-
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
John Pizzarelli
John Pizzarelli knows lyricist Johnny Mercer’s timeless compositions inside out. He’s recorded them on various albums and was a cast member of the 1997 Broadway musical Dream, which saluted Mercer’s music. Mercer Street,…
Ray Mason – Old School
Ray Mason – Old School Ray Mason’s music, while being full of wonderful chord changes, quiet vocals, and lyrics with discreet meaning, is also quirky and hard to define. On this disc, the…
The George Benson Quartet – It’s Uptown and The George Benson Cookbook
It's Uptown and The George Benson Cookbook
George Benson was another of A&R legend John Hammond’s famous discoveries, alongside the likes of Count Basie, Charlie Christian, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, and Bruce Springsteen. This put Benson in a tough position…
-
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,
Steely Dan – Everything Must Go
Everything Must Go
Since I was a youngster, sitting at home nursing a broken collarbone and listening to Can’t Buy a Thrill every afternoon, I’ve been a huge Steely Dan fan. They always were doing the…
Anson Funderburgh and The Rockets – Which Way Is Texas?
Which Way Is Texas?
Anson Funderburgh is one of the few – if not only – blues guitarists I’ve ever seen get an ovation for a chorus solo. Such applause might be common for jazz shows, but…
Iggy and The Stooges
MVD Audio
In 1973, the Stooges were newly reformed yet seemingly on their last legs. Their early attempts at Raw Power, their third and last album before breaking up again, were rejected by management, although…
Burnin’ Mike Vernon’s 3 Balls Of Fire
Burnin’ & Churnin’ and Live! (featuring Nokie Edwards, George Tomsco, and Jerry Cole)
Of all the surf-instrumental revivalists, Vernon is one of the most prolific. Since forming Balls Of Fire in 1987, he has also dipped his toe into “crime jazz” and Hollywood soundtrack covers –…
American Folk Blues Festival – Various Artists
This is the British TV counterpart to the German broadcasts that were unearthed on three stunning volumes of The American Folk Blues Festival, in 2003. If you saw those, you’ve probably already stopped…
John Pizzarelli – Bossa Nova
John Pizzarelli’s latest should come as a surprise to no one. The fact that he’s been influenced by Jobim and his many disciples is evident in his past work. And it should come…
-
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
Strange Angels: In Flight With Elmore James
Dusting Off Elmo
In an essay for Guitar Player magazine in 1977, Frank Zappa said of Elmore James, “Even though Elmore tended to play the same famous lick on every record, I got the feeling that…
Roy Buchanan – American Axe – Live In 1974
It’s not too far of a stretch to say Roy Buchanan was one of the most unique guitar players in the past 40 years. This recording, done at two shows in 1974, does…
Commander Cody – Live at Armadillo HQ
A disc of outtakes from the classic Live From Deep In the Heart of Texas makes for a fine live record on its own, especially fun to again hear a young Bill Kirchen…
Alan Paul
With the news that the Allman Brothers are losing guitarmen Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks at year’s end, and the subsequent announcement by Gregg Allman that the band will call it quits, one…
Wes Montgomery
There’s not a lot more that can be said about Wes Montgomery that hasn’t already been said. But new recordings keep surfacing, almost demanding more superlatives about his playing. Suffice it to say…
Tom Waits, Lucinda Williams, Luther Dickinson, and others
Falling Out And Hollerin’
Blind Willie Johnson – the Texas preacher, slide guitarist, and gospel singer – may seem a tough artist to pay homage to in a tribute album. His music is so singular, so extraordinary…
Bad Company
Thanks to advances in audio tweaking, studio engineers can now take 40-year-old concert tapes and make them sound thrilling. Case in point, Bad Company’s first-ever live album, culled from a few late ’70s…
Sean Costello – Moanin’ For Molasses
Moanin' For Molasses
I really enjoyed Sean’s last album, Cuttin’ In, and this one is just as likeable. He’s young, but man, he knows the blues. Both his singing and his guitar playing reek of soul.…
Stéphane Wrembel
Djamming!
There’s plenty of Gypsy jazz guitarists who can play more notes at faster tempos than Django Reinhardt, but few can truly match the master in inventiveness, melody, and sheer swing. Stéphane Wrembel is…
Mel Brown
Hellafied
Before becoming a member of the house band at the legendary Austin venue Antone’s, Mississippi-born Mel Brown (1939-2009) was a blues guitarist who gained notice with West Coast R&B icon Johnny Otis. This…
Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard
Whatever’s changed in the 32 years since their duet album Pancho & Lefty, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard continue to share vast musical common ground. The proof lies in this blend of new…
Pine Mountain Railroad – Alone with Forever
In a world where everything is at our fingertips, anyone with access to the internet can instantly listen to original recordings by Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, Stanley Brothers, Osborne Brothers, Red Foley,…
Andy Timmons Band
To translate one of the touchstones of popular music is not something most guitarists would attempt, but Timmons and his trio take the Beatles’ classic and turn it into an instrumental rock album…
Shawn Lane – All For Today
All For Today
Being part of a successful band can be a mixed blessing. You work regularly and play your music for a large audience, but because it is a band, you can only stray so…
Jimi Hendrix – Live at Berkeley
Experience Hendrix has settled into a regular schedule of new Jimi releases. This latest is taken from a live performance in May, 1970, and shows Hendrix in good form with a now well-indoctrinated…
Big Al Anderson – After Hours
This is the first solo album by the former lead guitarist for NRBQ in almost a decade, and he uses it to cover lots of ground. Anderson writes good ballads that fall between…
Bob Seger – Face The Promise
Anyone who saw Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band’s Letterman appearance several weeks ago can attest that he’s lost none of his power or edge during his decade-long hiatus. But, as his…
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;…
Bill Dixon – Guitar Collecting: How I Built a $65,000 Collection
Morris Publishing 2003
Bill Dixon has done what many of us have done. He bought, traded, and sold guitars. And he has done well. He made a profit that he plowed back into his collection. He…
Buzzcocks
Late For The Train: Live & In Session (1989-2010)
On the punk-rock timeline, some bands haven’t quite received their just acknowledgment. Two Australian bands, The Saints and Radio Birdman, come to mind, as do groups like Flamin’ Groovies and Dr. Feelgood, which…
Tal Farlow – The Complete Verve Tal Farlow Sessions
If Mosaic’s compilations haven’t yet appeared on your radar screen, let me enlighten you. Mosaic issues stunningly beautiful and often sprawling tributes to legendary jazz performers like Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt, Hank Mobley,…
