• 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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Jim Campilongo

Hillbilly Twang

Jim Campilongo plays the kind of grownup guitar that makes the rest of us want to put aside our childish noodlings and play something with substance. Drawing from the good stuff, Campilongo is…

Pierre Bensusan – Intuite

There are guitarists, and then there are guitarists’ guitarists. Pierre Benusan is the sort of musician who inspires awe among even other musical luminaries. Leo Kotke admits that, “Pierre’s music gives me the…

Amos Garrett – Acoustic Album

I’ve always thought Amos Garrett was responsible for one of the most brilliant guitar solos in pop/rock history – his amazing work on Maria Muldaur’s “Midnight at the Oasis.” No matter what you…

Amber Digby & Justin Trevino, Curtis Potter, Tony Booth, Darrell McCall, Dottsy

Heart Of Texas Records

Heart Of Texas Records holds the line against the carpetbagger forces of “modern” country music, producing the kind of country best played on honky tonk jukeboxes and the radios of American-made pickups. These…

Amy Black

If Will Kimbrough’s name does not come up the next time you’re discussing great guitar players, then you ain’t saying nothin’. Kimbrough is always on the money whether putting a delicately strong acoustic…

Ana Popovic

Power

Blues-rock barnstormer Ana Popovic’s latest is about love, perseverance, strength, and survival. After rising victoriously from 14 cancer treatments in 2020, Popovic continues to push the envelope of her artistry by dropping her…

The Derek Trucks Band

Live recordings really are the way to show what the Derek Trucks Band does best. Onstage, its members play off each other as well as any band today, and few jam bands know…

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…

John Mayall – Best: 64-69, Drivin’ On: ABC 75-82, Silver Tones: Deram, MCA, Silvertone

The flurry of greatest hits collections showcasing John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers is exciting – and confusing. Here’s a quick primer. The first Best of covers 1964-’69 and features many of the songs…

Emmylou Harris – Rhino Reissues

Rhino Reissues

As huge a star as Emmylou Harris is, and as long and varied as her career has been, her achievements still don’t get their due, in my mind. Because virtually every article or…

Steve Trovato – About Time

Yikes! Talk about your chops, Steve Trovato’s got ’em. Known best on the West Coast as an instructor (Studio Jazz Guitar at USC) and for his work on movie and TV themes, Trovato…

Justin Currie – The Great War

Rykodisc

Justin Currie was bassist, lead singer, primary songwriter, and co-founder of the Scottish band Del Amitri, which didn’t make much of a splash outside their native U.K. circa 1980 because they simply came…

Terry Callier – Timepeace

They don’t make many albums like this anymore, and that’s unfortunate. A heady mix of soul, R&B, jazz, and everything in-between, it’s the kind of thing you’d run into often in the late…

Sierra Hull – Secrets and Tunes

Accutab Video

Sierra Hull may be the next Alison Krauss. Then again, she could be merely another photogenic young picker. But regardless of her future, she is an impeccably talented mandolin player. At the beginning…

Burton Garr – Home of the Blues

I’ve been chomping at the bit to get the word out on this articulate, contemporary Louisiana blues man. There must be something in the water that runs between Memphis and Baton Rouge, ‘cuz…

The Mavericks

Since reforming five years ago, the Mavericks have released two studio albums and 2016’s All Night Live, Vol. 1. And again here, the core quartet of vocalist-guitarist Raul Malo, guitarist Eddie Perez, keyboard…

Otis Taylor

Anyone familiar with Otis Taylor’s work won’t be surprised by the hypnotic nature of his new record, featuring vocal numbers and instrumental interludes that all are seemingly connected. The classic title cut gets…

Spirit

Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus

He was a teenaged guitar hero, played the first legato-shred solo James – a.k.a. young Jimi Hendrix. Yet today, few remember the late Randy California or his vastly underrated band, Spirit. Let’s change…

Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen

Contemporary bluegrass comes in many varieties – neo-trad bands such as Del McCoury or Open Road, Nash-Vegas acts such as Rhonda Vincent or The Grascals, “newgrass” bands such as John Cowan and Sam…

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…

Foley, Coleman, Potvin – Time Bomb

From the first notes of the title-track opener, this trio of guitarists leaves no doubt that this album is going to rock and roll. Sue Foley and Deborah Coleman need no introduction to…

Alberto Lombardi

Through the Years

The Italian guitarist’s third acoustic-fingerstyle album brings a pleasurable mix of covers with two originals. Primarily a solo set, it overdubs keyboards, drum patterns, and he even sings on the title track. An…

Amazing Rhythm Aces – Stacked Deck and Too Stuffed to Jump

A couple of issues back, I reviewed re-releases of these two albums that I said were long overdue for a number of reasons. I also complained about the poor packaging. Well, that’s been…

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…

Stephen Bruton – Spirit World

A CD of personal or autobiographical songs can be tricky. The music can wind up meaning far more to its creator than it does to its audience. That’s bad. Luckily for everyone, Stephen…

Donal Clancy – Close to Home

Donal Clancy continues the tradition of the Clancy Brothers, demonstrating that contemporary Celtic music is as vibrant as any musical genre. Clancy grew up surrounded by traditional Irish music, and all 12 cuts…

J.J. Cale

Just One

Sixteen. That’s how many albums J.J. Cale has released in 38 years, counting one live collection and his Grammy-winning collaboration with Eric Clapton, The Road To Escondido. Not exactly a fast clip, but,…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

Guy Davis – You Don’t Know My Mind

Guy Davis is the real thing. This young black bluesman plays his version of the downhome blues like he, too, has a hellhound on his trail. Davis has released two earlier collections of…

Sonic Youth – Goo (Deluxe Edition)

As we get older, reminders of the fact come fast and furious. The reissue of classic albums from our youth perhaps hits the hardest, as with this newly remastered deluxe edition of Sonic…

Martin Taylor & David Grisman Acoustic Jazz Quartet – I’m Beginning to See the Light

David Grisman and Martin Taylor had such a good time creating their Tone Poems II album they decided to not stop there. That first album was a showcase for a stellar collection of…