As music evolves and grows, it sometimes hits roadblocks. That has been a problem in the past with the blues. Eli Cook’s latest album takes a stab at helping the music evolve. It’s not an earth-shattering turn by any means. Any fan of the blues will recognize the patterns and the structures of the songs. [...]
This double-disc contains some of the most challenging guitar music recorded in the past year. While the four featured guitarists – Alex Machacek, Wayne Krantz, Jimmy Herring, and John McLaughlin – all shine, it’s Krantz who really steals the show. It opens with two cuts from Machacek, an Austrian fusion player who shows a penchant [...]
Upon first viewing you’ll notice that The Sound and the Story is different. The new video from guitarist Leslie West stands apart from other instructional guitar DVDs in that, while West is more than happy to show how to play some of his classic songs and discuss how he learned to play, his gregarious personality [...]
To expect a record by the Outlaws to sound this good in 2012 would be folly. The band hasn’t released a studio album in more than two decades and two of the main guitarists from the original band – Hughie Thomasson and Billy Jones – are dead. The remaining original guitarist, Henry Paul, has resurrected [...]
Drew Zingg isn’t exactly a household name, but he should become one to all guitarists. Best known for stints with Steely Dan, Donald Fagen’s New York Rock and Soul Revue, and Boz Scaggs, he’s a complete guitarist. And he’s gone a unique route with this record, working with producer George Walker Petit and a group [...]
It’s always a treat when a young player arrives on the scene with an understanding of what came before him. Dechter is a traditional jazz player who lets us know right off the bat that he gets it by offering a swinging version of Wes Montgomery’s “Road Song.” Not content to just hang with the [...]
Joanne Shaw Taylor is a young British guitarist who, with this album, is moving beyond the blues. While her guitar style is certainly rooted in familiar ground, she writes songs more on the side of soul world and on occasion even tilts toward pop. “Dead and Gone” is a good place for the uninitiated to [...]
Time sometimes makes us forget how good certain artists truly are, and Nick Lowe is a prime example. After being out of print for some time, Yep Roc has reissued Lowe’s brilliant 1979 album, Labour of Lust. Cut at the same time as his Rockpile bandmate Dave Edmunds’ Repeat When Necessary, the band plays on [...]
A lot of people paint the smooth jazz world with a broad brush that sometimes ignores the players who play with soul, intensity, and smartness. Paul Brown would be one such player. While his playing is firmly rooted in jazz, his R&B grit and amazing ability to write a memorable melody make his records, including [...]
Minimalist begins to describe Durham’s music and approach, but it doesn’t capture everything that is involved. All 11 of the songs here feature pretty much some form of guitar and percussion and not much else. Yes, there is a piano on the folk-country ballad “Clementine” and the occasional mandolin and fiddle, but it’s a six-string [...]
