Posts by Jim Hynes

None of pianist and composer Micah Thomas’ previous albums prepared us for this ambitious, deeply explorative large ensemble work, Mountains. It’s a live album encompassing four sets of performances at NYC’s Jazz Gallery in June of 2023 as a result of a residency commission. The range of influences draws on Thomas’ classical training, his love […]

The late, revered saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter led the Wayne Shorter Quartet from 2000-2018, the longest tenure of his storied bands and the only one to bear his name as leader. Over that period, the ensemble comprised of pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Brian Blade was by any measure one of […]

The daring Meshell Ndegeocello follows up her 2023 GRAMMY Award for Best Alternative Jazz Album for The Omnichord Real Book with the unyielding, outspoken, deeply immersive No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin. The multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and producer culminates a project nearly a decade in the making by setting the activist’s views on […]

Drive-by Truckers fans are likely aware of the Deluxe reissue of the band’s breakthrough third album, Southern Rock Opera. Many have likely attended a live performance where the band is playing the original album in its entirety. Because the album has never been released on vinyl, this reissue is sure to attract listeners who favor […]

Melissa Carper has the charm and delivery of Patsy Cline and the classy pastiche of a jazz singer from eras ago. She has made major leaps since her 2021 Daddys Country Gold and she’s released Ramblin’ Soul in the interim and is a member of the sweet-sounding trio Wonder Women of Country with Kelly Willis […]

You may not be familiar with his name, Linda Sikhakhane, but if you trust the Blue Note label and have been impressed by the music of Nduduzo Makhathini, then you will eagerly gravitate toward the South African saxophonist’s debut on the label and his fourth album overall, Iladi. You may want to consider it an […]

Alto saxophonist, MC, and bandleader Lakecia Benjamin has had a most dreamlike past twelve months. She kicked on the Main Stage on Friday at the 2023 Newport Jazz Festival to a raving audience at 1 PM in the afternoon, no less. She’s been on tour constantly across the U.S. and Europe, including many prestigious festivals. She received […]

Johnny Cash’s Songwriter certainly arrives unexpectedly as one of 2024’s biggest surprises. Most of us assumed that after Cash’s passing in 2003, just about anything worthwhile in his catalog had been issued. Yet, during a lull between contracts and before the famous Rick Rubin recordings that revitalized Cash’s career, Cash recorded an album’s worth of […]

That distinctive, quiet, sweet croon of former busker Madeleine Peyroux doesn’t seem to fit a bold and outspoken singer. That is, until now. These ten songs, co-written by Peyroux and longtime collaborator Jon Herington (Steely Dan), delve into the personal, the political, the playful, and the yearning. Let’s Walk is her ninth album and first […]

The voice of Americana, Jim Lauderdale, has explored bluegrass, roots music, several albums with Robert Hunter, and pure country over the course of 37 records. From the opening notes of Tommy Detamore’s pedal steel on the opening title track, we know immediately which vein he’s in on “My Favorite Place.” This is as pure as […]

Friends for over 30 years, singer/songwriter/guitarist Dave Alvin and singer/songwriter harmonicist Jimmie Dale Gilmore found special chemistry in the studio and subsequent touring with Alvin’s band, The Guilty Ones, upon the release of 2018’s Downey to Lubbock. During the intervening almost six years, Alvin has battled cancer, undergone treatments successfully, and gradually resumed touring with […]

Human Decency is the third collaboration between blues and soul powerhouse vocalist Sugaray Rayford and producer/label owner Eric Corne on Corne’s Forty Below Records. At this point, the two have landed on a formula of sorts as Corne writes most of the lyrics, and Rayford delivers them with, as Rayford puts it, “… some ‘sugar’ […]

South African pianist, composer, healer, and philosopher Nduduzo Makhathini is one of today’s few spiritually transcendent artists, as heard on his previous two Blue Note releases. Unlike some artists who gravitate toward the spiritual side of jazz more for musical reasons, Nduduzo (easier to use his first name) is a Zulu healer and educator by […]

Blues-rock guitarist and singer-songwriter Joanne Shaw Taylor (JST) telegraphs her album theme or approach as directly as any artist. Heavy Soul is her twelfth release, and like 2021’s The Blues Album, she tells us straight out what she is aiming for. This is the first time she’s worked with renowned producer Kevin Shirley. Together, they […]

Chicago’s most famous bus driver, Toronzo Cannon, has now retired, devoting his full energies to his songwriting and fiery left-handed electric guitar playing. Shut Up & Play! is Cannon’s third release for Alligator Records and sixth overall, yet it’s been five years since his last one. Cannon, as a proud Black man who’s a keen […]

Seven decades in, it should come as no surprise that the Virginia-born, Los Angeles-based multi-genre-oriented artist, songwriter, and producer Swamp Dogg (AKA Jerry Williams, Jr.) would deliver a bluegrass album. Of course, that’s just the foundation as he melds into his stew strains of soul, funk, R&B, and even gospel for his first album on […]

In Glide’s review of Richard Thompson’s 2018 13 Rivers, we closed by saying “…nothing else labeled ‘folk rock’ sounds like Richard Thompson. Like Hendrix, he’s his own genre, one the major virtuosos of our time.”  With certainly nothing to prove, Thompson sallies forth six years later with Ship to Shore, reinforcing that point of view […]

Sometimes our obsession with the ‘next big thing’ or newer wave of singer-songwriters in Americana has us overlooking the stalwarts that shaped the genre. This is not to suggest that Kim Richey has been invisible. On the contrary, her harmonies are in so much demand that she shows up on countless albums. Yet, as a […]

Acclaimed and veteran saxophonist and composer David Murray follows his 2022 release of the well-received Seriana Promethea via his Brave New World Trio with this new quartet album, Francesca, on Intakt Records. The new members are leading voices in the creative scene. Pianist Marta Sanchez hails from Spain and has released five albums as a leader, including her brilliant recent trio […]

Seldom has there been a more appropriate title than Find Your Way for well-traveled, veteran singer-songwriter Tim Easton. He’s been a busker in Paris and Prague, he’s lived and worked on both coasts and had a long stint touring through remote places in Alaska.  He’s been in rock bands, is currently with a folk supergroup, […]