Though its song titles imply this is “surf music,” James Patrick Regan and the Deadlies boast plenty of other inf luences. Yes, there’s plenty of reverb-drenched guitar from Regan, and bassist Bob St. Laurent and drummer Jim Lang can ride a wave with the best of them, but “Mayhem at Pillar Point” is a straightahead [...]
Whatever else happens to The Clutters, they will never be invited to Sarah Palin’s house for Thanksgiving dinner – the name of their song about her can’t even be printed. But they are clever satirists and seriously talented folk/rock musicians who work from way beyond the edge. Their music is obviously Beatles- (“JonBenet,” “Wear This [...]
Florence Joelle sings rock and roll like Billie Holiday might, croons a torch ballad as Wanda Jackson may, and spices it all with a bit of Patti Smith attitude. Add to that Joelle’s French accent by way of London’s Camden Town, plus a wardrobe of silk and satin vintage evening dresses that can cause whiplash. [...]
For players in their late 50s and early 60s, the Animals’ #1 “House Of The Rising Sun” is often cited as a benchmark, with guitarist Hilton Valentine’s arpeggiated intro as indelibly stamped as Alan Price’s organ solo. It’s not flashy or difficult; in fact, that’s the beauty of it – it’s an easy way to [...]
The triple-LP Europe ’72 is a highlight in the Dead’s extensive live catalog, and 40 years later Rhino is presenting a companion set of unreleased material for those who just can’t get enough. (For the truly obsessed, however, the label also just issued a massive, 73-CD set of the entire European tour.) Included here are [...]
Revelation Road comes from an artist who knows exactly what she wants and how to get it, and can come up with an end product that displays brilliantly the worth of the work put into it. This may be a country record ostensibly, but Alabama native Lynne, who has a musical and spiritual kinship with [...]
Martino has been recording for almost 50 years, originally as sideman to such funk-jazz greats as saxophonist Willis “Gator” Jackson and organists Brother Jack McDuff, Richard “Groove” Holmes, Don Patterson, and Trudy Pitts. When he began leading his own sessions, first with 1967’s El Hombre, he delved into Middle Eastern modes, unorthodox time signatures, and [...]
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 [...]
The Cash Box Kings are part of the multi-ethnic, crossgenerational, Chicago-based community of musicians that includes the Killborn Alley Blues Band, guitarist Billy Flynn, producer/multi instrumentalist Gerry Hundt, and other like-minded souls. Like the others, the Kings put as much fire into country blues like the title track as they put back porch soul into [...]
