I had lunch with my good friend, Santos Ortega, on Friday. It's always a pleasure to get together with Santos, who is one of the most interesting, insightful, and decent guys I've ever had the pleasure to meet, not to mention that he has impeccably good taste in all things!  I've known Santos for nearly... Read More »

It's been an incredibly hectic week on all fronts, and I feel like I've been sprinting to keep up! I've been writing up my listening impressions for the Positive Feedback review of the new Soundsmith Zephyr Mk III phonograph cartridge from Peter Ledermann, and you should see that review published in the next week or... Read More »

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I’ve been using a Henriksen Jazz Amp, but I decided to order a Fender ’65 Princeton Reverb vacuum tube guitar amp from Sweetwater to use with my Collings Eastside LC Deluxe jazz guitar. The Henriksen is a nice sounding solid-state guitar amp for jazz, but I've been wanting to get... Read More »

I'm working on Part 2 of my Soundsmith review series for Positive Feedback right now, the Zephyr Mk III phonograph cartridge, and hope to have it published in the next few weeks. In my Part 1 Soundsmith review for Positive Feedback I reviewed the Soundsmith Carmen Mk II phonograph cartridge (HERE). I found the Carmen Mk II to... Read More »

I've always loved jazz guitar. One of the highlights in my life was being able to study with the extraordinary jazz guitarist, John La Chapelle (above left), who was Larry Coryell's guitar teacher when he was a youngster and introduced him to jazz, and the two maintained their friendship over the years. Jazz guitar is... Read More »