Album Reviews

Memphis-based band Lucero have managed to draw in influences from Punk, Classic Soul, Folk and Country throughout their 20-plus year career. So, it seems only natural that they throw another genre into the mix on this, their 10th studio LP. On When You Found Me, singer songwriter Ben Nichols and the band stated they were […]

When COVID-19 hit, musicians had to figure out what to do with themselves. After all, what is one to do when bands are not allowed to gather or tour? For Ghalia Volt, the answer was simple: become a one-woman band. While her previous albums were with a band, performing solo was not foreign to her […]

In 2020 one of the most active musicians from a recording standpoint was NEA Jazz Master saxophonist Dave Liebman, which this writer covered at least four times, twice on these pages. In fact, this effort, Invitation, was originally slated for a 2020 release but was pushed back given last October’s Liebman Lovano co-led Kaleidoscope Quintet […]

Obviously 2020 was a devastatingly tough year for many of us, but Philly-native Langhorne Slim – now a resident of Nashville – had more than his share of anguish last year.  Already struggling with diagnosed anxiety and depression, at the end of 2019 he was fighting to overcome prescription drug addiction. In March 2020, a […]

Maybe it’s these unsettled times that call for calming sounds. Or perhaps it’s this writer’s propensity to be drawn to ballads. One of the best albums of last year (Glide Jazz Top 20) was the late Jimmy Heath’s parting statement of all ballads, Love Letter. Earlier this month we had a gorgeous duo album (El […]

When you look at the history of the blues, you see quite a few artists that were “discovered” later in life. Alabama Slim is one of those artists. He was born in 1939 and grew up listening to 78s of artists like Big Bill Broonzy and Lightnin’ Hopkins. After Hurricane Katrina, Slim and his cousin […]

In the latest Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle offers his illustrated commentary on the new self-titled album from New Orleans ska band Bad Operation, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution (best viewed on desktop):

Many musicians are self-taught. Many can find a second livelihood gigging locally and most stay in that mode throughout their musical pursuits. Few break out to national or international touring status but the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, once seemingly destined to the former, has indeed broken out. I Told You So is their third album, […]

The label alone, ECM, conjures up introspective, chilly, ethereal, haunting as well as glowing, beautiful, shimmering. At least one or two of those adjectives can be ascribed to most of the label releases. We can add spiritual. explorative, edgy, and adventurous to that list too, especially in the case of Joe Lovano Trio Tapestry, who […]

Singer-songwriter electric and lap steel guitarist Selywn Birchwood delivers his third album, Living in a Burning House, for Alligator Records. He is one of the most appealing of the young vanguard of blues musicians keeping the music alive while melding in some other forms of roots music in the process. Birchwood calls his original music […]

American Pianists Award Winner Emmet Cohen makes his debut for Mack Avenue Records, with some tunes, involving the stride piano music from a century ago. Yet, as the title Future Stride indicates, the music doesn’t necessarily sound throw-back or dated. It was the vitality of the great stride pianists that later evolved into the music […]

The Luxurious Faux Furs is a duo that started in New York, which seems like a pretty fitting place for a garage-rock duo. The band has since moved to New Orleans, and their adoptive hometown seems to have affected their music. Granted, you’ll still hear a lot of garage rock, but now that rock sound […]

Like many, this writer was first introduced to multi-instrumentalist Jared Tyler through his longtime work as trusted sideman for singer-songwriter Malcolm Holcombe. Now Tyler leads a collaborative project with fellow Okies, most of which are familiar names to those who closely follow roots music. They slide guitarist and luthier Seth Lee Jones, who has been […]

In the latest Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle offers his illustrated commentary on Silver Linings, the new album from punk legends Less Than Jake, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution (best viewed on desktop):

This trio, The Burnt Pines, first came together in a Lisbon, Portugal recording studio in the summer of 2018, with two of them having met prior to that at Boston’s esteemed Berklee School of Music. They are Danish-born singer and lyricist Kris Skovmand, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Aaron Flanders, and Portuguese-born keyboard player and arranger Miguel […]

Recorded in July 2019, just two months before the passing of great pianist and composer Harold Mabern, Thank You, Mr. Mabern! features the leader, bassist Leon Lee Dorsey, and drummer Mike Clark in a trio. This posthumous release is not only Dorsey’s personal farewell to the beloved Mabern, but marks six decades of music from […]

Melvins drummer Dale Crover flexes his musical muscles for his latest solo release.

Miss Lava is a band from Lisbon that has produced three albums of groove-laden heavy rock. Doom Machine is the band’s fourth studio album and it gives you plenty of what you would expect from a band on Small Stone Records. Namely, it gives you heavy doses of loud guitar and beats that are sure […]

Big Thief has only been around for five years or so, but in that short time frontwoman, Adrianne Lenker has built the band into one of the most consistently astonishing groups playing today while simultaneously dividing her time between maintaining an almost equally great solo career. Her bandmate and ex-husband Buck Meek, often offers backing […]

It is a strong time for British post-punk acts as groups like Fontaines D.C. and IDLES ride high. Adding to that tally Shame propagated the success of their debut with their strong second album, Drunk Tank Pink. Their mix of clashing guitars and dance laden rhythms, shooting around spoken/disenchanting vocals congeal into sticky sweet and […]