Farewell JDV

JDV in his prime.

My Pioneer S-D33 speakers fondly called Joe De Venecia is now 19 years old.

Actually, it was my brother who coined the name because the then speaker of the house of representatives was getting ready and primed for the 1998 presidential elections. Speaker Joe lost but the name stuck. Well, I didn't want to call my speakers Erap, Raul, Monching or Fred anyway. JDV's just fine and dandy. 

These large three way bookshelves have provided me immense joy through the years. I could still vividly recall the day I unpacked it to replace a hand me down antiquated pair of Nationals. The moment it rendered previously unheard details of Bob Seger's "Hollywood Nights," I was delirious to say the least.

From then on JDV and I would spend countless hours together.

But age has finally caught up with my longtime buddy.

The wear and tear has taken its toll specially on the woofers. Both channels are now riddled with holes and are obviously shot. They can no longer withstand bass heavy recordings such as the Charlie Haden and Pat Metheny collaboration Beyond the Missouri Sky and Bill Evans' Moon Beams. The tweeters and midrange are surprisingly in good shape. The innards? I have no idea. For all I know, the voice coils and spiders may have degraded through the passage of time.

Reconing is a plausible solution but getting a spanking new pair would be great. There's quite a few bang for the buck bookshelf type speakers out in the market right now like the Wharfedale 122, the Q Acoustics 2020i and the PSB Image B6.

Another option is to try out those full range variants most notably the Markaudio Alpair 10 and the Audio Nirvana Classic 8.

I ended up ordering the Titus Gold bookshelf, a locally manufactured speaker made by Anthony Leuterio of Anthony Audio. The jury's still out whether it could fill the void about to be left by JDV.

Parting ways with good old Joe would be quite difficult to say the least. I could only imagine how our last conversation is going to be like.

JDV: Are you sure about this?
Me: You better believe it.

JDV: Will you miss me?
Me: Definitely.

JDV: How long has it been?
Me: Almost two decades.

JDV: That long huh?
Me: It was a blast.

JDV: Why now?
Me: I have to try others you know.

JDV: But I'm the best sounding speaker you've ever owned!
Me: The new one could be better.

JDV: Could be? You might regret it.
Me: Maybe.

JDV: Okay, just don't throw me away like some worthless piece of junk.
Me: I wont, I'd leave you in good hands.

JDV: This is it then.
Me: I'll visit you once in a while.

JDV: Promise?
Me: Scout's honor (I then held up three fingers)

JDV: Bye!
Me: So long buddy!

One Rainy Jazzy Sunday

Is there something wrong with my hearing?

Am I too old to rock n' roll?

Have I, in the words of Olivia Newton John, gone mellow?

The answer my friends is a big NO.

It's just that I've been hankering for a handful of great jazz recordings for quite some time now and finally, Miles Davis, Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, John Coltrane, Stan Getz, Bill Evans et al are in the house!

A jazz marathon is in order I reckoned and I decided to hold it on this lazy, wet, and rain drenched Sunday morning.
 
The first to kick off the festivities was Julian "Cannonball" Adderley's Somethin' Else. Is this hard bop or simply bop? Whatever it is, it sounded great. I've seen the cover of this particular CD for many years now in various audio publications. Mobile Fidelity if I'm not mistaken issued a gold disc back in the day. The album has achieved legendary status and is considered as an essential jazz album.

Next up was the Dave Brubeck Quartet's Time Out. Another classic and upon reading the liner notes, I found out that this was such a departure from traditional jazz recordings due to its unconventional time signatures. Well no matter how unconventional "Blue Rondo Ala Turk," "Kathy's Waltz" and "Take Five" are, they're gonna be in my playlist for a long long time.

It was Miles Davis' turn and let me tell you, this album's a real gem. It's none other than Kind of Blue, the biggest selling and perhaps the greatest jazz album ever. As I listened to one horn solo after another, the more I get immersed in the world of jazz. Never mind if I'm unable to distinguish if it was Miles' trumpet, Cannonball's alto sax or Coltrane's tenor. To me, that's the beauty of it. Indeed, ignorance is bliss!

As I looked out the window, the rain started to pour again. No heavy downpours, just a drizzle and the skies were a bit gloomy. Perfect for a cup of coffee and yeah, another CD.

Is it bossa nova? Maybe it's still jazz? Call it whatever you like, even experts are not in unison when discussing Antonio Carlos Jobim's Stone Flower - a dark and moody album and in a way, his own Kind of Blue I dare say.

Two hours went by unnoticed and I was in a bit of a quandary as to what would be the last disc of the day.

To complement señor Jobim, I decided to put on Paul Desmond's seductive Bossa Antigua to wrap things up. Though not as famous as the other recordings, Antigua had its own charms.

A few minutes later my wife arrived.

That's the cue to stop listening and have lunch.

While my head's still full of these wonderful tunes, I can't wait to hear some more jazz. Perhaps some Monk or Tyner? How about Rollins and Parker? Man, the list could be endless. A whole new dimension just opened up for this rock junkie.

He's My Brother

My younger brother

People said we're poles apart, my brother and I. Complete opposites and heck, we hardly resemble each other.

We were born just a couple of years apart so you could just imagine the tremendous sibling rivalry in the offing and that's how it was during our younger years.

When we were in elementary, there were plenty of fisticuffs. Dad even bought a pair of gloves and allowed us to spar for a round or two but after it's done, we'd play tag, football, "teks," jolens," "tumbang preso," and "sipa" with other kids.

When our family moved to the province, we had those long walks whenever mom would send us on errands. We shared laundry duties and other household chores. At times, we gathered firewood and picked unripe mangoes for mom much to the consternation of the lot/tree owners.

When we reached our teens, that's when the serious rivalry started.

Sometimes, a mere shoving match during a basketball pick-up game would escalate into a mano a mano. A tease would be taken as a serious insult, a slight would progress further until we're set apart. We've had some serious scuffles merely because of some snide remarks or jokes taken out of context. In retrospect, I guess it's all part of growing up.

The one interest that we have in common is music. I'm glad to have introduced him to the music of the 80's particularly Billy Joel and who else but Rick Springfield. Man, he sure had that Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet cassette tape worn out!

By the time we were old enough, we left the comforts of home and started to work for a living. Things have changed by then, for the better of course.

I used to frequent that burger joint where he used to be a supervisor to kill time after a day of job hunting. When I was a waiter at a folk house, I'll never forget the night he unexpectedly showed up. I forced him to have a drink. Truth was I just wanted him to stay a bit longer.

When he tied the knot, I was among the groomsmen, veil if not mistaken.

When his first born came to this world, my parents and I were there with him to celebrate that momentous occasion. Finally there's a baby girl in the family!

When our house was sold, we were forced to live in a single roof with our parents and the two of us never had any arguments or disagreements.

Then, he left the country to work overseas. 

When he returned home ten years ago, mom passed away and I thought he'd stay for good but again, he had to leave.

Thanks for everything bro. Now that we're continents apart, all the more I cherish those moments we had as kids, teenagers and adults.

Just Another Format Casualty

The CD is still my preferred format.

Is the era of physical media drawing near to a close now that more and more people are into streaming and downloading contents on the internet?

How about the younger generation? Do they still care about album artworks, liner notes and last but not the least, superior audio quality?

Do i-Tunes, Spotify and Pandora really have that niche in the market, so big that it is predicted to soon displace CD as the most dominant format in the music industry?

These are some of the questions I can think of in the wake of declining sales of physical media, most notably compact discs or CDs as we have all known through the years.

Yes, the shiny platters that came out in the early 80's that dislodged vinyl as the favored medium by record companies much to the dismay of vinyl lovers who'd go to great lengths arguing the latter's superiority both sonically and visually.

Thirty years later, the CD faces the specter of being wiped out by another format that's bereft of physical appearance, shape and size - digital downloads and online streaming.

Well, nothing lasts forever.

For all its imperfections, it's amazing that CDs lasted this long. From its much criticized infant stages to the loudness wars years up to its evolution spawning the SACD and DVA-A, these 4.75 x 4.75 inch platters did enjoy massive support from music lovers worldwide. The CD for the better part of two and a half decades was the acknowledged dominant format.

What record execs didn't anticipate was that they were bound to lose when first, CD recordables came out, then MP3/MP4, then downloaded music files and now, streaming.

Today's generation of music fans won't be caught dead clutching those huge cardboard sleeves or jewel cases. In its place are tiny phones, gadgets and those hideously overpriced "Beats" headphone hanging over their heads.

If they see a rack full of LPs and CDs, they are likely to shrug their shoulders and say they can have as many by simply downloading or streaming. They might even offer their services to have your LPs or CDs cleaned for a fee!

Times have indeed changed.

An autographed LP or CD of our favorite artist don't mean anything to them. The days of digging and rummaging through the bargain bins are now just a distant memory. The anecdotes associated with our album purchases are nothing but cliche and overt sentimentality to them.

Still, I'd hold on to my modest CD collection and won't be joining the download and streaming revolution anytime soon. Heck, I'm still ordering from Amazon and recently bought a CD player. Much like the vinyl lovers of yesteryear, it's our turn now to defend the superiority of our generation's format to the young ones.

That is, if anyone would care to listen.

CDs are on the way out no doubt but folks like me will still be here to support it till record bars cease to exist. We're seeing the death rattle, the last gasp before its eventual demise.

To quote lead character William Miller in Cameron Crowe's semi autobiographical 2000 flick Almost Famous: "Well, at least, I'm still here for that!"