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Michael Dregni
Roomful of Blues – The Blues’ll Make You Happy, Too
The Blues'll Make You Happy, Too
Rounder has launched a new Heritage Series that kicks off in righteous fashion with this retrospective of Roomful of Blues’ seven Rounder albums. In guitar terms, this collection covers Roomful of Blues from the journeyman days of Ronnie Earl to today’s Chris Vachon. These are the best of the best, 14 rafter-shaking numbers from the…
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Michael Dregni
Mike Stern – Voices
Voices
This is jazz guitarist Mike Stern’s first album featuring vocalists, hence the title. Yet these are not songs of heartfelt, poetic lyrics. Rather, the voices are used as instruments, carrying the melody line, bopping along with the bass, and harmonizing with Stern’s omnipresent guitar. It’s a fascinating experiment. Stern is joined by vocalists Richard Bona…
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Michael Dregni
Basily – Swing for the Gipsies
The Dutch Gypsy group Basily has been prolific in releasing recordings and playing concert dates on the Dutch scene, but remains virtually unknown in the rest of the world. This new album will hopefully change that. Basily is a sextet built from the foundation of four Basily family members: violinist Tucsi, solo guitarist Popi, and…
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Michael Dregni
Tim Sparks – Tanz
Tanz is guitarist Tim Sparks’ second album of “Jewish Blues” – a collection of Jewish songs and dances from Yiddish, Sephardic, and Oriental traditions he has translated into acoustic fingerstyle guitar. This album follows on the dancing heels of last year’s Neshamah, which VG‘s review noted as “…a truly stunning album created with vision.” Tanz…
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Michael Dregni
Emmylou Harris – Red Dirt Girl
Emmylou Harris seems to have finally found her freedom. It’s rare to follow an artist who, after almost three decades of recording, still has something new and fresh to say – and who continues to develop their sound. This new album may be Harris’ masterpiece. Long the godmother of country music’s traditionalists, Harris has moved…
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Michael Dregni
Albert Glinksy – Theremin: Ether Music and Espionage
The theremin holds the distinction of being the only instrument that is played without being touched. Using a human body’s natural capacitance to manipulate radio waves, the theremin was also the first electronic instrument and created a sensation upon its launch by Soviet scientist Leon Theremin in the 1920s. It was the stuff of myriad…
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Michael Dregni
Corey Christiansen – Essential Jazz Lines: The Style of Charlie Parker
Looking for a key to unlock your jazz solos or comping? Essential Jazz Lines: The Style of Charlie Parker offers fine entries to the playing of a great jazzer. Essential Jazz Lines: The Style of Charlie Parker translates Bird’s famous sax stylings into guitar lines and explores his bebop scales. Both books include lessons in…
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Michael Dregni
Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
The album opens with static. The distortion bleeds into a sonic maelstrom of competing radio signals before a backbeat of drums launches the first song, “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.” Welcome to Wilco’s fourth CD, which is named for a short-wave radio code and is easily the band’s finest, if not defining, moment.…
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Michael Dregni
The George Benson Quartet – It’s Uptown, The George Benson Cookbook
George Benson was another of A&R legend John Hammond’s famous discoveries, alongside the likes of Count Basie, Charlie Christian, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, and Bruce Springsteen. This put Benson in a tough position when he was signed to Columbia in ’65, and he set out to prove himself with his first album for Hammond, ’66’s…
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Michael Dregni
Pee Wee Crayton – Pee Wee’s Blues: The Complete Aladdin and Imperial
Pee Wee Crayton learned his lessons well. Moving from Texas to California during the Depression, he slaved away in Navy shipyards until some buddies dragged him along to a T-Bone Walker show. Pee Wee was floored by T-Bone. He bought a guitar and literally made T-Bone teach him the tricks of the trade. In the…
