Happy Landings!
Welcome to Copper #90!
By the time you read these, the 50th anniversary of the moon landing will have come and gone, and my landing in Oakland for the California Audio Show will also have come and gone. Next issue I'll bring some of the highlights from the show. I'm afraid I don't have anything to say about the moon landing that hasn't been said a million times before.
In this issue: Dan Schwartz looks at how we all shine on; Richard Murison notes some observations from his most recent trip to the UK; Jay Jay French expresses his appreciation for the Dave Clark Five; Roy Hall visits a totally unglamorous place, for once; Anne E. Johnson’s Off the Charts brings us hidden gems from Spandau Ballet; Woody Woodward continues his in-depth piece on Django Reinhardt with Act 4; Anne’s Something Old/Something New looks at recent recordings of works by Guillaume de Machaut. I examine the perils of overabundance of music in The Audio Cynic, and in Vintage Whine, we look at the short-lived '70s high-end brand, Quintessence. You may not know the brand, but it's a very interesting story.
I'm happy to bring you the first Revolutions Per Minute column from J.I. Agnew; this piece starts with the basics of record-making.
Remember Ken Fritz, who told us all about how he built an enormous listening room and five channels of mammoth speakers, all from scratch? Well, Ken needed a turntable to complete his system---and it probably won't surprise you that he devoted just as much attention to the 'table as he did to everything else. This amazing story will take a few installments to tell. We've got Part 1 in this issue.
Copper #90 wraps up with Charles Rodrigues as the life of the party, and a distinctive Parting Shot from our friend Rich Isaacs.
Finally, a sad note: music and audio industry veteran Jeremy Kipnis passed away recently in a drowning accident. Jeremy was the son of keyboardist/music critic Igor Kipnis, and grandson of the legendary operatic basso Alexander Kipnis. Jeremy was also a contributor to Copper, having written "Records as Time Machines", which appeared in Copper #76, and was reprinted by the German magazine Fidelity in their English-language edition. Jeremy and I had been in touch recently regarding an article he was writing for us about his grandfather, and I'm sorry that we won't be seeing that.
The greater loss, of course, is that of Jeremy himself. He was unique: talented, knowledgeable, and passionate, and yet--- a total goofball, with the energy and enthusiasm of a tweenager.
He will be missed by many---including me.
Leebs.
