Why another demo music compilation?
Frankly, we’re fed up with the handful of demo tracks in heavy rotation at audio shows and shops. The same tired, uninspiring four or five usual suspects (none named, none shamed) are repeated ad nauseum. Typically, tracks are selected solely for technical quality, despite a mediocre musical performance that grows old fast.
An industry grapevine somehow elevates tracks to reference status to show off specific sonic traits but surely this is an anti-musical pursuit. Shouldn’t our goal as music lovers be versatility, the ability to reproduce anything, whether the source is good, bad or indifferent?
Is it fair – or even meaningful - to evaluate a good audio system based on one narrow parameter at a time? And should our choice of music be dictated by technology?
Our answer is a resounding “NO!” in both cases, yet still we release demo compilations… DALI CD1 and CD2 were well received in terms of sales and worldwide “collector’s item” status. The two discs led to a wider “discovery” by the audio world of many of the artists involved and, in all humility, we accept that we have a heritage to maintain.
It is our intention that each selection will demonstrate various aspects of what it is that makes listening to music on a quality system such a rewarding experience, something most people can’t imagine, until they actually try it!
Lars Worre, Managing Director, DALI
THE ARTISTS
Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny (born 1954, USA) started his career in the 1970’s. His talent as a guitar player was recognized by the legendary vibraphonist Gary Burton who offered the young Pat Metheny a place in his quartet. Later, Metheny started his own trio with Bob Moses on drums and the legendary Jaco Pastorius on bass.
Sophie Zelmani
Only a select few artists sign a recording contract without ever having performed in front of an audience. But that is exactly what happened to Swedish Sophie Zelmani (born in Stockholm, 1972). This unusual situation was certainly not caused by any lack of talent on Sophie’s part, but mostly by her shyness.
Teitur
The Faroe Islands located between Scotland and Iceland is a self-governing country under the sovereignty of Denmark. The islands are populated by approximately 50,000 people, including Teitur Lassen (1977). Since his debut in 2003, Teitur has released four albums and his career and reputation as songwriter, musician and vocalist have constantly grown.
ZHAO CONG
Zhao Cong plays the ancient Chinese pipa, a four-stringed instrument sometimes referred to as the Chinese lute. She learned to play from a very early age and won her first important award at the age of 13. Zhao was later recruited as first pipa soloist of the Central Orchestra for Chinese Music in Beijing.
ANE BRUN
Ane Brun was born in Molde, Norway in 1976. She lived in Barcelona for some time but has resided in Stockholm, Sweden since 2001. “It All Starts with One” is her eighth album since her debut album in 2003. Ane has toured extensively in Europe throughout the past decade and her albums have garnered rave reviews and won numerous awards.
SKO/TORP
Sko/Torp is a Danish pop/rock duo. Their debut album, “On a Long Lonely Night” (1990), drew inspiration from such American acts as the Eagles, Hall & Oates and Doobie Brothers, achieving huge commercial success with more than 200,000 copies sold. Søren Sko and Palle Torp released five albums before calling it a day in 1997.
SINNE EEG
In 2008, Danish jazz singer Sinne Eeg received a Danish Grammy for the album “Waiting for Dawn”, which was nominated as the best Danish jazz album of the year. Uncharacteristically, even Denmark’s normally highly critical jazz reviewers were effusive in their praise.
OP8
OP8 has so far released only one album, the creative and experimental “Slush” from 1997, but the members have managed to keep busy elsewhere. Howe Gelb (guitar, piano, vocals) is the man behind the successful Arizona based rock band Giant Sand with 20 albums behind them since their debut in 1985.
THE BRANDT BRAUER FRICK ENSEMBLE
If you think the history of music has been a continuous evolutionary process down through the centuries, you are wrong! A recent example of a completely unexpected musical mutation is the German trio The Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble, which grew out of a jazz-influenced dance group formed by Daniel Brandt and Jan Brauer, before they teamed up with Paul Frick, who studied classical music at the Berlin University of the Arts
JAN HARBECK QUARTET
Jan Harbeck was born in Aarhus, Denmark in 1976. In addition to tenor sax, Jan Harbeck plays soprano, alto and baritone sax, as well as clarinet and flute. After graduating from the North Jutland Music Conservatory, Aalborg, Denmark, Jan studied at New School (Mannes College of Music) in New York
HAYDEN - NORWEGIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Classical pianist Leif Ove Andsnes (born in Karmøy, Norway in 1970) has already won numerous awards and his discography and reputation are both impressive. Currently, he lives in Copenhagen, but he also spends much of his time in Bergen, Norway. He is a professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, a Visiting Professor at the Royal Music Conservatory of Copenhagen and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.
GRIEG
The German audiophile label audite has released the first two albums in their excellent “Edvard Grieg – Complete Symphonic Works” series with WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, conducted by Eivind Aadland. The WDR Orchestra was formed in 1947 and their chief conductor today is Finish Jukka-Pekka Saraste.
TIM CHRISTENSEN
At the age of only 14, Tim Christensen (born 1974) formed rock trio Dizzy Miss Lizzy, destined to become one of the most successful Danish bands of all time. The group had significant impact, not only in Denmark, Germany and Benelux, but as far away as Japan
FALLULAH
Fallulah was born Maria Apetri, 1985, in Copenhagen, Denmark. The first time you hear her music you make an almost instinctive connection to dance and with good cause. Fallulah and her Danish mother (a professional dancer) often went on dance tours in Eastern Europe with her Rumanian father, a choreographer in Balkan dance.
MIKE SHERIDAN (FEATURING MAYA ALBANA)
Music history presents several instances of child prodigies, but the phenomenon usually occurs within the established realm of classical music. Danish Mike Sheridan (born October 25, 1991) proves that prodigious talent at an early age can also manifest itself in the modern electronica scene’s more experimental, rhythm-oriented sub-genre.
DEADMAU5
Deadmau5 (Joel Zimmerman, born January 5, 1981 in Toronto, Canada) does not consider himself a DJ, since he rarely plays songs other than his own. His musical style is influenced by House, Trance and Techno. One of the key points here is that the sound production of most of his often extremely bassheavy rhythm tracks is much more delicate and well produced than is normal in this genre.
