Various Artists - Fast Folk Musical Magazine (3) 1 / Various - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Hi-Fi opens with an InchExplosion. Inch Well, it's the tune's title, but there is remarkable energy here, and throughout this recording of hard bop realities. There's a relentlessness of purpose to this youthful band, an explosiveness, meshing with a strong group identity borne of a great deal of well-spent time together. Formed in New York, Hi-Fi features the results of many long nights the quartet spent in the clubs honing arrangements of classic tunes by Gil Evans & Dizzy Gillespie, and originals in the spirit of the hard bop bands of the '50's and '60's. CD OF THE WEEK - JazzReview. InchRadioAction shows considerable promise, both collective and individual. Inch - Cadence Magazine. Originally released in 1998.

Fast Folk Musical Magazine debuted in January 1984 as the successor to The CooP magazine. The editorial goal of Fast Folk was to promote the performance of noncommercial artistic music, also known as American folk music. All 12 performances in this collection were recorded in concert at the Speak Easy in New York's Greenwich Village. Three of the live performances (Broad Old River, There'll Come a Day, and the River That Flows Both Ways) feature folk music icon Pete Seeger playing banjo and adding vocal harmony. Also in performance are Shawn Colvin singing I Don't Know Why, Jim Glover singing Phil Ochs' Hands, longtime folk singer/humorist Oscar Brand contributing the Preppie Anthem, and David Roth with Next Door Neighbor, a song about living next to a missile silo and other unwanted neighbors. A copy of Fast Folk Musical Magazine is included.

Fast Folk Musical Magazine, a cooperative dedicated to re-invigorating the folk music scene in the New York City area, released over 100 albums between 1982 and 1997, starting with this one. Among the artists discovered by the magazine were Shawn Colvin, Steve Forbert, Christine Lavin, and Suzanne Vega. Volume 1 features the music of established folksingers Dave Van Ronk (The Garden State Stomp) and Ed McCurdy (Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream) as well as some of the first recordings by Suzanne Vega (Cracking), David Massengill (On the Road to Fairfax County), and Erik Frandsen's humorous Howard Hughes' Blughes. Liner notes comprise the complete first edition (February 1982) of The CooP magazine. Included are song lyrics and a number of articles and artist interviews.