Album Reviews

Naked Garden is a companion piece to Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real’s return to form of 2019’s Turn Off The News (Build A Garden). Produced by the band and John Alagia, the same team that collaborated upon last year’s title, this 15-track collection assembles previously-unreleased songs and alternate cuts from sessions at Shangri-La […]

Rory Block, today’s best traditional female blues artist, continues her life mission to document the music of blues originators.  She has put aside that talk of being ‘semi-retired,’ from a few years back but has reduced her touring schedule somewhat.  Having completed her acclaimed Mentor Series on male originators in 2016, Block issued her first […]

Consistent with their DIY approach, Australia punk rockers The Chats will be self-releasing their debut full-length High Risk Behaviour through their label Bargain Bin Records as well as Cooking Vinyl Australia. The band consists of Eamon Sandwith on bass/vocals, Josh Price on guitar, and Matt Boggis on drums who have been playing together since high […]

The apocryphal story about the Ramones is that their 1977 tour of England left a wake of new bands, with hundreds, if not thousands, of English kids seeing the pride of Queens, New York and thinking ‘I could and should do that.’ Tom Petty’s legacy is similar. At first glance, he made it seem like […]

This is saxophonist/bandleader Lakecia Benjamin’s third release, a truly masterwork, Pursuance: The Coltranes. Benjamin gathered an esteemed roster of jazz royalty on the date, which encompasses some 40 musicians in the credits. Recognizable names include three generations of jazz with Ron Carter, Gary Bartz, Regina Carter, Keyon Harold, Marcus Strickland, Brandee Younger, Dee Bridgewater, Meshell […]

In the latest Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle offers his illustrated commentary on Best of Luck, the new album from Christopher Paul Stelling, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution (best viewed on desktop):  

Sufjan Stevens and Lowell Brams have combined to release “Aporia” on the co-founded label Asthmatic Kitty. Brams has announced his retirement, making this a de facto going away present to the label. The recording took place over several years and was a result of hundreds of hours of recordings sifted through by both for highlights. […]

Walking Proof is Lilly Hiatt’s fourth album, aptly named in a sense as it represents major steps forward both lyrically and sonically from her 2012 punkish debut and the 2017’s contemplative Trinity Lane. She seems to have put aside some of her angst and hurt. She says, “When I got that little gap in my […]

Most of you know that the banjo originated in West Africa, so banjo master Bela Fleck was almost obligated to explore the instrument’s roots at some point. After all, there may not be a more explorative musician than Fleck who has won 15 Grammys in nine different categories, stretching from country to pop to jazz […]

Are You In Love? Is the fifth album from the immensely talented Canadian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Basia Bulat. She challenged herself to write about forgiveness, rather appropriate we suppose since her 2016 Good Advice, produced by My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James, was a break-up album. James takes his place in the producer’s chair again […]

The original Glimmer was Richey’s third album as she was transitioning from a writer of hit country songs for Radney Foster and Trisha Yearwood, among others. The original was, for the most part, considered a good album by the critics but many who were seeking more country fare, objected to its pop and rock qualities. […]

It’s taken about four decades, but someone in Chicago finally opened up the time capsule that’s been housing the six-piece shaggy-haired band Rookie. And once they finally aired out from forty years of stale Schlitz beer farts and Winston smoke, they started work on their debut, a dozen mostly great tracks slathered in classic guitar […]

In the latest Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle offers his illustrated commentary on the new album self-titled album from Chicago cosmic rockers Rookie, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution (best viewed on desktop):

Carla Olson had been already been receiving deserved kudos for her work with the Textones by the time she met ex-Byrd Gene Clark and began a collaboration that would subsequently (and substantially) elevate her profile. Her enterprising spirit thus bolstered, the Texas-bred, Los Angeles-based embarked upon a variety of projects, including 2013’s Have Harmony, Will […]

The release of this project from the JLCO celebrating the greats of the University of Kansas basketball greats was obviously timed to coincide with March Madness. So, because the sports world, and many other aspects of our daily lives are not shut down, this may be a vicarious way to experience the basketball we don’t […]

Mabern Plays Mabern was originally planned for release on the great pianist’s 84th birthday but Harold Mabern, unfortunately, passed away in September 2019, at the age of 83. Fortunately, this, his 27th recording and first posthumous one is culled from the same live sessions that formed his 26th, The Iron Man: Live at Smoke, when […]

If a friend – even one whose music tastes you trust completely – told you they had a gospel group for you to check out, what would your reaction be? It’s an honest question. Maybe you’d be really excited about it. Maybe you’d think that this friend of yours was trying to steer you toward […]

This series of political statements come from a rather unlikely source. Canadian vocalist David Clayton-Thomas rose to fame 52 years ago when Blood, Sweat & Tears commanded the radio with “Spinning Wheel,” “You Made Me So Very Happy” and “And When I Die.”  As a solo act, Clayton-Thomas’ albums have been erratic, and most have […]

Jazz guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel returns to the trio format for Angular Blues. Joining him are the long-time cohort and acclaimed drummer Brian Blade and bassist Scott Colley, a departure from Muthspiel’s trio that usually includes Larry Grenadier on bass. In the nine selections, Muthspiel plays acoustic guitar on three and electric on the other half […]

Rejoice combines the talents of two legendary African musicians, Nigerian drummer Tony Allen (co-founder of Afrobeat and longtime member of alt-rock supergroup The Good The Bad & The Queen) with the late trumpeter, South Africa’s Hugh Masakela, who passed in 2018. This is the first posthumous release since his passing. The two had talked for […]