Cookie's Corner - #166 - What does Qobuz and banjo love have in common?
From Cookie Marenco - Founder and Producer Blue Coast Records and Music
David Solomon is one of the most beloved human beings on the planet.
Buy Two Get One Free is still available at the Blue Coast Music store.. you site for high resolution downloads! Send an email with your choice of album and format along with you receipt of purchase to support@bluecoastmusic.com
If you’re an audiophile, then you most likely know David. Even if you aren’t an audiophile, you should know David. If you’re an acoustic musician, you definitely want to know David. He has an appreciation for music creators like few others and supports creatives as much as humanly possible.
David is also a drummer himself and knows how it feels to be a musician, not just an avid listener. He appreciates quality workmanship and those that make the art. His job at Qobuz allows him to bring these musical gems to the audiophile consumer. (For those of you who don’t know… Qobuz is a high resolution streaming and download service… think of Spotify that sounds GOOD!).
Here’s a playlist of music on Qobuz that I’ve recorded over more than 30 years where you can listen to 23 hours of my history in high resolution audio.
https://play.qobuz.com/playlist/4662714
(By the way, there’s a free trial subscription if you want to try it out).
So what does a banjo have to do with this?
I think it was 2013? or earlier when Sony Japan had offered me, Blue Coast Records and Gus Skinas a high resolution audio room at CES. Sony outfitted the room with their top end speakers in a surround configuration and said to me and Gus, “The room is yours to do and play whatever you want!”. This was a huge opportunity for Blue Coast Records to be seen and heard by tens of thousands of people who ventured to the CES Show in January. (CES - the Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas every year).
Back in those days, the audiophile world was setup at The Venetian Hotel. Several floors of the hotel would be occupied by companies showing their new gear off to dealers, reviewers and (if you were smart enough figure out how to get in) the general public. CES was the biggest convention of this kind.
Sony was very interested in what we were doing because we were recording and selling DSD files. We make speakers (of all kinds) sound good. Gus and I would trade off playing music in the Sony room while the other took a break for a meal or to wander around. You’d never get too far because there was always something interesting happening in a room or hall - whether conversation or new products.
One of those days, I was wandering round and heard a familiar sound. I tought…. “What? Wait a minute! That’s a banjo! That’s Tony Furtado’s music on a recording I had engineered and produced for Rounder Records!”
Now the more unusual part about hearing Tony is that MOST of the rooms are blasting Pink Floyd or a classical album so this was probably the only room that was playing a banjo.
I had to go into the room….
In the madness of the CES Show, David began telling me how much he loved this recording with Tony Furtado and I said, “I love it too. I engineered and produced the recording. It’s one of my favorite projects.”
In the madness of the show, we both had to get back to work, but I remember that the next day, a writer from the Wall Street Journal came into the Sony room looking for me. I asked him how he had heard of us and he said, “David Solomon said I had to meet you.” I knew that David and I would be friends for life.
That was my first encounter with David Solomon… a true treasure to our community. We have many other convention stories to tell for another time. If you want to follow him and his musical musings, I suggest following him on Facebook at Streaming Music Matters where he and many in the audiophile community offer a happy place to discuss new music findings.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1784625028496394
Thank you, David, for all the support, joy and laughter you’ve give us!
Your pal,
Cookie Marenco
And if you’ve missed last week’s missive….. I wanted to give you an update on my Tannoy Gold feelings. It’s not that they don’t sound great… they do. I’ve been listening to them non stop for a week and they have a lot of wonderful sonic points. A very “American” sound…. but then I put on th JMR’s and I’m in love with sound. If you want to read more …. here ya go.
If you’re eager to hear the album, view the 8 page booklet wth the list of credits, we’re going to offer all our annual paid subcribers a FREE copy of the CD, including shipping through the end of August 2023 or until the supply runs out.
The offer is only good for subscribers to Cookie’s Corner. We’ll be sending out emails to get your mailing addresses in early September.
If you’re a subscriber to Blue Coast Records substack, you won’t get a free CD but you will get a free download of one of the songs on the album, Hundred Years of Solitude. You can sign up here for your monthly free download at Blue Coast Records substack.