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Music
Paul Johnson
The Hepcats Live at the Ajax Novelty Company
This isn’t live, there may not be an Ajax Novelty Company, and the three felines known as the Hepcats are actually the brainchild of Paul Johnson, whose Belairs were early-’60s pioneers of surf music. Suspend reality and dig how the “trio” expertly articulates layers of acoustic guitar. Across decades, Johnson has embraced folk-rock, psychedelia, and…
Diunna Greenleaf
Texas blues singer Greenleaf has gathered a host of noteworthy guest guitarists to help highlight her considerable virtues and versatility as a writer and singer. Three of the tunes here – “The Beautiful…
Toots and the Maytals – Light Your Light
News flash: Toots is sporting dreads! Since the dawn of his career in the mid 1960s, Frederick “Toots” Hibbert has sworn by a close-shaven head. And his music has remained close to its…
Steve Earle
Hillbilly Highway
When Epic Records dropped Steve Earle in ’85 after a series of fiery but commercially unsuccessful recordings, Nashville was in panic mode. The frothy, easy listening mainstream country of Kenny Rogers and others…
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Yes
Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition
Are you a high-fidelity audio geek? If the answer is, well, yes, this Rhino release brings together an HD experience of Close to the Edge in no fewer than four versions, plus rarities and a ’72 concert. For starters, the 2025 remaster sounds as close to the analog 1972 mix as you’re going to get…
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Pink Floyd
Have You Got It Yet? – The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd
It’s understandable that fans warily approach the flood of pseudo-documentaries and biopics. Add the fact that the late Syd Barrett, Floyd’s original guitarist/leader, suffered from mental illness, and exploitation alarms are sure to go off. But this documentary handles the subject with dignity instead of sensationalism. Interviews by longtime Floyd cover artist Storm Thorgerson with…
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The Wildhearts
In the raging ’90s, The Wildhearts blasted out of Newcastle upon Tyne like some unholy melding of Guns ’N Roses, Cheap Trick, and The Replacements. Hard rock, power pop, and punk still make up their secret sauce, heard on this latest effort with original singer/guitarist Ginger Wildheart. Ben Marsden plays lead, while Kavus Torabi adds…
Smooth Shred
Greg Howe
After Greg Howe’s epiphany to distinguish himself from the glut of arpeggio-sweeping classical-music pirates, his career took the kind of turns you would never imagine – especially with contemporaries like Jason Becker, Vinnie…
Eric Gales – That’s What I Am
What happens when guitar prodigies grow up? They lapse into mediocrity, like everyone else. But not Eric Gales. After being signed by Elektra records at the tender age of 15, completing two LPs…
Arlen Roth & Jerry Jemmott
Super Soul Session
Roth is well-known for his “Hot Licks” instructional videos and method books. But his career is far from academic, having toured and recorded with Bob Dylan, Duane Eddy, and John Sebastian, devoted albums…
John Németh
May Be The Last Time
When John Németh hit the blues scene in 2002, one couldn’t help but take notice. In addition to solo albums, he lent his big vocals and powerful harmonica to Junior Watson, Anson Funderburgh,…
Summer of Soul
Various artists
Buried for 50 years, the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival is now recognized as an historic concert series, thanks to the recent film, which won the Grammy for Best Music Film and Oscar for…
Luther Allison – Reckless
Luther Allison is the hottest thing going today in the world of the blues, and this, his third release on Alligator, keeps his tradition burning strong. Reckless is classic Luther Allison. It is…
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Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
Honeysuckle
Resonator-slide specialist Reverend Peyton returns to his primary influences – early 20th-century African-American music – compelling him to shout from the hollers and the hills. Rootsy, acoustic, inter-war blues is the specific genre, and Peyton doesn’t hold back. With top-tier tutelage from the likes of David “Honeyboy” Edwards, T-Model Ford, and Robert Belfour, he masterfully…
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Mike Campbell with Ari Surdoval
Heartbreaker: A Memoir
In his autobiography, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Campbell admits he’s quiet and shy. Self-doubt plagued him his entire life, and when problems arose in the Heartbreakers, a lack of confidence had him blaming himself first, even when he wasn’t responsible. Perhaps his attitude was psychologically rooted in his impoverished childhood and coming from…
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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 gravity. Better still, he never shows off these chops – everything on Lioness Lullabies is in the service of the song and…
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Jimmy Vivino
Gonna Be 2 of Those Days
A veteran vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist and purveyor of blues, R&B, and rock’, Jimmy Vivino has an incredible résumé. A longtime fixture in Conan O’Brien’s house band, he has played on movie, radio, and Broadway projects and worked with Levon Helm, Hubert Sumlin, Al Kooper, Jimmie Vaughan, Donald Fagen, Warren Haynes, Laura Nyro, along with innumerable others. He’s…
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Thin Lizzy
The Acoustic Sessions
Thin Lizzy’s first studio release in decades, this album reimagines tracks recorded 50+ years ago by the trio of vocalist/bassist Phil Lynott, guitarist Eric Bell, and drummer Brian Downey. The songs are from Lizzy’s first three albums – 1971’s Thin Lizzy, ’72’s Shades of a Blue Orphanage, and ’73’s Vagabonds of the Western World. Recently,…
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Eve Monsees and Mike Buck
& Their Groovy Orbit
This is not a solo album as much as an anthology of Austin artists and styles – from blues to country to ’60s garage and psych, demonstrating the versatility of singer/guitarist Monsees (Eve & the Exiles, Blue Bonnets) and her husband, drummer Buck (LeRoi Brothers), as producers/organizers. The tracks span three years, but the names…
Sonny Landreth – Levee Town
Let’s just say it. Sonny Landreth is one of the best slide guitarists in the history of rock and roll. The title cut, which opens the album, is proof of that. After a…
Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio
I Told You So
The funky organ group’s follow-up to 2016’s Close But No Cigar finds the band comfortably nestled in a bed of soul-jazz backbeats, Silvertone hollowbody goodness, and intoxicating Hammond B3. Rising from the smoldering…
Robert Plant & the Strange Sensation – Soundstage
Robert Plant & the Strange Sensation, Soundstage. Robert Plant and his band, The Strange Sensation, play 11 songs; covers, old Zep songs, and newer Plant tunes. The band is the perfect complement, anchored…
Tab Benoit – Live: Swampland Jam
I was familiar with Benoit (pronounced Ben-wah) from a killer blues tune called “Nice and Warm” a few years back. The Louisiana guitarist recorded this, his fourth album, live in a couple of…
SimakDialog
Hailing from Indonesia, SimakDialog is one of the best jazz-rock bands on the planet and this two-CD live set proves it. This performance features virtuosic playing from lead guitarist Tohpati and electric-piano master…
Charles Sawtelle – Music from Rancho DeVille
Music from Rancho DeVille
Music from Rancho DeVille is a loveletter from across the grave. Charles Sawtelle passed away Mach 21, 1999, of complications from leukemia. The last several years of his life were spent recuperating from…
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.…
Jim Campilongo Electric Trio – American Hips
To say Jim Campilongo is a unique guitar player is like saying James Brown is funky. His playing is totally original and keeps growing. And the beautiful part is that he just seems…
Creedence Clearwater Revival
What band has ever had a year like Creedence Clearwater Revival did in 1969? After its debut in ’68, John Fogerty’s group released a followup, Bayou Country, in January ’69 and “Proud Mary”…
Pat Martino – Remember: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery
Pat Martino – Remember: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery This is not the first time legendary guitarist Martino has paid tribute to the man credited with driving jazz guitar to its current heights.…
The Best of Sessions at West 54th – Volume 1 (DVD)
Although this DVD is over two years old, I think it’s still the best live performance music DVD out there. What makes it so good? Not only are the production values top-notch, but…
JD McPherson
On A Roll
JD McPherson was a middle-school teacher in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, with a rock and roll band on the side. Then he lost his job and decided to make a record. He cut Signs…
Neil Young with Crazy Horse
Toast
Neil Young and Crazy Horse are known for uncorking an electric-guitar roar that would shame most heavy metal bands. The mesmerizing Toast, while not explosive, relies on distorted electric guitars, with simple hooks…
Frank Frost with Sam Carr and Frank Frost – Keep Yourself Together and Jelly Roll Blues
X Frank Frost’s two recent CDs are time machines, transporting you to a hot, sweaty night in a Mississippi Delta juke joint. Frost is a true Mississippi Delta bluesman. Throughout his career playing…
Albert Lee – Heartbreak Hill
Heartbreak Hill
Being an Albert Lee fan can be as frustrating as it is rewarding. Because, even though he’s invariably busy, touring behind somebody or playing on someone’s record, his jam-packed schedule doesn’t allow much…
The Little Willies
Essentially a super-group of players that just want to have some fun with the music they grew up with, Norah Jones, Jim Campilongo, Lee Alexander, Richard Julian, and Dan Rieser serve up lots…
Def Leppard
Diamond Star Halos
Def Leppard has always emphasized loving ’70s glam rock and protested being labeled a heavy metal band. Okay – but ’81’s raw High ‘n’ Dry, ’83’s Pyromania, and ’87’s Hysteria proved their hard-rock…
Iron Maiden
Nights of the Dead, Legacy of the Beast
From the 2019 tour, this two-CD live set from Mexico captures the British metalers in top form, four decades after their debut. Guitarmen Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, and Janick Gers unleash torrents of…
Phil Lynott
Songs For While I’m Away
A rock-doc of Thin Lizzy’s fabled frontman, this film traces the singer/bassist’s life through interviews from bandmates, family, and friends. A half-black child in 1950s and ’60s Dublin, Lynott grew into a tough,…
Grant Gordy
Self-distributed
Grant Gordy’s thing is acoustic jazz. But unlike most jazz guitarists, his axe of choice isn’t a big ol’ carved archtop, but a dreadnaught-sized flat-top. Gordy still plays with the David Grisman Quartet…
Anthony Wilson – Adult Themes
Here’s the third album from guitarist, arranger, and leader of his own big band, Anthony Wilson. He’s young, but he definitely can look backward to the likes of his father, Gerald, and other…
Henry Robinett
Jazz Standards Vol. 2 Then Again
Ronnie Lane
Anymore for Anymore