Album Reviews

Guitarist and vocalist Larry McCray takes the ‘big production’ route for “Heartbreak City.” Just as Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia enlisted the Grammy-nominated producing duo of Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith for their Blues Music Award-winning Blood Brothers, McCray not only follows suit but adds horns and background vocalists along with star-studded guests. As if […]

Following up on her acclaimed 2024 debut Image Issues, Brittany Davis‘ new release, Black Thunder, is a freewheeling, jazzy excursion that showcases her strong vocals, insightful lyrics, and the musical interplay of her trio.  On her debut, Davis used drum machines and programmed keys, but this time, things are more organic and flowing. Working with producer Josh […]

Grammy-nominated harpist Brandee Younger delivers her third album and first with all-original music for Gadabout Season on Impulse! Known mostly for her interpretations of her forbears on the instrument, Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby, Younger continues to mesh R&B, hip-hop, and classical influences with jazz. Gadabout Season is more personal and features Younger’s original compositions, […]

For over a decade, Philadelphia’s Muscle Tough, the self-described “futuristic funk fusion trio” of Ross Bellenoit (guitar), Jonathan Colman (bass), and Joe Baldacci (drums/synth), has been carving out a unique sonic space. Known for their instrumental jazz/funkadelic that echoes the likes of Living Colour, Lotus, and the Wayne Krantz trio, they deliver “out there” grooves […]

Even Van Morrison’s most ardent fans weren’t sure he could write songs like several that appear on his 43rd studio album, Remembering Now. It’s like three plus decades of duets, reissues, skiffle, blues, and otherwise uninspired R&B vanished. That’s not to say there were not a few high points in that series of records. The […]

In the tribal world of metal music, the Danish rockers of Volbeat have carved out a niche by refusing to conform to any of the metal subgenres. Their idiosyncratic sound draws from rockabilly and other retro rock & roll styles as much as it does from thrash and groove metal.  God of Angels Trust, Volbeat’s […]

Christian Parker and company’s Back At Home is a natural extension of these same musicians’ previous–and equally unaffected–tributes to the Byrds. 2023’s Sweethearts – A Tribute to the Byrds’ ‘Sweetheart of the Rodeo, offers their homage to that group’s original landmark fusion of rock and country, while the very next year’s Change Is Now is […]

With Still Shakin’, North Mississippi Allstars hearken to their roots in more ways than one. Its title a specific reference to their debut album, 2000’s Shake Hands With Shorty, this third New West Records LP of theirs is also a direct extension of the fundamental concept of the band as a rotating cast of like-minded musicians, at the […]

Since Joanne Shaw Taylor so effectively recaptured her roots in 2022 with Blues From the Heart Live, her studio efforts have been a mixed bag. In her earnest endeavors to expand her style, she issued a pop-oriented, highly polished studio outing titled Nobody’s Fool, thereby setting the stage for the R&B-influenced Heavy Soul, a second outing with producer Kevin Shirley (he also […]

The Los Angeles-based rockers Frankie and the Witch Fingers ratchet up the nervous energy on their newest offering, Trash Classic. The ten spastic tracks shimmy, bang and slam forward as the band embraces new-wave and post-punk influences in a significant way. Recorded in Oakland, at Tiny Telephone Studio, with producer Maryam Qudus (La Luz, Spacemoth), Dylan […]

A new era of Hip-hop is starting to rise from the ashes of the blog era. With Hip-hop’s current stars selling out football stadiums and landing number one hits, a new crop of young lane-pavers is emerging from around the world. These new artists are a far cry from their predecessors; a new level of […]

Over the past two decades, Ontario-based Born Ruffians have been on a constant journey of musical evolution. From indie rock to New Wave to their current incarnation of synth pop, the band manages to show off snatches of just about every musical influence on Beauty’s Pride, their latest LP.   The opening track, “Mean Time” is […]

The Blackbyrds’ City Life doesn’t just groove—it struts. Released in 1975 at the height of funk’s golden era, this album is a shining example of how jazz-trained musicians could infuse soul and R&B with technical flair without sacrificing dance-floor appeal. Produced by their mentor and jazz great Donald Byrd, City Life finds The Blackbyrds fully […]

Back in 2008, Grace Potter took a break from her band, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, to record a solo album with producer T-Bone Burnett, but it never saw the light of day. Potter’s label was unhappy with the softer direction, which they saw as off-brand for the rock star persona they were building off […]

Fifteen years after her last solo record, Amy Millan returns with I Went to Find You, an intimate, carefully layered album shaped by loss, memory, and quiet resilience. Co-written and produced with composer Jay McCarrol, the record trades in the kinds of subtle arrangements and understated emotion that don’t immediately demand attention, but reward close […]

Moon Beams marked an important moment for Bill Evans. Recorded in 1962, it was his first trio album following the sudden death of bassist Scott LaFaro, whose intuitive style had shaped much of Evans’ earlier sound. Rather than returning with something bold or experimental, Evans chose a softer approach—an album built almost entirely around ballads. […]

Aesop Rock is the type of artist who has held a veteran presence in Hip-hop since his debut record. Over the past few decades, the emcee/producer has crafted a discography that plays like a series of novels, each one capturing a chapter in Rock’s life as he navigates success and modern trappings. His consistently conceptual […]

Listening to current Nashville resident Imogen Clark’s latest, Choking On Fuel, you’d swear she was a native who got her start playing dive bars around town before finally getting booked at The Bluebird Café or The Basement East. Surprisingly, Clark got her start as a teen playing bars in Sydney, Australia, not exactly the most […]

New Vienna is the fourth concert released from Keith Jarrett’s 2016 European tour, following Munich 2016, Budapest Concert, and Bordeaux Concert, the latter two of which we covered here. It is named such because Vienna Concert was issued in 1992. While that was recorded at the Vienna State Opera, New Vienna takes place in another […]

The prolific and consistently evolving Ty Segall is emerging from a period of experimentation. Not that the artist hasn’t built his career on shifting sonic landscapes, but 2024 proved to be a particularly daring year for the young psych-rock veteran. After releasing the distorted psychedelia of Three Bells, Segall dove headfirst into percussion-driven spiritual jazz […]