-
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
Steve Hillage
Steve Hillage is the greatest master of tape-echo guitar in rock history, and this 22-CD boxset (that’s not a typo) does a good job proving it. A pioneer of British psychedelia and quirky…
Peter Ames Carlin
Sonic Boom: The Impossible Rise of Warner Bros. Records, from Hendrix to Fleetwood Mac to Madonna to Prince
Chances are a significant chunk of your music collection is from artists on the Warner Brothers, Reprise, Atlantic, Elektra, Asylum, and Sire labels. Innovative executives and record producers like Mo Ostin, Joe Smith,…
Swamp Rat – Swamp Rat
The cartoon rats on its cover are a humorous representation of the three guys in this band – Dan Cohen (guitar, banjo, vocals), James Cook (bass and vocals), and Derek Mixon (drums), and…
-
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,
-
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
-
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,
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…
Sean Costello – Sean Costello
This is Sean’s first work for Tone Cool/Artemis, and while his past work was very good, he has matured to become one of the major young talents in R&B. Sean’s past work also…
GA-20
Live in Loveland
Visceral, raw – and without bass – this live album captures 11 oldies and originals from Plaid Room Records in Loveland, Ohio. Guitarists Pat Faherty and Matthew Stubbs, with drummer Tim Carman, take…
Song of the South
You’re always taking a chance with a DVD that concerns a band and yet none of the band members take part in the production. That’s the case here. While there are no Allman…
Jimi Hendrix
Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision
It’s astonishing – and fortunate – that so much unreleased Jimi Hendrix material exists, given his brief recording career. It seems every time he picked up his guitar in the studio, the Record…
Tony Joe White – Snakey
Snakey
The title track that opens the Swamp Fox’s latest offering sounds almost like a variation on his bluesy “As A Crow Flies,” from 1972’s The Train I’m On. Hallelujah! At this point in…
-
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,
-
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
-
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,
-
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
-
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,
-
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
The Dig 3
The Dig 3
If you’re drowning in a sea of “blooz” mediocrity, you need to check out the Dig 3. The Chicago-based trio delivers no-nonsense blues free of affectation. Though this is the group’s debut album,…
Various Artists – A Twist of Marley
Sort of the second in a series of “twist” tributes, this is an all-star tribute to Bob Marley. It was put together by guitarist Lee Ritenour, and features the likes of Jonathon Butler,…
Rick McRae- Guitarland
The retitled version of Johnny Gimble’s “Fiddlin’ Around” (“Pickin’ Around”) is a clue, but just going by the repertoire here – encompassing Jobim, Bonfa, Villa Lobos, Cole Porter, and Charlie Parker – one…
Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin
First off, neither of these excellent four-CD sets includes personnel listings in their skimpy liner booklets. This is simply unpardonable – especially considering how stylish, how influential, how downright phenomenal the backlines are…
Josh Smith
Bird Of Passage
Between playing guitar on the road and producing blues artists with Joe Bonamassa, Josh Smith found time to get in the studio for himself. Bird Of Passage is Smith’s dream of composing for,…
Paco de Lucía
The Montreux Years
“He didn’t read music – but I have never met a musician with such an impeccable ear,” says John McLaughlin of the late flamenco phenomenon in the liner notes for this live set,…
Whiskey Shivers
Some Part Of Something
Whiskey Shivers’ instrumentation, the basic construction of their songs, and lightning fast picking mean you could call this a bluegrass band. But the ensemble takes things one step beyond. “Like A Stone” ruminates…
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…
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…
Dr. Dog – Shame, Shame
Anti
Hailing from Philadelphia, Dr. Dog plays progressive rock in the best sense of the word. Time was, a lot of pop music felt like the song “Stranger,” where punchy rhythm guitars and layered…
Omar And The Howlers – Swingland
I first ran across Omar Dykes in the mid ’80s when I heard a bluesy radio-ready rock album called Hard Times In The Land Of Plenty. I liked it, and some quick research…
John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension
We’re in a paradoxical era when many pioneers of high-volume electric music are now in their 70s, from Mick and Keef to Paul and Ringo. By the time you read this, even the…
David R. Hussong
Comeaux Collection: The Fretted Instruments of Dr. Tommy Comeaux
Dave Specter
The latest from Dave Specter crosses genres and styles like a car with bad wheels crosses highway lines. But here, the outcome is a good thing. Whether it’s soul, blues, jazz, or rock…
Tom Feldmann
Modern Master
No question, Tom Feldmann is a jewel of American guitarmanship, and his new album confirms the notion. As a player, he’s deeply rooted in the “interwar” Delta blues and gospel guitar of the…
Paul McCartney & Wings
As clearly as the “whole is greater than the sum of its parts” adage has been demonstrated by numerous great bands, it will never keep critics from harping on how each of the…
Soulfarm – Scream of the Crop
Scream of the Crop
Soulfarm is three fellas from New York who have put together a very cool album that’s pretty hard to pigeonhole. Noah Chase and C Lanzbom on vocals and guitar, and Mark Ambrosino on…
Tom Principato – Anniversary DVD: Celebrating 40 Years
Anniversary DVD: Celebrating 40 Years
Tom Principato is one of those guitarists who has been around for a long time. He’s on the fringe of lots of stuff, has played with tons of great guitarists, and makes pretty…
Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio- Close But No Cigar
No disrespect to bassists but there’s just something about a funked-up organ trio that sticks to your backbone. Made popular in the cool music joints of the ’50s and ’60s, organists Jimmy McGriff,…
Golden State-Lone Star Blues Revue
Welcome to a cross-country meeting of blues minds. The first release from this group of veteran California and Texas bluesmen features guitarists Little Charlie Baty, an Alabama-to-California transplant grounded originally in Chicago blues…
Megadeth
The Sick, the Dying … and the Dead!
During the protracted recording of Megadeth’s 16th album, founding bassist Dave Ellefson was canned, his parts erased and re-recorded by Testament bassist Steve Di Giorgio. Surprisingly, The Sick remains a strong, cohesive statement,…
J.J. Cale – The Very Best of J.J. Cale
Most folks probably know J.J. Cale best by the covers recorded of his songs, from Eric Clapton’s versions of Cale’s “Cocaine” and “After Midnight” to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Call Me the Breeze.” That’s a…
Patty Larkin – 25
Signature Sounds
The Spencer Davis Group – I’m A Man & Gimme Some Lovin’
I'm A Man & Gimme Some Lovin'