• 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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Eric Johnson

The Book of Making/Yesterday Meets Today

During lockdown, Eric Johnson killed time by poring through his old recordings of songs, ideas, and jams. He took old tapes – some mere audio cassettes – and recorded new material on top,…

Tony Joe White

Smoke from the Chimney

When Tony Joe White died in 2018 at age 75, just after the release of Bad Mouthin’, that raw collection of originals and blues covers seemed an appropriate epitaph for the Louisiana singer/songwriter/guitarist.…

Country Joe and the Fish

Country Joe and The Fish were one of the most original, eclectic, and just plain good San Francisco bands of the mid to late ’60s. Joe McDonald, in particular, wrote songs that were…

Wes Montgomery/Wynton Kelly Trio

Maximum Swing: The Unissued 1965 Half Note Recordings

Historically, there’ve been two camps of jazz guitar: acoustic Gypsy Django Reinhardt and electric pioneer Charlie Christian. But the swing and hard bop of Wes Montgomery required a third path, and 55 years…

Various Artists

Pure Country

Amidst the torrent of modern-country anthems praising pickup trucks, beer, bros, and sweet things in tight jeans gushing out of Nashville these days, there’s an undercurrent of stellar music that’s also making waves.…

Mutlu – Livin’ It

Mutlu Onaral is a singer/songwriter from Philadelphia who mixes soul and folk into a sound that highlights the best of both. If it sounds familiar (a la Hall and Oates), it may be…

Ronnie James Dio, with Mick Wall & Wendy Dio

Rainbow in the Dark

When Dio died of stomach cancer in 2010, he was arguably metal’s greatest-ever singer and had worked with two of the most enigmatic guitar heroes in rock history – Ritchie Blackmore and Tony…

Alan Gogoll

Lioness Lullabies

Venture online and watch a few videos by Tasmanian guitarist Alan Gogoll and you’ll see he’s nothing short of a phenomenon. On acoustic, he conjures artificial harmonics in a manner that almost defies…

Rock Candy Funk Party

Funk means many things to many people, and while religious funkaholics place Sly and the Family Stone, the Ohio Players, and Parliament Funkadelic high on the alter, heretics differ. Rock Candy Funk Party’s…

Adrian Legg- Live

In a 2005 VG interview, Legg said of his aversion to live recordings, “It’s a moment in time. You’re capturing a social event, and you’re repeating it over and over again. If you…

Double Trouble – Been A Long Time

This celebratory debut release lays testament to the resilient talent of drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon, renowned as Stevie Ray Vaughan’s rhythm section, Double Trouble. Losing a front person of such…

Roky Erickson – Halloween

The story of the former singer of Texas’ 13th Floor Elevators was well known to rock fans, who’d given him up for lost prior to his miraculous comeback of the past few years.…

Mike Morgan and The Crawl

The Lights Went Out In Dallas

Texas has a storied tradition of fantastic blues guitarists, and Mike Morgan has steadily grown as one of the keepers of that flame. This collection also reveals him to be a strong singer…

Betty Davis and Mahalia Barnes

Nasty Girl

Betty Mabry was known far and wide by the sobriquet of the Nasty Girl. She earned the moniker for being too wild for her men to handle – and among her men were…

Danny Gatton – Redneck Jazz Explosion Volume 1 and Volume 2

The Danny Gatton files have so much great stuff that we may be hearing from the genius of the guitar for quite some time. These two amazingly cool discs are from live sets…

Denny Jiosa – Dreams Like This

Denny Jiosa is a player of immense chops and fire, and while jazz dominates this album, Jiosa is also at home with R&B and pop, and cuts like “Forward Motion” give him the…

Peter Blake and Commentary Derek Taylor – 24 Nights

Perhaps you were let down by the high prices for the Eric Clapton guitars at the recent Christies auction. But don’t despair! You can still get a limited edition book, music, and memorabilia…

Jellyroll – Hep Cats Holiday

Jump blues are like licorice: if you like it, you can’t get enough. Jellyroll satisfies the craving with a cool selection of 12 classic tunes, from “Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t…

Mavis Staples – We’ll Never Turn Back

Billed as her most personal statement, this may well be Mavis Staples’ finest solo effort to date. In 2004, the powerhouse lead singer of the famed Staple Singers released the rootsy Have A…

Greg Trooper

52 Shakes Records

Greg Trooper’s music displays a variety of influences – bluesy inflections from R&B coupled with rootsy country melodies and arrangements. On his latest release, he handles most of the acoustic guitar, with veteran…

Buddy Emmons: Steel Guitar Icon

Steve Fishell

No one would argue that Buddy Emmons wasn’t a transformative force in pedal-steel guitar. Immortalized as “The Big E,” he was known for his trademark derby hat, consummate musical brilliance, and good humor…

Steely Dan – Two Against Nature (video)

Two Against Nature features the current touring band doing new and old tunes in concert in a nice intimate setting that highlights the band’s sound perfectly. Fagen and Becker lead a group featuring…

Ram On (Paul McCartney tribute)

Various artists

It’s been 50 years since Paul’s 1971 album arrived, credited to the ex-Beatle and late wife, Linda. Ram itself was recently reissued, but this uncanny tribute is actually more interesting. Led by original…

J.W. Black and Albert Molinaro – The Fender Bass: An Illustrated History

Bass players have always been somewhat taken for granted. It’s almost as if they didn’t have to be good, merely profi-cient, for the music of the band to come across. Of course, anybody…

Check This Action: Box of Cacti

The 1970 debut album by Cactus blasted off with a gnarly guitar riff for the ages, as the band’s rendition of “Parchman Farm” out-rocked any and all transformations of jazz composer Mose Allison…

Jinx Jones – Live in Finland

San Francisco’s Jinx Jones teams with two terrific Finnish musicians for the making of this fine live record. Henry Valanne (drums) and Ari Sjöblom (bass) are both adept at the various forms of…

The Wailin’ Jennys

Red House Records

The concept of a “folk supergroup” sounds strange, sort of like “the folksinger’s Porsche.” But no musical amalgamation deserves this moniker more than The Wailin’ Jennys. With three world-class lead vocalists who are…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

Coco Montoya

Hard Truth

It’s been awhile since Coco Montoya’s last studio effort, but he comes out firing here. From the Albert King-style blast that kicks off the opener, “Before The Bullets Fly,” to the loud, raucous…

Robert Bradley – Out of the Wilderness

While Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise deals in styles of music done by many bands – R&B, rock, soul, and jazz – it always brings an edge most bands don’t offer. Out of the…

The Brakes – Tale of Two Cities

The Brakes are a Philadelphia rock/pop band that recorded live dates in both New York and Philly. From those shows, they got the 12 cuts here. The positive side of all this is…