Ramblings.(Matthias Lupri Group )(Editorial)

Welcome to Issue 103, an issue with a strong focus on music, wherein we have included our annual roundup of our favorite recordings from the past year. The response from our writers to my request for input was better than ever this time around, with the majority of the crew supplying an annotated list; I think you are really going to enjoy reading about the music that the T$S writer found to be their favorites of 2004. In addition to that, this issue also contains the usual assortment of equipment and music reviews.

At the time I write this, the rest of the magazine is already being typeset; consequently, I cannot simply add another review to my More Jazz Than Not column. Instead, I will take the opportunity here and now to pass along a recommendation on a startlingly good jazz recording that I recently purchased, Transition Sonic by the Matthias Lupri Group (Summit Records DCD 398), which features Matthias Lupri on vibes, Mark Turner on saxophones, Cuong Vu on trumpet, Nate Radley on guitar, Thomson Kneeland on bass, and Jordan Perlson on drums. There are 12 cuts on this CD, but the overall effect is much like that on the Pat Metheny Group's new release, The Way Up (on which Cuong Vu also plays), where themes reoccur and the music in some way resembles a classical composition more than just a collection of tunes. I will include a review in ...