The concept and title of this two CD anthology simultaneously sugarcoats and dilutes Carlos Santana’s circuitous career path. Designed and aimed at listeners who (re) discovered the man with his mainstream resurgence in 1999, it will fill that void and still leave those consumers ignorant of why he deserved a chance at commercial redemption.
Released under the aegis of The Concord Music Group, this ongoing series of titles depicts Keepnews, to this day a man of discerning ear and literate mind, in the roles of fan, label founder and record producer. As a visionary strategist and one of the staunchest supporters this music has ever known, he, like the best of these CDs reflects the vigor and imagination of the art itself.
Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Al Dimeola and Lenny White could do no wrong for the near capacity crowd populating The United Palace Theatre August 6th. This may explain why the quartet known as Return to Forever, acknowledged the roar of acclamation from the audience by immediately striding to the front of the stage, as performers usually do at the end of their show.
The Grateful Dead Road Trips series of archive recordings is turning out to be as confounding –and satisfying—in its own way as the bands’ own live performances. For instance, the first release works best if you begin in the middle with the second disc, while its successor flourishes in the most consistent manner only on its bonus CD.
Midnight Oil never made rock and roll more anthemic than that contained on Diesel and Dust and the exaltation permeates the DVD as well as the CD included in this double-disc reissue.
Fate gives the lie to the notion Dr Dog are too eccentric for their own good. Five albums on at this point, it’s clear the band is working in a most purposeful, albeit unorthodox manner.
On the Fleet Foxes full-length debut cd, a back-porch purity coexists with an ethereal quality in almost equal proportions.
Seth Yacovone hasn't been idle in the interim since he disbanded his group four years ago. In fact, he spent the better part of the most recent winter on his recently released double CD Land of Split Decision, where he enacts a logical progression from his previous blues-based efforts.
Over the last couple years, Mofro have morphed from a quirky neo-blues band into a bonafide soul review. With the horns and churchy organ, it would be easy to predict Grey and company would get a hearty response from an audience anxious for a good time on a Friday night. But without the bandleader’s commitment to the music and the fervor contained in songs like "Lochloosa," it'd all be for naught.
Bob Belden’s extensive liner notes for Return to Forever’s The Anthology depict the chronology of the band in such a way that the evolution of the group in its various incarnations becomes very distinct. In the same way, the music on the two-disc collection delineates how the four-man group distinguished itself from its peers during the halcyon days of jazz-rock fusion.
