full article in the San Bernardino American News.

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

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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