On December 22nd I picked up an LP copy of “Night Train” by the Oscar Peterson Trio. On the morning of the 23rd I was working around the house, getting ready for Christmas with the family. I queued up the record and it really picked up my spirits. In the afternoon I went to visit with family.
On Christmas Eve I heard that Oscar had died on the 23rd and I felt an instant sense of regret that I never got to see a performance by this amazing musician.
I worked on Christmas day and the 26th. When I got home on the 26th I tried to turn on my stereo, but the power-relay was fried, so I could not obtain output power, and therefore no sound. My amp is more than 19 years old and has never given me any problems. “Night Train” was the last record I played before my stereo “died”. Perhaps it is mourning Oscar, no? Oh well, I can always listen to Peterson on my computer until I get my amp fixed.
The following is from the Oscar Peterson website:
We would like to thank everyone who has sent their condolences, and the hundreds of you who sent e-mail messages. We appreciate it very much. There will be a public memorial service in the near future, and we will provide all the details right here once everything has been decided. For anyone who would like to make donations, we ask you to please make them to World Vision or Christian Children’s Fund in honour of Oscar Peterson. Thank you once again for all your love and support. May God Bless his Soul!
I am the creator and site administrator at The Basement Rug. I have been collecting LP's and CD's for more than 30 years. I
I was concerned that my diagnosis might have only isolated part of the overall problem, but these fears were relieved when I finally got the unit apart and I saw that one of the 4 terminals on the power relay had actually melted its solder point. I guess 20 years of being turned off and on placed enough stress on the relay that it eventually failed. I hope the new part lasts as long (it is made in China, whereas the original was made in Japan).
Kudos to my father for teaching me how to fix things when I was young! It’s really too bad that so many people are intimidated by such a simple repair. I’m not even particularly quick with a soldering iron, but I still managed some nice clean connections without too much anguish.
In any case I am glad to have it back again (Kenwood KA-128 integrated amplifier), and I celebrated by listening to the Oscar Peterson Trio’s 1978 Paris Concert which you can download here: part-1 | part-2 | part-3.
Personnel:
Oscar Peterson, piano
Joe Pass, guitar
Niels Pedersen, bass
Recorded live at Salle Pleyel, Paris, France on October 5, 1978.
DISC 1:
1. Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone (Stept-Clare) 6:54
2. Who Can I Turn To (Newley-Bricusse) 8:09
3. Benny’s Bugle (B.Goodman) 6:09
4. Soft Winds (F.Henderson) 8:26
5. Goodbye (G.Jenkins) 6:19
6. Place St. Henri (O.Peterson) 5:01
DISC 2:
1. Medley: Manha De Carnaval / If (L.Bonfa / D.Gates) 9:33
2. Ornithology (Harris-Parker) 4:46
3. Blue Lou (Sampson-Mills) 3:28
4. How Long Has This Been Going On (G.Gershwin) 5:10
5. Gentle Tears (J.Pass) 6:33
6. Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be) (Davis-Ramirez-Sherman) 5:04
7. Samba de Orfeu (Bonfa-Maria) 4:36
8. Donna Lee (C.Parker) 2:45
9. Sweet Georgia Brown (Bernie-Pinkard-Casey) 6:24
My stereo has gone crazy again. The power relay is fine, but now the microprocessor is doing strange things – primarily it is powering off the amplifier without warning.
“Microprocessor?” you say. Yes, the Kenwood KA-128 was one of the first integrated solid-state amplifiers to be manufacturted (1989-1990) with an on-board microprocessor. It handled programmable EQ functions, IR remote, as well as power control. If the system overheats or reaches a critical power level, it will automatically shut itself off and display an LED message.
It probably seemed like a good idea to the designers/engineers of the day, but as we now know, microprocessors don’t always age well, even with well conditioned currents running through them, they go through a certain amount of stress every time the device they control is turned on and off.
Despite the massive e-waste it creates in the world of computers, people don’t seem to complain too much, as computers become obsolete so fast that people generally upgrade before key components fail. But in the stereo world people expect to have systems for many, many years.
So now I have a stereo with a mind of its own. It goes on and off at the drop of a hat and it is quite annoying. I’d consider replacing the processor if I could find a cheap replacement part (a new one would cost more than it would be worth if I could even get one), except that there is no guarrantee as to how long it would last.
This leaves me looking for another stereo and I am not happy about it. I quite enjoyed this system. Nowadays everyone has “home theatre” systems and the only place you can buy an actual stereo system is from some high-end shop that generally specialize in tube systems. I’m not knocking tubes, I just can’t afford that kind of system.
On top of everything else, my turntable is on the blink, and my computer isn’t working. So I may not be posting here for a while.