-
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
Devi
True Nature Records
Devi is a rock trio led by singer/ guitarist Debra, and the band shows an affinity for good songs with strong, melodic hooks. The mix includes pop, rock, folk, psychedelica, and everything in-between.…
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…
Sons of Adam
Saturday’s Sons: The Complete Recordings, 1964-1966
Whatever claim to fame the Sons of Adam have is thanks to guitarist Randy Holden, who later joined Blue Cheer (replacing Leigh Stephens) after a stop with the under-recorded Other Half. The Sons…
-
Chris Walz
All I Got and Gone
This traditional folk singer/guitarist’s solo debut is impressive. He’s been an educator at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music for three decades, but his approach is by no means academic. He not only reveals the influence of folk and blues legends such as Doc and Merle Watson, Elizabeth Cotten, Etta Baker, Dave Van Ronk,
-
Nels Cline
Consentrik Quartet
ls Cline long ago established a parallel career as an eclectic instrumentalist and contemporary jazz virtuoso. His fourth Blue Note album is an extended set that unveils Consentrik Quartet, his new band with acoustic bassist Chris Lightcap, drummer Tom Rainey, and tenor/soprano saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock. Their concepts are ambitious and their sound is free, Cline
-
Charlie Musselwhite
Lookout Highway
John Mayall is invariably cited for the succession of guitar greats who passed through his band. But Charlie Musselwhite just might be the American equivalent. In a 60-year career, his six-stringers have included Harvey Mandel, Luther Tucker, Louis Myers, Tim Kaihatsu, Robben Ford, Fenton Robinson, Johnny Heartsman, Junior Watson, Andrew “Jr. Boy” Jones, John Wedemeyer,
The Mike Eldridge Trio
Self-released
Mike Eldred is an L.A. guitarslinger with a strong taste for Americana. His power trio includes Blasters’ backline men John Bazz (bass) and Jerry Angel (drums), and together they serve up a tasty…
Tom Feldmann And Noah Levy
Brothers in the Mud
Spoiler alert: While it’s early in the year, this album is already a shoe-in as one of the best blues offerings of 2021. Tom Feldmann should need little introduction here, as VG called…
Chris Duarte Group – Vantage Point
It’ll surprise few familiar with Duarte to learn that this disc is full of hardcore Strat tones, killer blues chops, and lyrics that get to the point. Cynics might say “What’s the point?”…
Looking to Get Lost: Adventures in Music and Writing
Peter Guralnick
Peter Guralnick has masterfully chronicled American vernacular music artists for half a century. His in-depth, first-person profiles of blues, R&B, country and rockabilly greats first appeared in magazines, then in the anthologies Feel…
The Blues Will Set You Free
We’ve all heard of blues in bars, but what about blues behind bars? That’s what Paul Oscher had in mind in the late ’80s, when he brought a world-class blues band to play…
Low Rats
Year Of The Rat MMXX
From the Trashmen to the Replacements, Minneapolis has an improbable legacy of untethered garage-rock and punk. Add Low Rats to that lineage. On their debut LP, the quartet distills seedy psychobilly, Heartbreakers hooks,…
-
Popa Chubby
I Love Freddie King
The latest from blues dynamo Popa Chubby is a star-studded tribute to the late great Freddie King. Produced by Mr. Chubby and Mike Zito, I Love Freddie King is a blues guitar love-fest covering some of King’s most potent and popular songs. With Popa fronting the band on guitar and vocals, guests include Eric Gales,
-
Rush
Rush 50
The goal of any anthology is to capture the broad scope of an artist’s career. Rush 50 is a strong attempt, starting with their first singles (previously unreleased) all the way to their final live recordings in 2015. In between are reams of epic studio and stage recordings, summing up the band’s career in one
-
Rik Emmett
Ten Telecaster Tales
At the risk of starting a brawl, Rik Emmett’s guitar work was arguably too good for Triumph. As evidence, his latest project centers on a custom-built Loucin that inspired both a book and accompanying music. “Magic Power” this is not. On Ten Telecaster Tunes, Emmett delivers 10 solo performances on the instrument he calls Babs,
-
Check This Action: Up Jumped Elmore
When someone recently asked me to recommend the most essential Elmore James album, I answered, “Any and all.” I’ve never heard a bad Elmore cut, and I’ve heard nearly everything he recorded. Everybody knows that he set the standard for slide guitar in electric blues, but he was also a fantastic singer and wrote some
-
Greg Koch
Blues
The Gristle Master returns with scintillating blues and the influences that made him the six-string slayer he is today. On this live recording, Koch uses an array of guitars including his signature Reverend, a Deluxe Tele, Custom Shop Les Paul, and a Custom Shop Strat while sharing stages with Larry McCray, Jimmy Hall, Malford Milligan,
-
2025 December Issue on Spotify
This month, we feature Rick Derringer, Kid Ramos, Booker T and The M.G.’s, Steve Stevens, Phil Manzanera, Doug Aldrich, Kenny Burrell, Eric Johanson, Gary Moore, and more! Spotify is free or available without ads via a paid subscription. Go to www.spotify.com and search “Vintage Guitar magazine,” or if you already have an account Listen to
Tomo Fujita – Right Place, Right Time
Fujita is a professor at Berklee College of Music, and the music here flies in the face of the old adage, “Those who can’t do, teach.” Fujita proves himself a true player’s player;…
2025 June Issue on Spotify
This month, we feature The Meters’ George Porter, Tommy Emmanuel, Jedd Hughes, Dudley Taft, Lari Basilio, Ally Venable, The Police, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Dave Mason, Kenny Burrell, and more! Spotify is free or…
Little Charlie and the Nightcats – Deluxe Edition
Alligator has started a “best of” line that features cuts from various artists. Here’s one of the first, and if future releases are this nice, it’ll be a definite plus for the great…
Kenny “Blue” Ray – Git It!
I’ve lost count! I believe this is Kenny’s sixth self-produced CD. And, as have its predecessors, Git It, his most recent effort, again illustrates Blue Ray’s dedication to the blues craft. Rumor has…
Otis Spann
Otis Spann is The Blues
Otis Spann was the greatest Chicago blues pianist, from his long stint with Muddy Waters to his late-’60s recordings backed by Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac. In 1960, esteemed journalist Nat Hentoff produced Spann’s…
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
Live From the Ryman, Vol. 2
Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium is a special venue for Isbell & the 400 Unit. As their stature has grown beyond roots music, they’ve performed on that vaunted stage more than 50 times in the…
The Holmes Brothers – State of Grace
It’s tough to write great songs and perform them well. But it’s another thing altogether to covergreat songwriters, make their songs your own, and do them well. And it’s an incredible feat when…
Robert Gordon: Memphis Rent Party
There’s no city like Memphis when it comes to music. And thankfully, there’s Robert Gordon to chronicle its story. Gordon has written books and helmed documentaries about Muddy Waters, Stax Records, and, of…
Dino Saluzzi – Responsorium
Responsorium
Argentine Dino Saluzzi is at the forefront of a new generation of bandonéonistas arriving on the scene since the overpowering force of Astor Piazzolla. Yet while many have remain trapped in the strands…
The Jimmy Bruno Group – Midnight Blue
I dunno… sometimes it seems silly to review things like this. Everyone who follows jazz guitar knows Jimmy Bruno is a knock-down monster player with both chops and soul. In fact, technically, he’s…
The Blues Will Set You Free
We’ve all heard of blues in bars, but what about blues behind bars? That’s what Paul Oscher had in mind in the late ’80s, when he brought a world-class blues band to play…
Steve Earle – Jerusalem
Here are a couple of records from one of America’s best songwriters. One is a batch of cuts made for movie soundtracks, or for some other reason didn’t fit on his albums. The…
Live at the Fillmore East 1969
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
A veritable holy grail, this recording from CSNY’s first tour captures their harmonies in amber. Better, the integrity of the audio has been strenuously maintained, as guitarists Neil Young and Stephen Stills helped…
The Jimmy Bruno Group – Midnight Blue
I dunno… sometimes it seems silly to review things like this. Everyone who follows jazz guitar knows Jimmy Bruno is a knock-down monster player with both chops and soul. In fact, technically, he’s…
Whiskey Shivers
Some Part Of Something
Whiskey Shivers’ instrumentation, the basic construction of their songs, and lightning fast picking mean you could call this a bluegrass band. But the ensemble takes things one step beyond. “Like A Stone” ruminates…
Too Rolling Stoned
The Rolling Stones
Once reviled as a self-indulgent, drug-addled wreck, the Stones’ Their Satanic Majesties Request has been reconsidered in recent years and is now regarded as a one-off gem. Lodged between their early R&B-fueled hits…
Joshua Hedley
Neon Blue
Country tradition remains the center of Joshua Hedley’s universe. His 2018 debut, Mr. Jukebox, reflected his mastery of the ’50s and ’60s honky-tonk of Ray Price, George Jones, Merle Haggard, and Faron Young,…
Dave Gleason
326/Burnside
Dave Gleason’s third album, 2007’s Just Fall To Pieces, put the Californian country-rock scene on notice there was a strong new contender in town. Since then, his growth as singer, songwriter, and especially…
Big Time Sarah – A Million Of You
A 70-something sassy songstress, Big Time Sarah has been on the Chicago blues scene for over 25 years, and it’s obvious she can belt with the best of them. Of perhaps greater interest…
Stefan Grossman
Live at the BBC
Though he has dedicated much of his career to guitar instruction, Grossman has always been a formidable picker in his own right, with a lively, engaging stage presence. Having taken lessons from Rev.…
Adrian Ingram – Jazz Guitar Greats
Jazz Guitar Greats
Looking for a key to unlock your jazz solos or comping? Jazz Guitar Greats offer fine entries to the playing of several great jazzers. Jazz Guitar Greats is a look at the jazz…
Norman Blake – Old Ties, The Singer Songwriter Collection
Old Ties, The Singer Songwriter Collection
