• 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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Boom, Boom, Kuush!

Queen

Ready to set listeners flashing back to wide-leg corduroys and denim-covered Koss headphones, Hollywood Records’ News of The World 40th Anniversary Edition box set is a great excuse to revisit Queen’s 1977 landmark…

Robert Bradley – Out of the Wilderness

While Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise deals in styles of music done by many bands – R&B, rock, soul, and jazz – it always brings an edge most bands don’t offer. Out of the…

Paul Johnson – Liquid Blues

Having played a pivotal role in the development of instrumental surf music in the early ’60s with his band, the Belairs (best-remembered for the Johnson-penned classic “Mr. Moto”), and having presaged any notion…

Los Lobos

Shout! Factory

It’s been a few years since Los Lobos released original material, but Tin Can Trust is worth the wait. Its music is a mix of rock, R&B, soul, folk, and various Latin styles…

Terry Burrows

Two boards, three pickups, some hardware, and various electric bits and pieces: Stratocasters are simple creations at heart. But setting one up perfectly, repairing it – especially stageside in the heat of a…

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble – Live At Montreux 1982 & 1985

By now, every guitar fan worth his salt knows the story behind these two concerts by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble at the legendary Montreux Jazz Festival. Appearing in 1982, the boys…

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…

Pieta Brown

Red House Records

Put two great guitar players like Bo Ramsey and Richard Bennett together with one of the best songwriters to appear in the past decade, and there’s a chance you’ll get a great record.…

Arthur Lee & Love

Complete Forever Changes Live

The fingerpicked intro to Bryan MacLean’s breathtaking “Alone Again Or” starts the heady, cinematic, night-through-day-through-night journey of Forever Changes. The 1967 album was the magnum opus of Love’s troubled visionary, Arthur Lee. MacLean,…

Mark Doyle

Mark Doyle put together a 10-piece touring band, complete with string quartet, last year after releasing several instrumental albums over a 15-year period. With that touring group he played mostly cuts from those…

Deadstring Brothers – Silver Mountain

The Deadstring Brothers hail from Detroit and bring a mix of crunchy rock and roll and rootsy country – think Rolling Stones. Cuts like “Ain’t No Hidin’ Love,” and “Queen of the Scene”…

Indigenous

Vanguard Records

Indigenous is a highenergy blues-rock band fronted by Mato Nanji, disciple of Vaughan and Hendrix; its sound is defined by the chugging rhythms and fat tones squeezed from his Stratocaster. For this album,…

Nineteen Hand Horse

Revel

This Northern California unit, led by vocalist/songwriter Nathalie Archangel and husband, singer/guitarist Mark Montijo, both former pop-rockers, focus on twang-filled country with obvious pop overtones. Behind her smoky, aggressive voice and Montijo’s more-relaxed…

Brian Setzer – 13

Brian Setzer – 13 Brian Setzer is an amazing guitar player who has always played what he wanted, whether it was popular or not – from rockabilly to big-band. But some fans have…

Joni Mitchell

Archives – Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971)

A year ago, Mitchell unearthed a batch of rare ’60s recordings called Archives – Vol. 1 and, boxed separately, remasters of her early studio albums. Now we have Vol. 2, a mammoth set…

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…

Dailey & Vincent

Dailey and Vincent’s powerful combination of effusive vocals and fiery instrumentals make this debut one of the most impressive bluegrass albums of ’07 – which was an exceptional year for the genre. Jamie…

The Infamous Stringdusters

A band’s sophomore release usually has a snappier title than the name of the band. But in some ways this second album is a first album. Guitarist Chris Eldridge left to join the…

Enrico Granafei

Miles High Records

On this truly phenomenal record, Granafei rolls through 10 cuts, most familiar, with just his voice, a nylon-string guitar, and a chromatic harmonica. There is no over-dubbing on this record, and Granafei’s performance…

David Michael Miller

This makes it two in a row for David Michael Miller. His Poisons Sipped was one of last year’s surprise albums, introducing us to a songwriter, guitarist, and singer who is the whole…

Al Joseph

All Of Creation

Time marches on as the genre of progressive metal expands into fresh sonic vistas and expressive landscapes. Al Joseph continues that exploration with a sound that combines the best elements of heavy guitar,…

Barry Levenson – Heart to Hand

Barry Levenson has most all the tools; the heart, the hands, the chops, and experience. What places this release a step ahead is the production, which in this is also the work of…

Chris Duarte – Love Is Greater Than Me

Love Is Greater Than Me

Chris Duarte is a great guitarist. Of the current crop of players aspiring to the permanently vacated Texas chair, Chris’ stuff rises closest to the top. In concert, his chops are endless and…

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…

Dumpstaphunk

The New Orleans funk ensemble known as Dumpstaphunk has been at it for a decade now. Led by Ivan Neville on keys, the band consists of Nikki Glaspie on drums and vocals, guitarist…

The Band – The Last Waltz DVD and CD Boxed Set

If there were ever a group of musicians for whom the term “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” fit like a glove, it was The Band. Perhaps even more…

Bucky Pizzarelli – Swing Live

Swing Live

Few guitarists have been around as long (and done as much) as Bucky Pizzarelli. He’s been playing with big bands, small-group combos, chairmen-of-the-boards (he was Sinatra’s favorite guitarist), and in studios for many…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

Free – Free Forever

Eagle Vision

Free was capable of turning out such memorable originals as “Fire And Water,” “Mr. Big,” and its biggest hit, “All Right Now” – all from 1970’s Fire And Waterthe band’s third album. The…

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…

Loretta Lynn

Standing Proud

Loretta Lynn, who turned 84 this year, first became famous for her plain-spoken, proudly twangy hits in the ’60s and ’70s, many of the standout original compositions based on her life. Her best-selling…