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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
Luther Allison – Underground
When Luther Allison died in 1997, he was 57 years old – and just hitting his stride. Allison grew up in Mississippi and Chicago, playing the blues with many of the greats. He…
Jackie Greene
429 Records
Jackie Greene’s music is hypnotic in the way of all good pop-rock. Its strongpoint is finely crafted interplay between guitars and keyboards. His new album is replete with gorgeous layered vocals, and while…
Paul Brown
A lot of people paint the smooth jazz world with a broad brush that sometimes ignores the players who play with soul, intensity, and smartness. Paul Brown would be one such player. While…
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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,
J.D. Simo
This latest shoehorns J.D. Simo’s Nashville six-string virtuosity with the soulful blues phrasing of Chicago, and the heart-pounding adrenaline of rawk. Embedded within a raucous ’60s psychedelic gumbo, Simo summons copious amounts of…
The Kentucky Headhunters with Johnnie Johnson
It’s hard to believe these recordings have been around since 2003 and are only now seeing the light of day. What started as Johnnie Johnson showing up to play on some Kentucky Headhunter…
Eric Johnson
When Eric Johnson came to prominence, he sounded like nothing anyone had ever heard before. He made a Strat sound like a violin, and transformed the Fuzz Face into an instrument of highbrow…
Los Straitjackets – Further Adventures
Surf music has often been all about the schtick. Whether it’s the melodies or the bands’ personas, surf is often part gimmick, part great music. Los Straitjackets just know how to turn it…
Fred McDowell – The First Recordings, Steakbone Slide Guitar, Leve
These three CDs of Mississippi Fred McDowell all show different sides of the great Delta bluesman. Rounder’s The First Recordings were recorded by famed musicologist Alan Lomax in 1959, yet among the 14…
Johnny Winter – Pieces and Bits
The long-awaited authorized video from blues/rock guitar icon Johnny Winter has finally arrived. Compiled in part by Winter’s manager, Teddy Slatus, who asked fans to send video clips, the set includes TV clips…
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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
Croy and the Boys
There’s something about the Telecaster – as well as its forerunners and inspired imitators – that attracts musicians whose music then reflects the guitar’s straightforward character. It’s a guitar that speaks to players…
Rodrigo Y Gabriela
In Between Thoughts, A New World
The Grammy-winning acoustic duo is back with a collection of consciousness-raising musical concepts, textures, and philosophies augmented by electronica and orchestral elements. Rhythm is king as they slap, shred, groove, and showcase effortless…
Peter Bardens
Long Ago, Far Away: The Recordings (1968-1971)
Following a sort of carousel-calliope intro, with one unmistakable bend, Peter Green enters “The Answer” and quickly transforms the proceedings. Keyboardist Peter Bardens released an album of the same name in 1970, featuring…
The Derek Trucks Band – Soul Serenade
Though a step back chronologically – tracks for this album were recorded in late ’99 and early 2000, before the release of the band’s 2002 Joyful Noise album – Soul Serenade is several…
The Hadden Sayers Band – Swingin’ From The Fabulous Satellite
If tasteful, solid, rock is your thing, this band is for you. Storming out of Texas and led by guitarist Hadden Sayers, they blend blues, classic rock, country, and good old-fashioned pop music…
Dan Tyminski – Wheels
Even if you haven’t heard of Dan Tyminski, you’ve likely heard his music. His Grammy-winning version of “I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow” from the soundtrack O Brother Where Art Thou? garnered…
Emmylou Harris – 5 Recording Review
Pieces Of Sky, Elite Hotel, Luxury Liner, Quarter Moon In A Ten Cent Town and Blue Kentucky Girl As huge a star as Emmylou Harris is, and as long and varied as her…
Hank Williams – Alone with His Guitar
Alone with His Guitar
Ever since Hank Williams died on December 31, 1952, his fans have had to make do with commercial recordings, which have been almost continuously re-mixed, re-mastered, and repackaged by MGM and Mercury. But…
Eric Clapton
The Definitive 24 Nights
This box set heavily expands Slowhand’s 24 Nights, the live album and video of Eric Clapton’s 1990-’91 residencies at London’s Royal Albert Hall. It includes six hours of music, including 35 previously unreleased…
Groove Legacy
Groove Legacy is a group of L.A. musicians who have banded together to make an album in the soul/jazz/funk vein that harkens back to the ’70s, but still sounds vibrant and current. It…
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…
Markus James
James is Virginia-born but has spent time in Northern California and West Africa. His work with three Malian musicians resulted in the documentary film Timbuktoubab. He points out the too-similar-to-be-coincidence similarity between the…
The Yardbirds – Ultimate
The Yardbirds: Ultimate
Mike Zito – Today
Eclectogroove
Pat Metheny Group – Speaking of Live Now
Speaking of Live Now
Nick Moss – Privileged
Blue Bella Records
Along with the Kilborn Alley Blues Band, Gerry Hundt, and others on his Blue Bella label, Nick Moss is one of the most consistent current blues/blues-influenced artists from Chicago. Moss’ music is not…
Dave Specter – Live In Chicago
For some time, Dave Specter has made great music that covers a broad spectrum of genres. Known as a blues guitarist, he has never shied from jazz or soul, and this live record…
Mojo Monkeys
Medikull Records
Mojo Monkeys is guitarist Billy Watts, bassist Taras Prodaniuk, and drummer David Raven. All three sing, and Blessings & Curses shows them mining a swampy rock feel that sometimes crosses into country. The…
Andreas Oberg – My Favorite Guitars
If you were to judge this disc by its cover, you might think something was fishy; a handsome Swedish guy with a leather jacket and t-shirt, guitar thrown over his shoulder… Yeah, right!…
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,…
Chet Atkins – Me and My Guitars
Chet Atkins has a deserved reputation as a great gui-tar player and all-around nice guy. So it’s a pleasure to see a book that is part biography and part history of his personal…
Ruby Rendrag – Wartime Favorites
Ruby Rendrag has definitely learned a lot from Chrissie Hynde, and it’s a good thing. She handles most of her own guitar work on this album (with a little harmonica thrown in) and…
The Pinecaster: Early Electric Guitars 1920-1955
Nacho Baños and Lynn Wheelwright
Four volumes, 960 pages, more than 1,000 photos and historical documents – The Pinecaster is heavier than the heaviest 1958 ’burst. Plus, an accompanying app has more of everything, including guitar demos from…
Freakwater
That title – copped from the name of the storytelling gal in Arabian Nights – begs some pithy comparison between Scheherazade’s beguiling tales and the manner in which Catherine Irwin and Janet Beveridge…
