• 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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Raul Malo

Say Less

Raul Malo’s passionate, searing vocals helped define the Mavericks from the early ’90s on. Malo blended his Cuban-American roots into the band’s rich, varied sound, as they embraced rockabilly, classic country, pop ballads,…

Scorpions

Rock Believer

The 19th studio album by Germany’s metal titans reveals a re-energized band recording live in one room, like they did in the ’80s, and with no outside songwriters. Guitarists Rudolf Schenker and Matthias…

Victoria Vox

Obus Music

When one first hears an artist and album undeniably unique and idiosyncratic, they’re often reduced to describing it as a marriage of known quantities. So once again, here goes; think of Victoria Vox’s…

Steve Khan – Got My Mental

Khan’s been around for awhile. He’s made some great albums as a solo artist, dating back to the ’70s. He also served in Billy Joel’s band in the late ’70s, and has done…

Muddy Waters

The Montreux Years

Muddy Waters’ extraordinary career was in its twilight during the ’70s, but the iconic bluesman was hardly limping to the finish line. In fact, the decade only cemented his hard-earned standing as a…

Steve Earle – Washington Square Serenade

Whether or not you appreciate the politics that have dominated his latest records, it’s hard to deny that Steve Earle is a brilliant songwriter. On his latest, Earle has gone back to a…

Tony Green – Gypsy Jazz

New Orleans artist/guitarist Tony Green has crafted a masterpiece of swinging gypsy jazz with this CD. He covers three Django Reinhardt tunes, as well as songs by Sidney Bechet, a variety of traditional…

Ben Fong-Torres

That Lowell George could play the guitar has never been in dispute. But most of the rest of the story of Little Feat is. To start with, no one can quite agree on…

Check This Action: Walking In Memphis

I first visited Memphis in 1990, and it struck me that radio stations played loads of music from the area. Soul, rockabilly, blues, gospel, country, and jazz – if there was a Memphis…

Mick Fleetwood & Friends

Celebrate the Music of Peter Green & Early Years of Fleetwood Mac

British blues icon Peter Green passed away July 25, 2020, at the age of 73. As one of the founding members of the original Fleetwood Mac with Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, Green…

Jimi Hendrix Experience

Live in Maui

This 1970 performance was contrived for Rainbow Bridge, a hippie movie that flopped. The gig itself was faintly ridiculous, as a hundred or so fans trudged up Hawaii’s dormant Haleakalä volcano. There, the…

The Soul of John Black

John Bigham, aka John Black, has worked with Fishbone, Joshua Redman, Everlast, and Miles Davis. For the past decade, he’s produced a handful of recordings mixing jazz, R&B, rock, and gutbucket blues. Like…

Ravi Shanker and George Harrison

Dark Horse

After George Harrison played the simple hook to the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood” on sitar, then studied with Ravi Shankar, Indian music became all the rage, with Shankar its rock star. Harrison signed Shankar…

Judas Priest

Heavy Metal Validation

In the early ’80s, heavy metal was mainstream fare and competition was fierce. Thanks to MTV, the genre received tremendous exposure. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal was in full swing, but…

Brent Mason – Hot Wired

Some of you know Brent Mason because he’s one of the most-heard guitarists in the world. A mainstay on the Nashville scene, he has played on hundreds of recent country hits. That said,…

Kevin Eubanks

Mack Avenue

While most folks know of Kevin Eubanks from his 18- year gig as bandleader on the “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” he also has enjoyed a long career as a jazz guitarist.…

Tony Bacon – 50 Years of Fender – Half a Century of the Greatest Electric Guitars

In 1950, Leo Fender began production of the first solidbody electric guitar, and music hasn’t been the same since. Celebrating the anniversary of the event, this book provides a year-by-year chronicle of the…

Gov’t Mule

Revolution Come… Revolution Go

Gov’t Mule’s 10th studio album treads the similar hard rock meets southern blues territory of past albums, but with the added dimension of the polarized social and political climate of the United States.…

John Hiatt

New West

Hiatt is nothing if not prolific – not only releasing approximately 20 albums in 36 years, but writing virtually every song they included. There’ve been some twists and turns and ups and downs…

La Pingo’s Orquesta/Todd Clouser

Midwest/Bajío

While terms like “uncategorizable” are overused and cliche to the point of being meaningless, this soundtrack in search of a movie is altogether original and fresh. Clouser, an American living in Mexico, keeps…

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…

Cherryholmes – Black and White

Skaggs Family Records

From mandolin playing mom, Sandy, and bass player pop, Jere, to 14-year-old Molly, the six-person Cherryholmes family band picks and sings like they were born to it. Was it the air or water…

Rodney Crowell – Fate’s Right Hand

Fate's Right Hand

Rodney Crowell’s new album, Fate’s Right Hand, explores personal landscapes similar to those he first examined in his 2002 release The Houston Kid, but the final results are less musically satisfying. Perhaps the…

Stephen Bruton – Nothing But The Truth

I love when records like this happen. I loved this when I first heard it, and subsequent listens revealed more great things. Bruton is well-known as a guitarist and ace producer from Austin.…

Arthur Lee & Love

Complete Forever Changes Live

The fingerpicked intro to Bryan MacLean’s breathtaking “Alone Again Or” starts the heady, cinematic, night-through-day-through-night journey of Forever Changes. The 1967 album was the magnum opus of Love’s troubled visionary, Arthur Lee. MacLean,…

Montrose

I Got the Fire: Complete Recordings 1973-1976

This six-CD box set compiles the groundbreaking recordings – four studio albums, demos, live radio sessions, and more – by visionary guitarist Ronnie Montrose’s band, which influenced everyone from Van Halen to Iron…

Tomas Janzon

Changes Music

Tomas Janzon is a traditional-jazz guitarist influenced by Wes Montgomery, with hints of Metheny and Scofield. It’s also obvious he has one of the best jazz-guitar tones you’ll hear. Most of the songs…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

The Andy Poxon Band

Poxon might present a dilemma for some listeners. He was only 16 years old when this material was recorded, and considering the mix of blues, country, rock, and funk he presents, it’s easy…

Jerry Douglas – Glide

Fans may argue whether Jerry Douglas is the greatest dobro player of all time, but few will dispute that he’s the finest player of his generation. Pioneers such as Bashful Brother Oswald and…

John Scofield

John Scofield

In a lengthy career marked by collaborations with other jazz icons, Scofield’s first solo-guitar album (using only a looper) is no minor departure. He covers a swath of material, combining standards and originals…