Azusa Yamada and Pearl Alexander at Sakaiki 2015

Prairie Audio Mancave

The bowing and string plucking of Pearl Alexander’s contrabass juxtapositioned against Azusa Yamada’s marimba are so ethereal and abstract, in one sense, and so palpable on the other.

I close my eyes and they stand ten feet in front of me, but in a magnified soundstage. The rosined bow rubbing across strings — one moment resonnant and full, the other squealing, squeaking and protesting while Yamada’s frenetic, dextrous strikes of her mallet (called knobs) on the marimaba’s wood bars over pipes (or resonators) below produce the lush tones flitting about with verve; at once, it’s more melodic, dancing on the scales with aplomb.

Spare vocal intonations by Alexander appear, conjuring up Pat Metheny Group’s Pedro Aznar in the 80s ever so briefly. Their dance, their dialog is conveyed in vivid, vibrant textures.

It’s transfixing, the Lampizator Lite 7 DSD DAC in DSD 128 Stereo with their Super Komputer server capturing the performance — and Seigen Ono’s masterful recording — in real space. The polite clapping at the end reminds me that this is indeed a live recording at a tea ceremony. Somehow, I feel I should be wearing a blazer and tie right about now.

Juan Ayllon - Source