Stevie Wonder Beat Club Germany 1974

I stumbled onto this video on the MyFunk website. It's a mind blower as the first two numbers are completely original improvisations and unfamiliar (to me at least). The first is a wonderful gospel tinged piece, and then it gets crazy with a very European sounding jazz fusion blow out. At other times it's hilarious, like at 11:38 when the Les Paul wielding guitarist who looks like a hybrid Slash/goth/glam rocker pulls out the maracas for "Don't you worry about a thing." Awesome grooves, and a good way to spend 30 minutes.

Milton Berle introducing Ornette Coleman

Watching this episode of Saturday Night Live as a teenager in Wichita Kansas blew my mind, and changed me forever. It's a weird, wonderful world we live in.

Pure i-20 iPod dock & dac

I was thrilled when I discovered the $100 Pure i-20 iPod dock and dac. I had been using a Wadia 170i itransport to get a pure digital signal out of my iPod. The Wadia cost me nearly $400, so it was the single most expensive piece of hifi equipment I owned. It also needed an external digital to analog converter ("dac"). The Pure i-20 sounds just as great, costs a fraction of the price and has a great sounding internal dac. It also has both coaxial and toslink outputs if you want to pair it with an external dac (the Wadia only has a coaxial output). The Pure i-20 also has a much smaller footprint, so it pairs up really nicely with a small amp like my Qinpu A-3 or a T-amp to create an inexpensive and minimal audiophile system. I couldn't be happier. This really makes listening to digital music easy and satisfying. An enthusiastic thumbs up!

John Abercrombie, Arcade (ECM 1978)

A nice OOP John Abercrombie recording. Solid playing all around with some of John's signature electric mandolin. While I realize Abercrombie has a large number of ECM recordings, I'm surprised this one remains out of print.
Tracks:

1. Arcade Abercrombie 9:36
   
2. Nightlake Beirach 5:31
   
3. Paramour Abercrombie 5:06
   
4. Neptune Beirach 7:30
   
5. Alchemy Beirach 11:31