Brazil may be known for its Latin beats, however the band Stratus Luna presents a new sound from the land of the Amazon. As big as its forests, the group takes on a post rock, progressive, and fusion sound that emphasizes high voltage listening in high resolution audio from the Brazillian MusicMagick record label. This very young post-rock band from São Paulo, Brazil defies any preconceived thoughts about the mature capabilities of four kids who are merely 17, 18, 20 and 21 years old! Multi-instrumentalist Gustavo Santhiago (20) plays keyboards, flutes and sitar, with his older brother Ricardo Santhiago (21) riffing on the guitars. Their buddies Gabriel Golfetti (18) doubles down on bass… Continue Reading

With electrified jazz gaining greater appeal, and taking a cue from the popular R&B stylings of the day, George Benson set out to release Body Talk in 1973. His formidable guitar playing takes on any kind of groove, all held down by the jazzier rhythm section of drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Ron Carter, with electric pianist Harold Mabern, percussionist Mobutu, and guitarist Earl Klugh, who tosses in several tasty moments. The album was released both on stereo and quadrophonic LP back in the day, and now has been masterfully transferred to quad SACD by engineer Michael Dutton for his Vocallian label. I am not opening Pandora’s box for audiophiles who prefer Blu-ray over SACD, but I… Continue Reading

Guitar maestro Steve Hackett continues to be a world music ambassador on his 2019 release At the Edge of Light. This unabashedly strong rock album accentuates the progressive genre with instrumental influences from around the globe, all while featuring strong songwriting and musicianship. Maintaining his passion for surround mixes, the album is available as a CD + DVD edition which contains both DTS 24-bit / 48kHz 5.1 and Dolby AC3 5.1 versions mixed by Roger King. Leaping straight into the surround mix, I naturally selected the DTS codec which sounds cleaner when compared to the Dolby Digital alternative. Specifically, the Dolby version is distinctly more squashed, which is most apparent… Continue Reading