Posts by Doug Collette

[rating=7.00] Kudos to Jeff Beck for being willing to try new things rather than simply recycle the signature jazz-rock amalgam he honed on Blow by Blow and Guitar Shop. On his last two records, You Had It Coming and Jeff, he’s worked with musicians, vocalists and producers to explore the sounds of electronica and, to […]

[rating=7.00] In 2010 Eric Krasno released a solo album title that true to its title, Reminisce, recalled jazz-rock fusion at its best. In fact, the only blemish on the record was the intrusive vocal of Nigel Hall on an otherwise evocative cover of Jimi Hendrix’ “Manic Depression.” The co-founder of Soulive and linchpin guitarist of […]

[rating=8.00] The Cuong Vu Trio Meets Pat Metheny and The Unity Sessions work equally well as companion pieces and studies on contrast. The former, which finds the Grammy-winning guitarist composer sitting in on studio sessions with a former bandmate as the latter leads his own group, is an exercise in simplicity when  compared to the […]

Human Highway is Neil Young’s second foray into a full-length feature film, the followup to Journey Through the Past from 1972, and it’s not all that surprising the Canadian would release it in 2016 in a newly-crafted director’s cut. The hour and twenty minutes are peppered with environmental references while the narrative, such as it […]

[rating=8.00] Rich Robinson’s last album under his own name, 2014’s The Ceaseless Sight, set in motion a sequence of events that, in combination with the reissue of his previous solo albums, has now culminated with the release of Flux. The co-founder of the Black Crowes has thus firmly established his own career apart  from the […]

[rating=6.00] The Royal Southern Brotherhood certainly don’t lack confidence on The Royal Gospel. Quite the contrary, as the title suggests, the band’s offering unvarnished truth(s) in musical form. The trade-off in vocals between guitarist Bart Walker and percussionist/vocalist Cyril Neville imparts some genuine emotion into the cliches within “Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire” and “Blood […]

[rating=8.00] Every Felice Brothers album has its own particular distinction, but Life in the Dark may have the most significant one in their ten-year history: all the material was composed by lead vocalist & guitarist Ian Felice. The result of this single-minded approach is an album as memorable as its predecessor, 2014’s stellar Favorite Waitress, […]

[rating=7.00] It’s only natural for a band to take some time before personalizing a stylistic niche for themselves and The Broadcast may have their secured theirs with the aptly-titled From the Horizon. Produced by Grammy-Award winning producer Jim Scott, who’s worked with such polished ensembles as the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Wilco, the group’s […]

Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo’s cinematic exploration of the life of bassist Jaco Pastorius is as comprehensive as the genius musician’s range of influences. In the first few minutes of the film, the Metallica bassist, along with co-directors Paul Marchand and Stephen Kijak, waste no time illustrating the scope of their subject’s talent as well as […]

[rating=7.00] Not everything Bob Dylan does is truly provocative, but his music remains very much so and his new album is hardly an exception, so there’s plenty of speculation around Fallen Angels. Suffice to say, if you liked the last album, Shadows in the Night, you’ll probably like this one (though one such album  may […]