Posts by Doug Collette

[rating=5.00] From its title to the cover graphics and to the music inside, Bob Seger’s Ride Out has all the earmarks of a swan song. Of course, that’s probably not in the offing given the level of success Seger’s nurtured since his break-through in 1976 with Night Moves, including continued sold-out concert tours, but subsequent […]

Like the other books in the series, The Grateful Dead FAQ delves into its topic with earnest enthusiasm even though the history of this iconic band has already received significant attention from a variety of perspectives. And a subtitle as glib as it is pretentious, ‘All That’s Left to Know About the Greatest Jamband in […]

[rating=7.00] Approaching Neil Young’s new album Storytone, it is well to keeping in mind the iconoclastic artist is no stranger to either strings (his eponymous solo album, Comes A Time) or horns (This Note’s For You). But Young’s either hedging his bets or simply being his unpredictable self by offering the new record in a […]

In contrast to its black and white/sepia tone cover graphics, Trilogy is full of colors, primary, pastel and all shades in between. And that’s not surprising as the three piece group of pianist Chick Corea, percussionist Brian Blades and bassist Christian McBride is that most unusual of units: players of virtually equal technical and improvisational […]

The layout of Higher Ground’s Showcase Lounge doesn’t much recall the late Bill Graham’s Fillmore East, but the triple bill of Anders Parker’s Cloud Badge, Blood Oranges and Waylon Speed called to mind the halcyon days the now-defunct New York venue as a haven for true music lovers. The bands  on this Halloween evening bill […]

It wasn’t long into Lettuce’s sold out appearance in Higher Ground’s ballroom on October 25th that the septet fully reaffirmed the impression they left on their last appearance at the Vermont venue in September of 2013. That is, precisely because they’re so versatile as a band and the arrangements of their material so open to […]

[rating=8.00] Recording in the studio for albums like Automatic for the People, R.E.M. pushed the boundaries of their readily identifiable style more (and arguably more successfully) than any of their peers. And the Georgia band’s only comparable contemporaries in that regard, Ireland’s U2, never stripped their instrumental lineup down to acoustic basics as presented on […]

[rating=6.00] Touted as something of a ‘super-group’ based on the presence of Jackie Greene, Joan Osborne  and Steve Gorman, the bonding of those relatively high-profile individuals with guitarist Tom Bukovac and bassist Nick Govrik leverages a fair amount of collective talent. Trigger Hippy doesn’t rest on its laurels, but this first recording of theirs finds […]

[rating=9.00] In the twenty years since the group formed in Oklahoma, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey has slowly but surely turned itself into an American musical institution (during its most recent history under the tutelage of keyboardist Brian Haas). It is little wonder then that the group, now a trio including guitarist Chris Combs and drummer […]

As noted in their introduction to the stage, it was almost exactly nine years prior that Los Lobos appeared in this homey northern New Hampshire venue to play a largely acoustic two sets of music. In 2014, however, the circumstances were markedly different, making for a uniformly memorable performance, the intimacy of which may have […]