Resurrected from Stefan Grossman’s Kicking Mule label of the ’70s (1977, to be exact), Stranger was the followup to Traum’s solo debut, Relax Your Mind. In lieu of beefing up the 30-minute set with bonus tracks, the album is paired with a 13-song DVD of Traum in concert in ’81. Also, the CD includes a [...]
Miller takes a number of risks here. First, he enlists six guest vocalists, not counting wife Julie, with whom he’s recorded a number of duo albums. Second, the repertoire consists mainly of country standards associated with everyone from Eddy Arnold to Lefty Frizzell to Dean Martin. Finally, an arsenal of egoless guitar accompanists has the [...]
It’s hard to say which event stirs more anticipation, a new Bill Frisell solo album or a new project featuring him in an accompanying role. The guitarist is in demand as much for the way he listens as for the way he plays. A “short list” of people Frisell has played with includes Jim Hall, [...]
Paul Motian is one of the most unusual figures in jazz – respected for his composing as much as his drumming. He was a member of Bill Evans’ famed trio, backed such greats as Lennie Tristano and Keith Jarrett, and formed a trio with Joe Lovano and Bill Frisell. Guitarist Harrison has released several impressive [...]
Two CDs of Albert King – 34 songs, approaching two hours of material from his Stax period – has to be good news. It’s when companies label things as “best” or “essential” or “definitive” that problems start, and fans say “Wait a second.” But if you can ignore the fact that everything here does not [...]
In 1985, speaking of the ’83 Action Research into Muscle Distrophy (A.R.M.S.) Tour that united Yardbirds alumni Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and Eric Clapton, the latter stated, “At that time and for many months after that, I began to think of Jeff as probably being the finest guitar player I’d ever seen. And I’ve been [...]
Every musician I’ve spoken to who was around to witness or participate in the birth of rock and roll, from Carl Perkins to J.J. Cale to Jeff Beck, agrees that it was like turning on a light switch, and that “Elvis changed everything.” But as revolutionary as rock’s ’50s beginnings were, the next decade saw [...]
In a career spanning 45 years, Charlie Musselwhite has taken the blues to places its never been – literally (playing every corner of the globe) and artistically (on his two dozen solo albums and backing such diverse artists as Tom Waits, INXS, Doc Watson, Bonnie Raitt, Eliades Ochoa, Eddie Vedder, the Blind Boys Of Alabama, [...]
There have always been singer/songwriters in rock (from Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry to the Beatles and Bob Dylan), but from 1968 to ’75, L.A.’s Troubadour helped launch the “singer/songwriter” as an entity, a genre, and a movement. This 90-minute documentary revolves around King and Taylor playing the venue’s 50th anniversary in 2007. Through interviews [...]
Was there a specific concept or aim with the new CD? I wanted it to be what I would call a blues record, but really of the times in its content. Contemporary themes, not a throwback. Obviously, my whole life I’ve worked to try to make blues music that I felt was relevant. [...]
