• 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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Nobuki Takamen

Summit Records

Takamen has become a mainstay in New York’s jazz clubs, and this record shows him to be a mature player with a keen sense of composition, considerable technical skill, and a supportive band…

John Mayer – Live in LA

Beyond the tabloids, “TMZ,” and his celebrity girlfriends, John Mayer is a songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist who ranks among the best in modern pop. And this disc shows all of his strengths. Kicking…

Bob DeVos – Playing for Keeps

He may be relatively obscure, but Devos can navigate traditional pieces and write fresh material that holds up. This is an organ trio with saxophone, and the players are very comfortable with each…

Ricky Skaggs with Kentucky Thunder – History of the Future

History of the Future

From the opening accapella vocal lines of “Shady Grove,” Ricky Skaggs’ History of the Future roars out of your speakers with full-throttle devil-be-damned, fire-breathing bluegrass. Clay Hess’ first guitar solo is so jaw-droppingly…

Jules Shear – More

Jules Mark Shear is living proof that talented pop musicians who prefer to remain on the fringes can maintain a successful career without cowtowing to the winds of fad and fashion. On his…

Alan Jackson

Following his 2013 bluegrass album, Alan Jackson returns to his usual format, in this case, 10 songs of varying topics and moods. Seven are Jackson originals (no collaborators) covering matters of the heart,…

David Rawlings

Poor David’s Almanack

Beginning with the 1996 debut of his musical partner Gillian Welch, David Rawlings has quietly become an Americana guitar hero, flatpicking his ’35 Epiphone Olympic across Welch’s five critically acclaimed albums and his…

Dave Rawlings Machine

Americana fans are no strangers to guitarist Dave Rawlings. Largely building his rep on several releases by his musical partner Gillian Welch, Rawlings and his flatpicked Epiphone Olympic first stepped out as the…

Kenny Burrell

Consistency has always been one of Kenny Burrell’s hallmarks – as in consistently great. Ironically, he’s almost taken for granted because of it. He was Duke Ellington’s favorite guitarist, cut his first session…

Big Daddy Love

This North Carolina-based band makes its own rules. Call their music bluegrass or newgrass, Southern rock, hippie country, or anything else, and it’s still refreshingly original music from a quintet whose members must…

Richie Kotzen

Nomad

More than 30 years into a wildly eclectic career (hey, the guy played with Poison and bass god Stanley Clarke), Richie Kotzen is no longer that pre-grunge shredder. With Nomad, he again proves…

Steve Smith – Hard Road

Not all great pickers and songwriters live in Nashville, L.A., or New York. Some reside in far off places such as Las Cruses, New Mexico. Steven Smith is a case in point. His…

Hilary Gardner

On The Trail with The Lonesome Pines

Vocalist Gardner explores the association between jazz and country, the Great American Songbook, and cowboy movie stars. Similar territory was mined by Asleep At The Wheel and Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks,…

Ted Leo

The Hanged Man

Critically acclaimed East Coast songwriter Ted Leo’s press clippings are filled with references to the Canon of British Bands Whose Names Are Collective Nouns: The Who, The Jam, The Clash. Fair enough; after…

Steve Khan – Got My Mental

Khan’s been around for awhile. He’s made some great albums as a solo artist, dating back to the ’70s. He also served in Billy Joel’s band in the late ’70s, and has done…

Laurence Jones

Ostensibly a blues artist, on his latest disc Laurence Jones sounds more like hybrid blues-rock acts such as Foghat and, notably, the Jon Butcher Axis. Jones follows Rory Gallagher, Jack Bruce, and Peter…

Marshall Crenshaw

The Wild, Exciting Sounds of Marshall Crenshaw

Marshall Crenshaw has worn so many musical hats. He authored a guide to rock and roll in the movies; portrayed John Lennon in the stage production Beatlemania; played Buddy Holly in the movie…

Tom Feldmann

Old Blues with New Soul

Everyday you hear someone who claims to have the blues. But if you’re going to revive the old songs once again for the umpteenth time, you better have something new to add. Tom…

Journey

Freedom

Journey’s first album in 11 years did not come easily. Guitarist Neal Schon, keyboardist Jonathan Cain, and vocalist Arnel Pineda welcomed a new rhythm section including bassist Randy Jackson (the “American Idol” judge),…

Jimmy “Duck” Holmes

Mississippi Blues Holdout

The unique and insular Bentonia style may be the deepest and darkest of all blues. Skip James personified the music: he sang haunted songs in an eerie, high-pitched voice that would send a…

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…

Damn Straight We’ve Got the Blues

Various artists

This carefully curated 60-track, digital-only compilation draws deeply from the catalogs of New West and Antones Records as well as New West’s “Live from Austin” series. The focus? Blues numbers from a swath…

Charlie Musselwhite – Sanctuary

With his debut album in 1966, harmonica vanguard Charlie Musselwhite met and set the standard for authenticity and adventurism in blues. But in the past few years,

Steve Howe

It’s been 45 years since Steve Howe joined Yes, but in 1975, he launched a parallel solo career that’s still going strong. For this collection, Howe has picked 33 of his favorite solo…

The Carper Family

Old-fashioned gals they may well be, but the Carper Family trio injects their traditional country and bluegrass music with some tasty modern vibes on their third disc. The Austin, Texas-based band comprises bassist…

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…

Tim O’Brien – Two Journeys

In his recent VG interview, Tim O’Brien mentioned that his next release would be more of a “songwriter” CD. Instead, his latest, Two Journeys, is an extension of his album, The Crossing, which…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

Long John Baldry – Remembering Leadbelly

The Brits, in at least as far as the blues is concerned, have always been our archivists. With a few exceptions in the ’60s, including John Hammond, Butterfield and Bloomfield, Taj Mahal, and…

John Lee Hooker & the Coast to Coast Blues Band

Live at Montreux 1983 & 1990

The early ’80s weren’t a high point of John Lee Hooker’s career. Demand for all blues – including his Mississippi hill-country music – had eroded and record deals were scarce. None of that…

Swervedriver

The shoegaze revival is peaking, so what better time for one of its leading lights to hop on the wagon while the hopping is hot, right? Not so fast. Swervedriver reunited seven years…