• 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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Bob Dylan – Time Out Of Mind

Bob Dylan’s always been one of my favorite artists. But, while I liked his albums that covered folk songs the past few years, and I thought 1989’s No Mercy was a decent album,…

Brad Allen Williams

Brad Allen Williams is a fine guitarist who has served the last few years as a sideman to numerous artists, most notably José James. Fans of his work with other folks might be…

Son Volt – A Retrospective: 1995-2000

Spinning off from the roots-rock trailblazers Uncle Tupelo, Jay Farrar’s Son Volt is famed for its honest, no-nonsense, straight-to-the-heart songs. A Retrospective: 1995-2000 is a fine greatest hits celebration with six unreleased bonus…

Blood, Sweat & Tears

What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat & Tears?

In 1970, Blood, Sweat & Tears was one of the most popular bands on Earth. The Woodstock headliner’s second album was doing serious business with three hit singles in the top five, which…

Lyle Brewer

Even when Lyle Brewer covers standards, he makes the song his own. His last couple albums have been filled with familiar songs given the Brewer treatment. With his latest, we get a record…

Mavis Staples – We’ll Never Turn Back

Billed as her most personal statement, this may well be Mavis Staples’ finest solo effort to date. In 2004, the powerhouse lead singer of the famed Staple Singers released the rootsy Have A…

Dave Stryker Organ Quartet

SteepleChase Productions

Stryker stretches out while putting his skills as a soloist on full display, especially on the title cut – a highflying swing tune where he solos with originality and soul on chorus after…

BR5-49

Honky Tonkin’

In the mid ’80s, bands like Jason and the Scorchers, Webb Wilder and (originally) the Beatnecks, and – well, not many others – chose Nashville to make their mark on roots rock. And…

Alison Krauss and Union Station – Alison Krauss + Union Station Live

Although fine female bluegrass singers and songwriters like Hazel Dickens and Emmylou Harris have achieved success, Alison Krauss must be considered the first woman bluegrass superstar. Ever since her first release, Krauss’ CDs…

Johnny “Guitar” Watson – The Essential

A lot of folks first ran into Johnny “Guitar” Watson with a batch of very hip, funky records that came out in the ’70s that had very odd covers with scantily clad women…

Jimmie Vaughan

The Pleasure’s All Mine

Vaughan’s 2010 album, Blues, Ballads and Favorites, honored his blues, R&B, country and rock roots, followed a year later by a second volume. This reissue offers both – all 31 exuberant, raw performances,…

Monster Mike Welch

Nothing But Time

George Harrison’s “I Me Mine” in the middle of a blues album may seem left-field, but Mike Welch’s tone-to-spare guitar and impassioned vocal make you wonder why nobody did it before. It sits…

Chris Robinson Brotherhood

If you’ve lost touch with Chris Robinson since the Black Crowes’ slow down, his latest effort with the CRB is an opportune time to catch up on what’s become a most satisfying second…

The Gourds

In October 2013, a mere month after releasing their 10th LP (and 19 years after forming), the Gourds announced that they were taking a hiatus. With the Austin, Texas, alt-country quintet’s new album…

Earl Klugh

Thirty-seven years between his debut album and today, HandPicked, Klugh’s first new album since 2008’s The Spice Of Life, appears on his own label (distributed by Concord). Like his past few albums, Klugh…

Steep Canyon Rangers – Lovin’ Pretty Women

The Steep Canyon Rangers are part of a new wave of young bluegrass bands that turn the energy past hot to fricassee. In 2006, they won the International Bluegrass Musician’s Association’s “Emerging Artist”…

John Jackson

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Piedmont (or East Coast) blues guitarists like Brownie McGhee, Rev. Gary Davis, Blind Blake, and Mississippi John Hurt had a tremendous influence on the likes of Jorma Kaukonen, Mark Knopfler, Leo Kottke and…

John Fogerty – The Long Road Home

Since Creedence Clearwater Revival disbanded 33 years ago, its catalog has been anthologized in every conceivable way, culminating with a six-disc boxed set of every track the band ever laid down, including its…

Santana – Moonflower

Moonflower

I was never able to latch on to Carlos Santana’s excursions into jazz in the early/mid-’70s. Sure, there was always something to like in his playing, but I preferred when he mixed the…

Andy Wood

Charisma

On Andy Wood’s fourth solo effort, the Nashville guitarist combines imaginative compositions with guitarmanship that merges technical ability, emotion, polish, and feel. Bear witness to the swift country chromatics, soul-tugging ballads, blues-rock, pastoral…

Check This Action: Playing Guitar With The Ventures

Think of your favorite rock band, and imagine sitting in with them – or better yet, being a member. The Beatles? Sure. Subbing for Keith Richards? Go for it. Going toe-to-toe with Kirk…

Allan Holdsworth

The Man Who Changed Guitar Forever!

With a career spanning 45 years, Allan Holdsworth’s blistering, bop-fueled legato radically altered our approach to electric guitar, and he’s now the recipient of this 12-CD retrospective (for those in the cheap seats,…

Jamie Oldaker – Mad Dogs & Okies

Jamie Oldaker – Mad Dogs & Okies Although he’s played with a host a major acts, Jamie Oldaker is best known for his lengthy stint on drums with Eric Clapton. Usually sideman resumé…

The Jimi Hendrix Experience/Jimi Hendrix

Despite the ongoing effort to strap the name Jimi Hendrix to everything from vodka to golf balls, his story remains a great American saga. Like Robert Johnson and Charlie Christian before him, he…

Sean Watkins – Let It Fall

Let It Fall

Sean Watkins is one third of the young Grammy-nominated supergroup Nickel Creek. Along with his sister Sara and mando phenom Chris Thile, they’ve lit up the festival circuit with fresh musical energy. Let…

Chicago

It’s simplistic to say, but as these two box-sets of 10 discs apiece show, Chicago’s history really consists of two bands: one with Terry Kath as lead guitarist, one of the vocalists, a…

Stanley Clarke, Biréli Lagrène, Jean-Luc Ponty

As you’d hope from an album featuring three giants of jazz, this disc is full of passionate playing, technique that forces you to shake your head and smile at the same time, and…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

Jon and the Nightriders – Fiberglass Rocket

If you haven’t noticed, there’s a Surfin’ comeback goin’ on. We get tons of CDs from bands that play it; some good, some not-so-good, and some in-between. Here is an excellent one. Jon…

Lee Rocker – Racin’ the Devil

Lee Rocker is best known as the bassist in the Stray Cats. He’s signed with Alligator, which appears to be expanding its scope with acts outside of blues, and here they’ve made a…

Pretty Things, Procol Harum, David Bowie, and Various Artists

For all the British psych bands you do know – such as the Move and Small Faces – you’ve probably never heard of dozens more. This three-CD set brings together more than 75…