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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
Mutlu – Livin’ It
Mutlu Onaral is a singer/songwriter from Philadelphia who mixes soul and folk into a sound that highlights the best of both. If it sounds familiar (a la Hall and Oates), it may be…
George Van Eps and Marty Grosz Meets the Fat Babies
Great Acoustic Jazz
Marty Grosz is surely one of the last of a breed – a jazz guitarist who plays strictly rhythm and chord-style solos and strictly acoustic. He’s also a fine singer and scholar of…
Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi
Black Sabbath and Deep Purple had a de facto merger in 1983 on the Sab album, Born Again, a disc featuring Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward with Purp frontman Ian Gillan.…
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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,
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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
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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,
Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore
Mollie O’Brien and her husband, Rich Moore, have been fixtures in the Denver music scene for more than 30 years. And though they have released several albums over the years (culled from their…
Michael Bloomfield – If You Love These Blues, Play ‘Em As You Please
I’ve had more than one conversation with a colleague when The Paul Butterfield Blues Band album came up, and we said in unison, “That album changed my life.” A big reason for the…
Jimmie Vaughan Trio
Live at C-Boy’s
Jimmie Vaughan just may be the guitar hero’s guitar hero. His kid bro, SRV, became the vaunted, face-contorting, barn-burning blues hero who everyone plays air guitar along with. JLV, meanwhile, was the epitome…
Pat Martino – Remember: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery
Pat Martino – Remember: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery This is not the first time legendary guitarist Martino has paid tribute to the man credited with driving jazz guitar to its current heights.…
Eli Cook
Self-distributed
As music evolves and grows, it sometimes hits roadblocks. That has been a problem in the past with the blues. Eli Cook’s latest album takes a stab at helping the music evolve. It’s…
Check This Action: Unearthing Blues Treasures
Steve Buscemi’s depiction of a socially challenged record collector in the movie Ghost World is not inaccurate – at least in a lot of cases. Let’s face it, record collectors can be nerds. But…
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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,
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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
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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,
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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
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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,
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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
Monster Mike Welch
Nothing But Time
George Harrison’s “I Me Mine” in the middle of a blues album may seem left-field, but Mike Welch’s tone-to-spare guitar and impassioned vocal make you wonder why nobody did it before. It sits…
Burnin’ Mike Vernon’s 3 Balls Of Fire
Burnin’ & Churnin’ and Live! (featuring Nokie Edwards, George Tomsco, and Jerry Cole)
Of all the surf-instrumental revivalists, Vernon is one of the most prolific. Since forming Balls Of Fire in 1987, he has also dipped his toe into “crime jazz” and Hollywood soundtrack covers –…
Sea Level
By today’s standards, Sea Level was a “jam band,” but 35 years ago, they were an eclectic group variously labeled as Southern rock, jazz-fusion, or West Coast funkpop. An offshoot of the Allman…
Matt Szlachetka
Northstar Session songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist Matt Szlachetka is more introspective here than with the Session but his considerable strengths are in full flower – especially his ability to craft a song…
The John Henrys
9lb Records
The John Henrys would be the last to deny the inf luence of Tom Petty’s music on their work – the clipped vocal phrasing of the opener, “Little One,” (a la Petty’s “The…
Amy Black
If Will Kimbrough’s name does not come up the next time you’re discussing great guitar players, then you ain’t saying nothin’. Kimbrough is always on the money whether putting a delicately strong acoustic…
Duke Robillard – Stretchin’ Out Live
What can you say about the Duke that hasn’t already been said? Having achieved a lofty level of constant and worthy acclaim, he probably wonders when the financial rewards of his art will…
Jeff Golub – Temptation
Lots of folks think Golub’s playing has grown a little too slick and “smooth” for its own good. You might agree, but to me, his playing has such a groove it’s impossible to…
The Monkees – More of the Monkees
Dovetailing off our yearly rant when the nominations for the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame are announced, a fellow writer and I segued into our ritual of listing the glaring omissions who…
Tomo Fujita – Right Place, Right Time
Fujita is a professor at Berklee College of Music, and the music here flies in the face of the old adage, “Those who can’t do, teach.” Fujita proves himself a true player’s player;…
Andreas öberg – Solo
Swedish guitarslinger Andreas öberg is a firebrand, playing mainstream jazz and Gypsy jazz with a fury. His style is ultra-modern – fast and driving, with a rock and roll-inspired intensity. Fronting the Hot…
Jerry Granelli
Dance Hall
The artists that drummer Granelli has recorded with range from Vince Guaraldi to Earl “Fatha” Hines to the Kingston Trio. He’s also released more than a dozen solo albums, including 1992’s A Song…
Willie Nelson
That’s Life
Merle Travis & Deke Dickerson
Sixteen Tons: The Merle Travis Story
Deke Dickerson does things right. He doesn’t skimp in his books, recordings, or various other productions, knowing that true “guitar geeks” (as he justly refers to himself and the rest of us) revel…
Peter Blake and Commentary Derek Taylor – 24 Nights
Perhaps you were let down by the high prices for the Eric Clapton guitars at the recent Christies auction. But don’t despair! You can still get a limited edition book, music, and memorabilia…
Psychedelic Breakfast – Deuce
Deuce
Okay, I’m not sure how to approach this one… The band is a trippy mix of jazz, rock, folk, and everything in between. There’s a definite Grateful Dead vibe, and that’s part of…
Love – Out Here, False Start
Some consider these albums minor releases in the Love canon. But neither might have been considered so if the magnificent Forever Changes hadn’t set the bar so high. While they may not meet…
Bill Frisell
Four
Over the course of 40-plus solo albums and countless collaborations, Frisell has established himself as one of the most original and adventurous jazz guitarists. On 10 new originals and three revisited from Good…
The Allman Brothers Band
Live at the Atlanta International Pop Festival
The Allman Brothers Band is one of those groups guitarists identify after just a handful of notes. First released in 2003, this reissue was recorded during ABB’s two performances at the 1970 festival,…
Roy Roberts – Deeper Shade of Blue
North Carolina bluesman Roy Roberts is an original, and there’s no other blues singer or guitarist who can equal his blend of minor-key, soul-laced shuffles. Like the great Otis Rush, much of Roberts’…
Eric Clapton
Still Slowhand
There’s a lot of looking back going on here. For his 23rd solo album, Eric Clapton reunites with producer Glyn Johns, who not only worked with the Rolling Stones on Sticky Fingers and…
Jinx Jones – License to Twang
Alrighty, then. This is some fun stuff. Not sure of Jinx’ background, but he sure can play the heck out of a Gretsch. Elements of country, rock, blues, and everything in between make…
