The repertoire of this album was carefully selected, with the valuable advice from Mr. Takeshi "Tee" Fujii, President of TBM Video Co., Inc. Without Mr. Fujii’s generous assistance and support, this album will never be materialized and produced in such high quality.

No.	Contents		Time
1	Start Dust, Tsuyoshi Yamamoto with the strings		4:36
2	My One And Only Love, Isao Suzuki Quartet		6:50
3	Tears In Heaven, Ayako Hosokawa		4:53
4	Misty, Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio		7:15
5	I Can't Get Started, Isao Suzuki Quartet		4:58
6	If, Toshio Oida		2:58
7	And I Love You So, Yoshiko Goto		4:08
8	I'm A Fool To Want You, Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio		7:19
9	Georgia On My Mind, Mari Nakamoto		5:12
10	Blue City, I Isao Suzuki Quartet+1		9:53
11	LA Fiesta, Toshiyuki Miyama & the new herd		6:58

1. Star Dust

   This score features the romantic piano of T. Yamamoto, with bass and drums and accompanied by strings.

   The graceful touch of Yamamoto’s piano has brought about a tranquil setting of a star-studded night. The piano, being well closed-miked, is clean and shimmering. In a good system, one can hear the location of each piano note in between the breadth of the foreground clearly. The strings, though purposely placed at the background, so as not to compete with the solo piano, are soothing and silky, yet very delicate and articulate. They should never sound thin and harsh. The different sections of the strings: the violins, violas, cellos, double bass, or for that matter, the light touches of the cymbals are evenly spread in the full spectrum of the soundstage.

   This passage is good for gauging the analytical capability of a system in terms of imaging, depth of field and instrument definition.

2. My One and Only Love

   A bass, cello, guitar and drums comprise this well-known title in a most astounding and unusual manner.

   Many audiophiles love cello and bass like crazy. Me too! Cello or bass solo is always associated with gentility and elegance. Here, you will have a pleasant surprise. The bass is played with such overwhelming strength and breath-taking bowing that they may stun you. The guitar supports the solo on the left, the double bass on the right, the soft tinkling and stroking of the cymbals on the center right and left complete the whole soundstage. This is an excellent test for transient and dynamic contrast of your system, in particular in the middle and low registers.

3. Tears in Heaven

   A female vocal number, accompanied by synthesizers, piano, guitar, bass and drums.

   Here comes our sweet and lovely Ayako Hosokawa. This time, she does not sing the standard romantic ballads, but Eric Clapton’s grievous tune in memory of his young son. Ayako sang with such melancholic tone and with such feeling that she will touch your heart. A good system should be able to reproduce that feeling and emotion.

4. Misty

   A piano trio with bass and drum.

   Don’t ever think this is only a simple trio score. Some people say that the piano is the king of musical instrument. If you do not think so, you may change your opinion after listening to this world famous "Misty". T. Yamamoto arrests your attention at his first two notes and may capture your whole heart in the following minutes. The stunning definition of the piano sound is really exemplifying. The razor-sharp image of the notes springs from the left, center left and center unequivocally. The vibrating resonance of the sustained pedal, though in very low level, is clearly discernible. It is so delicate, so intimate that it catches your breath and draws your whole attention. It seems that all of a sudden, all your surrounding objects have disappeared. What are left are only the player, the music and you. And perhaps, you may feel you are in the player’s seat. That is what we call "presence" and "sense of involvement". In a minute or so, there enter the delicate, yet articulate strokes of the cymbals on the right and the well-defined bass on the center right with superb dynamic contrast. According to my limited knowledge, this is one of the best piano recordings I have ever heard. However, if your system is not up to the mark, the piano may sound tinny and ringing and the bass definition may disappear, not to mention the sense of involvement.

5. I Can't Get Started

   A Cello, pinao, bass, and drums in concert formulate an outstanding performance for this well-knowm number.

   Here is an unusaual solo passage showcasing the superb skill in plucking by Isao Suzuki, this time his fingers on the cello, It requires good transient capcability of a system in order to appreciate the special tone effect of this instrument. The placement of the piano on the left, the bass on the right and the drums in the center background form a well-balanced soundstage with that pleasing and relaxing atmosphere.

6. If

   A unique male singer accompanied by a guitar, bass, drums and strings.

   Guess how many strings are there? By this mere test, the analytical ability of your system is put at stake. The cello started off the first two notes on the right, followed by the viola on the center left, then the 2nd violin and the 1st violin on the far left. If you can confirm that there is only one instructment for each section, yours congratulation! If you think it is a mass string sectin on the left, I shall be doubtful of the resolution ability of your system. I am afraid you have to re-adjust the whole thing. Make sure that the strings never sound harsh, but have a lot of sheen. The male voice, robust in nature and rich in the triangle, enveloping the singer in the middle. There are a lot of details. Can you hear them all?

7. All I Love You So

   A lovely girl with a beautiful voice, accompanied by a bass and a guitar. Very simple.

   It is a controversy whether beautiful Yoshiko's voice is sexy or pure. I just say it is sheer charm. She sang in a very natual and relaxing way, so pure as if the song is a cantata. The bass and guitar just kept the rhythm of the flow of the music. People attending her live performance would say that when she raised her voice to express the emotion of love, there came the magic emotion of her melancholic charm. Does your system bring about such emotion?

8. I'm a Fool to Want You

   Piano solo with bass and drums

   The setting is identical to No. 4 "Misty" with the same trio. It just another piece of beautiful music, superbly recorded. Apart from the shimmering piano, the bass and drums played their part with tremendous details in great clarity, but a very low level. That is where high resolution capability reigns.

9. Georgia on My Mind

   A top Japanese female jazz vocalist, accompanied by a guitar and bass.

   This is also a female vocalist, but the atmosphere and the flavor of the music so created are different from No. 7 "And I Love You So". Here, Mari, with her magnetic voice, interpreted his well-known ballad with intimacy and warmth. from an audiophile viewpoint, the bass was recorded with good dynamic contast. When Mari sings, we can hear the size of the studio room by judging the ambience, reverberating her voice.

10. Blue City

    Bass, piano, guitar, and drums create this famous number.

    Isao Suzuki's mighty plucking of the bass with his fingers shows up the inadequacy or the potentials of your system in transient attack. The heavy notes on the paino, on the other hand, will tax its low frequency resolution. The whole piece is a good test on power handling, definition and dynamic contrast. You should hear that the recording, though very powerful, is at the same time, very juice and full of warmth, without the slightest harshness and dryness.

11. La Fiesta

This is a rather large wind orchestration with 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, I bass trombone, 2 tenor-sax, 2 alto-sax, 1 soprano-sax, 1 baritone sax, 2 flutes, 2 clarinets, 1 bass clarinet, I each piccolo, piano. electric piano, electric-bass, guitar and drums.

This should be the most difficult piece for your system. Wind instruments, in particular, with a large brass section, are not friendly to reproduce in a home system, unless the system has an excellent command in the mid-range clarity and definition. Lots of power and power-handling capability are required. The New Herd Band has, indeed, created a very lively and festive mood. The wind instruments are playing in concert with each other in their full glory and power. It is very difficult to record, and even more difficult to reproduce. Try your luck with your system. Don’t blow the tweeters.