• Smith/Kotzen

    Music

    Smith/Kotzen

    Black Light/White Noise

    This is the third album from rock veterans Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden) and Richie Kotzen (The Winery Dogs). The busy axeslingers – especially Kotzen, who is always involved in solo and band projects – released their full-length debut and an EP in 2021. Smith-Kotzen has happily blossomed into a going concern. What’s interesting about Smith/Kotzen’s

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Albert Castiglia – These Are The Days

New York-born/Miami-raised Albert Castiglia is primarily, and by instinct, a blues man. But on his third album the one-time member of Junior Wells’ band displays a wide stylistic versatility along with his considerable…

Don Rigsby – Empty Old Mailbox

From Jerry Douglas’ opening dobro licks to the last ensemble G chord, Empty Old Mailbox is a nearly perfect bluegrass album. Nearly perfect because it lacks the late great fiddler Randy Howard, to…

The Cash Box Kings

Blues Mission

The Cash Box Kings are on a mission. This hard-working ensemble is committed to keeping the spirit of 1940s and ’50s Chicago blues alive and well. Their style and sound is gloriously retro,…

Jeff Beck

Since the late ’90s, Jeff Beck has been fusing equal parts blues, jazz-rock, and heavy-duty electronica; this time he’s added spoken-word sections and vocals over the big, throbbing grooves, thanks to singer Rosie…

Andy Brown

Chicago-based Andy Brown is 40 years old – meaning that some of the songs here were popular decades before he was born, as well as illustrating his maturity, along with the fact that…

David Crosby & The Lighthouse Band

Live at the Capitol Theatre

Once, there was Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; decades later came Crosby, Stevens, Willis & League – better known as The Lighthouse Band – to light a fire under David Crosby’s tail and…

Nick Moss – Privileged

Blue Bella Records

Along with the Kilborn Alley Blues Band, Gerry Hundt, and others on his Blue Bella label, Nick Moss is one of the most consistent current blues/blues-influenced artists from Chicago. Moss’ music is not…

Monte Montgomery

That guitar players will ever stop reinterpreting Jimi Hendrix’ “Little Wing” is neither likely nor necessary. The song is so rich and inviting, so mesmerizing to play, its beautiful chord structure and melody…

Cecil Alexander

Various artists

By 1973, Yes, ELP, and Jethro Tull were scoring gold albums in the style we now call progressive rock. Overnight, dozens of U.K. bands got the message and shifted course – they dropped…

Darrell Scott

Appleseed Recordings

Darrell Scott’s latest CD highlights his performing prowess rather than his songwriting chops – all 12 cuts are covers. This isn’t the first album on which Scott has displayed his interpretive abilities, but…

John Scofield

John Scofield

In a lengthy career marked by collaborations with other jazz icons, Scofield’s first solo-guitar album (using only a looper) is no minor departure. He covers a swath of material, combining standards and originals…

The Who

The Who with Orchestra, Live at Wembley

The raw power The Who displayed from their humble beginnings, nearly six decades ago, showed they didn’t need enhancements. But this 2019 show at London’s Wembley Stadium – their first there in four…

Mark Knopfler

When it comes to inspired songwriting and guitar playing, Mark Knopfler’s not in dire straights. On his new solo album, he had so much material, he chose not to leave good songs on…

Johnny Winter

Roots, from 2011, ended an almost 10-year drought for Winter, and in fine style, featuring excellent playing from Derek Trucks, Sonny Landreth, Vince Gill, and especially Winter himself. Step Back was to be…

Jonny Lang

Jonny Lang’s career has taken a turn that should befuddle the folks who saw him as a pretender to the Blues King throne. He started young, playing biting lead guitar and spitting gravelly…

Deke Dickerson

Guitarchaeology

When Deke Dickerson’s first Strat In The Attic book debuted in 2013, it was an instant best-seller among guitarists in the smart set. Beer parties were abuzz; jam sessions dissolved into ersatz book…

Adriana Balboa – Guitar Music From the Rio de la Plata

The tango is a music of melancholy, and Uruguayan Adriana Balboa’s guitar weeps with the sound on this solo album. Based now in Germany, Balboa offers a tribute to the Rio de la…

Cary Morin

Cradle To The Grave

When a heard-it-all music critic stumbles onto a “new artist,” only to discover a back catalog and lifetime achievement award, then immediately orders three prior CDs, you know something’s up. A Crow tribal…

999

A Punk Rock Anthology 1977-2020

When it comes to first-wave U.K. punk, the canon favors a handful of bands while paying cursory attention to worthy contemporaries. Take 999. As this compilation proves, the quartet was the sonic equal…

Peter Parcek 3

Redstar/Vizztone

The first wide release from Connecticut-born bluesman Peter Parcek appeal to fans of Savoy Brown and/or Peter Green. He should also draw an audience from beyond just blues or Brit-blues. Good is good…

Rob Halford

Confess: The Autobiography

“Confess” is the right word: this Metal God’s life certainly warrants an autobiography. Halford recalls the gradual climb of Judas Priest – and his struggle to remain in the closet.  If the vocalist’s…

Bruce Brown

Self-distributed

LA LOM

The Los Angeles League of Musicians

The Steepwater Band – Grace and Melody

It’s easy to dig the Steepwater Band, and on this, their fourth studio record, the Chicago trio steps it up a notch with the help of producer Marc Ford, whose tenure with the…

Yes

Topographic/Drama Live

“Drama” is the perfect word to describe the 50-year history of Yes. They’ve had more personnel changes and internal strife than just about any band around. Yet as this live CD proves, they…

The Derek Trucks Band – Soul Serenade

Though a step back chronologically – tracks for this album were recorded in late ’99 and early 2000, before the release of the band’s 2002 Joyful Noise album – Soul Serenade is several…

Chuck Mead – Journeyman’s Wager

The BR549 co-founder’s new disc is loaded with great stuff, including his guitar work. In the band, Mead split lead duties with Chris Scruggs and Gary Bennett, but was more than capable of…

Nancy Wright

The ubiquitous saxophonist of the San Francisco blues scene for 30 years, Nancy Wright finally stepped to the fore and released her solo debut in 2009 – a fine instrumental outing in a…

Hound Dog Taylor, Son Seals, and Others

“I’m A Woman” sings Koko Taylor in her face-smacking distaff take on Bo Diddley’s “I’m A Man” to open this collection of Alligator’s best, past and present. Telecaster god Albert Collins follows with…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

Forrest Lee, Jr. and Friends

Forrest Lee, Sr. was a country music legend most folks have likely never heard tell of. So why should they care about a tribute to the man and his gospel music? Because his…

Ry Cooder et. al. – Buena Vista Social Club

Ry Cooder has big ears. He hears music from far away, music that most of us never even sense. And he brings it to us. Spreading the gospel, as it were. Through his…

Chris Whitley and Jeff Lang – Dislocation Blues

Chris Whitley and Jeff Lang – Dislocation Blues Chris Whitley died from lung cancer in November, 2005. In his last years, he recorded more exceptional music than many musicians do in a lifetime.…