Monthly Archives: November 2007

Levin is a keyboard specialist who for the past few decades has played with the best in the business, including Paul Simon, Miles Davis, John Scofield, Robbie Robertson, David Sanborn, and plenty of others. On this set he concentrates on Hammond organ and lines up two of his favorite guitarists to simulate an old organ [...]

This Long Island quartet had already undergone several personnel changes since its formation in 2000 before a car wreck killed drummer John “Beatz” Holohan and severely injured bassist Nick Ghanbarian. Guitarist Jack O’Shea and lead singer Anthony Raneri (the only original member left at that point) pressed on as a duo, resulting in last year’s [...]

When he was 25, Bobby Broom was picked by jazz legend Kenny Burrell to be part of his Jazz Guitar Band, whose stint at New York’s Village Vanguard resulted in two albums. By then, Broom had moved from his native New York to Chicago and already logged sessions with Dizzy Gillespie, Stanley Turrentine, and Sonny [...]

Johnny Bush is a true Texas original and one of the best living examples of real honky-tonk music. Looking back on all aspects of his 50-year career, he cut much of Kashmere Gardens, appropriately, at Houston’s famed SugarHill Studios, as a companion to his autobiography, Whiskey River. SugarHill was the birthplace of hits by artists [...]

Jimmy La Fave joins other Texas singer/songwriters such as Guy Clark, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Townes Van Zandt in his ability to evoke the feelings and images of America hidden behind superhighways and shopping malls. Cimarron Manifesto displays a musician in full command of his creative powers. La Fave’s deceptively simple vocal delivery and rich [...]

Yes, PK is a bit odd – he admits it. While some folks can’t get past that, it’s hard not to get into his whacked take on traditional blues and country. Healed is a bit different in that he uses other musicians to accompany him. You still get the slightly-off-kilter blues, great lyrics that fluctuate [...]