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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
Rob McNelley – On
On
I love it when this happens. Totally out of the blue comes a CD, by an artist I am unfamiliar with, and it blows my socks off. Rob McNelley has been kicking around…
Bob Dylan
Recharging their batteries, staving off writer’s block, getting back to their roots – countless musicians have an album of covers in their catalogs. Hardly controversial, unless it’s Bob Dylan. When he released 1970’s…
Alan Jackson
This three-disc set should be subtitled “The Arista Years,” since it only spans the 20 years Jackson was with that label – the first artist signed to its country division. He followed in…
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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,
The Yawpers
Boy In A Well
The Yawpers’ latest finds the raucous Denver trio playing it a bit against the beery roots-rock type, instead presenting (of all things) a song cycle concerning a mother who has given up her…
Neil Young – Chrome Dreams II
Neil Young has been prolific in recent years, releasing material from his vaults in the form of early concert performances and new material. Chrome Dreams II is a mix of newly recorded versions…
George Harrison – Brainwashed
It’s become cliché to say a particular guitarist is recognizable after just one note, but in the case of George Harrison, it’s true. Because along with his many hats and talents – singer,…
Dave Alvin – West of the West
Dave Alvin is one of America’s best songwriters, and as such runs the risk of alienating casual fans when he does an album of covers. But then again, maybe not… The idea with…
Joseph Spence
Encore
Imagine you’re a zoologist who discovers a new animal species never known to exist. There have been rare musical discoveries that rivaled that. John Hurt played nothing like a Delta bluesman, even though…
Jeff Ray – The Walk-Up
Jeff Ray is pretty much an unknown, to me anyway, but his playing brings to mind a veteran of the music scene who feels comfortable with what’s out there, but still forges his…
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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
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…
Jonny Lang
Jonny Lang’s career has taken a turn that should befuddle the folks who saw him as a pretender to the Blues King throne. He started young, playing biting lead guitar and spitting gravelly…
Robben Ford
Spontaneity is one of Robben Ford’s earmarks. So, recording nine backing tracks in one day, then adding vocals and finishing touches a week later (rarely attempted these days) played to his strength. To…
Brad Paisley
After a slew of excellent albums earlier in the decade, Brad Paisley’s work has taken a more uneven turn. His vocals and flair for guitar pyrotechnics remain flawless even if the material on…
Jing Chi – Live
Jing Chi Live
Okay, I admit. I’m a bit biased. But how can anyone, with a straight face, say any guitarist is making more, or better music than Robben Ford? I won’t list the stuff he’s…
Nili Brosh
Nili Brosh takes the phrase “playing like a girl” and turns it on its ear. This new album weaves the kind of muscular soloing, graceful melodies, and strenuous time signatures that would send…
Andy Timmons
Electric Truth
Is there life after success in a glam-metal band? Many guitarists were asking themselves that question after the scene fizzled in the ’90s. Most blamed grunge. Danger Danger’s Andy Timmons never had to…
Todd Snider – Peace, Love, Anarchy
Todd Snider is one of the finest songwriters to come down the pike in the past 15 years, and this set offers a chance to look at the writer as his songs develop.…
The Gibson Brothers – Red Letter Day
Not a lot of bluegrass musicians hail from New York; there’s Dr. Banjo (Peter Wernick) and Mr. Mandolin (David Grisman), but after them the list gets short. The Gibson Brothers are New York…
The Metallica Blacklist Album
Various artists
Conquering the charts 30 years ago with their “black album,” Metallica has become the global ambassador for heavy metal – and this 52-track tribute set confirms it. Artists from nearly every genre, from…
The Allman Brothers Band
Live at the Atlanta International Pop Festival
The Allman Brothers Band is one of those groups guitarists identify after just a handful of notes. First released in 2003, this reissue was recorded during ABB’s two performances at the 1970 festival,…
Bill Perry – Raw Deal
This record, plain-and-simple, cooks. Perry’s mix of rock and blues lands right in that perfect area that highlights the attraction of both kinds of music without being too self-conscious. He and producer Popa…
Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison’s Monument Records labelmate Tony Joe White says Orbison gave his all at every live performance; nothing on this disc will disprove that claim. Yes, there are a couple of small hitches…
The Stryker/Slagle Band – Latest Outlook
On his latest release, Dave Stryker collaborates once again with saxophonist Steve Slagle, and the two are joined by bassist Jay Anderson and Billy Hart on drums, and Joe Lovano joins on tenor…
David Grissom – Loud Music
When you’ve made your living and reputation as a hired gun, and finally decide to cut a solo album, what do you do? In the case of David Grissom, the question is particularly…
The Amazing Rhythm Aces
These two wonderful albums have been released on CD in the past, but this new combo package trumps all those editions. The sound is brilliantly clean, there are liner notes to supply some…
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,…
Danny Garcia
Often dismissed by cognoscenti as a morbidly nihilistic knuckle dragger, John Gazale, Jr. – a.k.a. Johnny Thunders – tends to be remembered more for the trampled track of junky business he left in…
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…
Duke Robillard Band
They Called it Rhythm & Blues
Robillard, his guitar, and band preside over a celebration of classic R&B and blues made up of 18 familiar and obscure numbers aided by heavy-hitting guests. Instrumentally, he remains a model of brevity…
Sweet
Self-distributed
Sweet – the ’70s glam-pop act that’s almost as famous for its hairdos as its music – is today actually two bands touring under the name. The U.S. version that recorded this disc…
Rolling Stones
Tattoo You 40th Anniversary
Tal Farlow – The Complete Verve Tal Farlow Sessions
The Complete Verve Tal Farlow Sessions
