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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
Jay McShann – Goin’ to Kansas City
The story of Jay “Hootie” McShann is legend. Born in 1916, he got his start as a youth tickling the ivories in the infamous wide-open Kansas City barrooms and ballrooms. His Jay McShann…
Romane
Soir de Trottoir
Patrick Leguidecoq, better known as Romane, has been a pioneer of the Gypsy jazz revival. Beginning with his now-classic 1992 album Swing for Ninine, he’s hailed today for his ongoing efforts to spread…
Moby Grape
Sundazed
Most bands that comprised San Francisco’s psychedelic scene circa 1967’s Summer Of Love consisted of folkies gone electric (the Grateful Dead, Country Joe & The Fish, Jefferson Airplane). Moby Grape was one very…
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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,
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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
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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,
Billy Strings
Live, Volume 1
Billy Strings has travelled far from his days as bluegrass flatpicking prodigy, though that style remains a linchpin of his sound as he’s kept moving, developing greater depth and range. Strings’ ability to…
Los Lobos – Good Morning Aztlan
Good Morning Aztlan
I just “introduced” Los Lobos to a buddy of mine. Now, this guy is a huge music fan with what I would describe as pretty eclectic tastes. But up to this point he…
Adrian Raso – Clean Up The Mess
Black Mamba Records
Adrian Raso understands that, just as a guitar solo is not just a place-holder between lyric lines, an instrumental is not just a bunch of notes that sound good together. Guitarists may have…
Jules Shear – More
Jules Mark Shear is living proof that talented pop musicians who prefer to remain on the fringes can maintain a successful career without cowtowing to the winds of fad and fashion. On his…
Prasanna
The highly decorated Prasanna embellishes his artistry with a style that fuses elements of jazz and Indian music. The ancient Indian art of Carnatic music weaves throughout, bringing much-needed pizazz, panache, and fearless…
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.…
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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,
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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
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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,
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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
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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,
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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
Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore
Mollie O’Brien and her husband, Rich Moore, have been fixtures in the Denver music scene for more than 30 years. And though they have released several albums over the years (culled from their…
Robben Ford – In Concert Revisited
The premise of the Autour Du Blues DVD was to stage a transatlantic blues summit for the 25th anniversary of Paris’ New Morning club in December ’06, teaming the group of France’s studio…
Dennis Jones
Dennis Jones’ fifth album elevates his craft to new heights as he juxtaposes an arsenal of blues, rock, and funk with visceral production values. The genre is contemporary blues, and Jones plays serious…
Larry Carlton/Steve Lukather – No Substitutions
I don’t really know what to say about this one. It’s just a good, old-fashioned jam by a couple of great guitarists. To no one’s surprise, they’re both up to the task. The…
Jimmy McIntosh
While guitarists in high-profile bands get the lion’s of share of publicity, the working stiffs who slug it out on local stages get no love. Las Vegas sideman Jimmy McIntosh is one of…
Andreas öberg – Solo
Swedish guitarslinger Andreas öberg is a firebrand, playing mainstream jazz and Gypsy jazz with a fury. His style is ultra-modern – fast and driving, with a rock and roll-inspired intensity. Fronting the Hot…
Jeff Beck
Since the late ’90s, Jeff Beck has been fusing equal parts blues, jazz-rock, and heavy-duty electronica; this time he’s added spoken-word sections and vocals over the big, throbbing grooves, thanks to singer Rosie…
Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison waxed optimistic about life and music on December 4, 1988, the day he played a concert near Cleveland and did a video interview discussing his dramatically revived career. Two days later,…
Johnny Hiland – Johnny Hiland
Johnny Hiland
A friend of mine asked what I knew about Johnny Hiland. I repeated things I’d read about Hiland. You know, the blind guitarist from Nashville who looks like he plays in your hometown…
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…
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…
Sunny War: With The Sun
A phrase like “overnight sensation” is usually all kinds of wrong in that the artist in question was beating the pavement long before a writer or reviewer “discovered” them. Case in point is…
Robby Krieger with Jeff Alulis
Set the Night on Fire: Living, Dying, and Playing Guitar with the Doors
Ace Frehley
Ace is back – and he told you so! The former Kiss guitarist shares a buffet of the gems that influenced him – Hendrix, Clapton, Page, and the Rolling Stones, to name a…
Ed Gerhard – House of Guitars
House of Guitars
There are a number of us who find joy in collecting pawnshop guitars – you know the type, cheap, affordable, and ever so quirky. There’s a certain pleasure in having one of these…
John Thomas
Intrigued by that “Only A Gibson Is Good Enough” decal on the headstock of his World War II-era Gibson Southern Jumbo, musician and writer John Thomas began delving into the story behind the…
Jimi Hendrix
Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision
It’s astonishing – and fortunate – that so much unreleased Jimi Hendrix material exists, given his brief recording career. It seems every time he picked up his guitar in the studio, the Record…
Lee Ritenour
Ritenour’s previous album, 6 String Theory, featured collaborations with guitar peers John Scofield, B.B. King, Slash, and George Benson, among others. Here, he’s working with virtuoso rhythm section players – and a few…
Pokey LaFarge
Hamfats-Styled Hot Stuff
Pokey LaFarge’s Rounder Records debut continues his rich, well-established sound. Primarily acoustic, he offers another amalgam of jazz, blues, jug band, and Western swing. At different times, LaFarge and his expanded band conjure…
Hank Williams
I’m Gonna Sing: The Mother’s Best Gospel Radio Recordings
Hank Williams, like other Grand Ole Opry stars, also hosted his own live shows over Nashville’s WSM. These 15-minute programs sponsored by Mother’s Best Flour featured him and his Drifting Cowboys, and each…
Jack Bruce and the hr-Bigband
A Bass Legend And Much More
Jack Bruce was one of the most fascinating figures in rock and roll – although he preferred to be known as a jazz musician. As one-third of Cream (with Eric Clapton and Ginger…
Eiiza Gilkyson – Beautiful World
Few folksingers, even those from the original folk revival, have been able to combine social consciousness with musicality as well as Eliza Gilkyson. She merges strong songwriting talent with commanding vocals to create…
