Audiophile’s Diary
I’ve got
a confession to make.
I’ve
become such an audio whore; and this month is, by far, the one when I
received the most amount of new music CD’s, ever. That’s not even
accounting the number of newly acquired music I’ve transferred to my
month-old iPod (I now have thousands of tracks). No other times in my
life has ever come remotely close.
My
brother came back from Taiwan at the start of the month. Knowing that
I’m such a jazz aficionado, and being a fanatic of black
music himself, he bought me 3 albums as gifts. First, because I was
so frothing-in-the-mouth elated to Bill Evans’ Waltz For Debby,
my brother gave me a Sunday at Village Vanguard. Then he also
gave me Billie Holiday’s Lady Day – The Best of Billie Holiday.
Finally, he also included Duke Ellington’s Live at Newport to
the kerprizes.
Seriously,
I’d review them if there were any critiques to be given, but why
bother? They’re all perfect! Plus, I’m too busy ravaging my hard
drive with new AAC-converted songs! I’ll say one thing though: Duke
Ellington is beyond taking the "A" train. He’s too great to be
rated, as you can hear from his performance on this album. His
Diminuendo in Blue and Crescendo in Blue nearly created a riot from a
crowd of Jazz aficionados, who are normally staid. He was also
nominated for Pulitzer Prize (but he turned it down). Need I say more?
After my
brother left for Taiwan, I was left to contend with the fact that
it’s very hard to find quality Jazz CD’s in the Philippines (unlike
in Taiwan). At least when it comes to the oldies, it’s near
impossible to find a real definitive album. In the local record
stores, in most cases, you’d only find plenty of half-baked Verve
compilations. The nerve of Verve! Still, I’m famished for aural
pleasure, so I settled for something much modern and went right ahead
to purchasing Chris Botti’s To Love Again. Although he hasn’t
reached the level of Miles Davis (even though their styles are
similar), he’s not half-bad. No, in fact, he’s good. I see a lot of
potential in him. To Chris: go tell the world that trumpet is not a
dead instrument!
Later
this month, a friend of mine took me to a place which I call an
underground record store, named Phoenix. Honestly, it’s a sad state
of affairs when I have to resort to going underground just to have
any ghost of a chance of finding Jazz greats (and it’s not like this
place has ALL of them either). Boo, hiss! But anyway, this store is
located somewhere in Kamuning, Quezon City. Frankly, it’s VERY far
from my place, but they do have some of the stuffs I was looking for.
That makes the trip worthy. Unfortunately, it doesn’t do sales, but
only recordings. And worse yet, its 
services, although quite
inexpensive, takes days to complete. Bah! Still, I availed for a copy
of Frank Sinatra’s Come Fly With Me and Miles Davis’ Bitches
Brew. I’m about to get them this weekend when I finally have the
time to revisit. Who knows, I might even avail to record another
album.
That
same friend of mine recorded a copy of Corea-Hancock album. I had
been able to burn his copy of the double-CD set, but upon reaching
home, I was horrified to find that the burn process wasn’t done very
well. This Corea-Hancock album was transferred from a vinyl-record to
a CD. Now, taking the aforementioned Billie Holiday album as example,
I’d say I don’t mind the underlying simmer-y and popcorn-y sound of
record players. It actually makes the classic album sound antiquated
in an artsy way. But this burned CD’s quality is unforgivable! It
got chunks of pauses that ruined La Fiesta and Maiden Voyage, two of
Corea’s and Hancock’s (respectively) definitive standards. Too bad,
because the album was already converting me to a Corea listener. I
think I’ll just buy the album instead, but at least I’ve previewed
it.
The same
friend also lent me his Bong Penera’s Batucada sa Calesa album.
It’s a refreshing change of scenery, actually, because Bong Penera is
a Filipino Jazz artist. He was at his prime during the Marcos period
when artists like Chick Corea still held concerts in CCP auditoriums.
Why must good things come to an end? (I don’t mean Martial Law, by the way, but rather the time when Jazz was still hit among our airwaves) I like Bong Penera’s style. He’s
what I would describe as the mix of Chick Corea’s piano-playing plus Joao
Gilberto’s singing. Suffice to say, I liked this album enough that I
made a copy of it.
It has
been an arduous search, but I was able to obtain Joao Gilberto’s
Amoroso/Brasil. I’ve reviewed it in my previous entry, so I don’t
want to prolong discussions.
Lastly, while doing today’s after-work leisurely stroll, I found
Nina Simone’s High Priestess of Soul. Right now the jewel case, still
teal-looking, sits on my side. I’ve not yet started listening to the
album itself, but I’m a big fan of Nina Simone. I’ve yet to see
another artists whose passion equal, if not surpass, hers. Just one
read from the liner notes was enough to get me excited. Nina said,
"Share with me feelings of love and disappointment, walk with me
along the road of life that is filled with blues but celebrate also
with me those few and treasured moments that make life almost
bearable; but do not turn from me when the chips are down, for this
is life also."
"For
as an artist, I must give myself wholly and completely to the
expression of that which is within."
Yes!
[Are you
enjoying the picture gallery so far?]
I really
could go on for hours about my iPod’s new tracks; however, I don’t
listen to music while I write, and now I’m starting to feel sorry for
my ears. Lame alibis aside, it gladdens me to say that I’ve never
enjoyed music so much in my life before. Now, I can’t imagine a life
lived without music, that’s considering that two years ago I’ve said
the complete opposite.
As Sonny
Rollins said in his 9/11 benefit concert, "Music is one of the better
things in life". Can you blame me if I endeavor to pursue this
pleasure, especially when I just realized how ecstatic it could make me feel?
This is
the end of an audiophile’s log. Is there any wonder that it shares
the first two letter with the month that’s just about to end? Yes,
I’ve never had another August like this. Why? Because great music
came, making life almost bearable.
