The Hazelrigg Brothers Live (Audiophile Musicians)

I'd like to recommend musicians that deserve greater exposure and should be of interest to fellow Audiophiles.

The Hazelrigg Brothers are George and Geoff Hazelrigg (piano and bass) and John O’Reilly Jr. (drums). They released their latest album SYNCHRONICITY: An interpretation of the album by THE POLICE earlier this year and it has been a mainstay on the Billboard charts since then. They have a unique take on their sound that some would classify as jazz but the brothers would demur since they have a largely classical training and background. I also would highly recommend their previous album Songs We Like which is available through their label Outer Maker Records.

They are very fastidious about recording and only use a single stereo microphone to record their albums. In addition they make use of recording interfaces that feature the legendary D.W. Fearn's designs. In fact, the Hazelrigg Brother's day job involves the production of D.W. Fearn's recording devices as well as more mobile friendly versions under the Hazelrigg Industries moniker.

All recordings are made straight to high resolution DSD and can be downloaded at these resolutions from NativeDSD. They have also recently branched out into the world of surround and posted a Dolby Atmos mix of Synchronicity to Apple Music. They have a new album in production and if you listen carefully to my video, you will get a sample of what they have in store.

I was very lucky to be able to record a video of a recent concert and I have posted it to YouTube for others to enjoy.

Please support such innovative artists by buying their albums so they can produce more music for us to enjoy on our audio systems.

Return Of Prog Royalty - King Crimson @The Anthem 09-11-2021

On a historic day for Washington, DC, the progressive rock band King Crimson staged their 50 year career spanning music to a packed audience at The Anthem. Chief Crim, Robert Fripp, seemed in good cheer and proceeded to lead his bandmates through a sampling of Crimson's music from the very first album, In the Court of the Crimson King, through the Discipline era and beyond.

The three drum version of the band is unique to this incarnation and quite rare in most music settings. 

Robert Fripp orchestrated from his perch surrounded by his custom electronic array driven by the searing guitar sounds he is famous for (e.g. David Bowie's Heroes).

This was the final performance of the North American tour. One wonders if this could also be their last concert on these shores (DGM Dave Singleton Diary)? 

Long live King Crimson.

Concerts are back!

In what has to be the top double bill of the summer, Jackson Browne and James Taylor took the stage at Merriweather Post Pavilion last night. 

It was a typical late summer night in the DC area featuring early evening thunderstorms and muggy atmosphere. But as the daylight faded and a rainbow appeared, Jackson Browne took the stage. He had a fantastic band that featured legendary slide/guitar player Greg Liesz and renowned Bassist Bob Glaub. Mr. Browne seemed truly moved to be back playing at Merriweather again. He recorded part of his hit album "Running on Empty" at the fabled pavilion.

James Taylor joined Jackson for a rousing rendition of the song "The Pretender".

James Taylor took the stage to an enthusiastic reaction after the strong Jackson Browne set. He literally has the best band in the business. It includes the The Steve Gadd Band. Drummer Steve Gadd has appeared on many legendary recording sessions including the ground breaking drums on Steely Dan's Aja. Appearing with the band was bassist Jimmy Johnson (Flim & the BB's, Alan Holdsworth), guitarist Michael Landau, and trumpeter Walt Fowler.

I attended separate concerts of Jackson Browne and James Taylor at Merriweather over 40 years ago. I took this photo of James at that 1976 concert.

Jackson joined James for an encore of the hit song "Take it Easy".

There is no doubt that attending concerts again is back in vogue.

Bruce Hornsby & yMusic @ Strathmore 3/6/2020

Bruce Hornsby and yMusic played a fantastic concert of modern chamber music and Hornsby original compositions on Friday March 6, 2020 at the Strathmore Music Center.

yMusic played a 45 minute opening set of modern extended string quartet (i.e flue, clarinet, trumpet) music featuring music by several composers as well as yMusic's own self penned compositions. Other pieces played were from recent Grammy award winning composer Caroline Shaw featured on fellow New Amsterdam Records stablemates the Attacca Quartet.

Mr. Hornsby then took the stage and proceeded to play both new and crowd favorites on solo piano with subtle MIDI controlled synthesizer provided by an Apple MacBook. Hornsby is an incredibly versatile player easily mixing Rock, Folk. Classical and Jazz idioms in one composition. He also has an instantly recognizable sound that reminds me of James Taylor's comments he once called "Genetic Chords". Bruce played these recognizable "Genetic Chords" on the song The Way It Is to great effect.

After his solo set, he was joined by yMusic to help flesh out compositions from his latest album Absolute Zero which features yMusic's accompaniment. Despite the challenge of integrating Hornsby's freewheeling style and the need to provide charts to the quartet, yMusic proved more than capable of playing off script and improvising with the pianist. Clearly both Bruce and yMusic were in their element and having a very good time.

yMusic's accompaniment on such favorites as Mandolin Rain was particularly poignant.

Hornsby also referenced his recent surprise walk-on at a Bon Iver concert at DC's Anthem music club. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver is also featured on the album Absolute Zero.

The show ended with a fun song composed by yMusic which featured Hornsby singing along with Alex (from yMusic) without piano.

A truly musical and fun night for fans of Bruce Hornsby and adventurous music.