• 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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Jack Nitzsche – Hearing Is Believing

It may have only reached number 39 on Billboard‘s Pop Singles chart in 1963, but “The Lonely Surfer” is as perfect as any 21/2 minutes in rock history. Bill Pittman’s Danelectro six-string bass…

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…

Brian Ray – Mondo Magneto

Brian Ray – Mondo Magneto Brian Ray may not exactly be a household name, but the guy is no stranger to the music field. He’s spent the past few years in the band…

Billy Strings

Turmoil & Tinfoil

An online video of Billy Strings has him looking like he just came from soccer practice, picking with his father and singing a jarringly authentic rendition of “Little Cabin Home On The Hill.”…

Albert Lee – Heartbreak Hill

Heartbreak Hill

Being an Albert Lee fan can be as frustrating as it is rewarding. Because, even though he’s invariably busy, touring behind somebody or playing on someone’s record, his jam-packed schedule doesn’t allow much…

Bill Hullett – Two-Lane Blacktop

Okay, by now you’re all saying, “Does this guy listen to anything besides jazz?” Well, here’s a killer instrumental album featuring a veteran Nashville studio picker. Not only does Hullett put on a…

Deborah Coleman – Livin’ On Love

Groovy is the word for Deborah Coleman. She’s got the hip sensibility of Joan Armatrading blended with the blues groove of B.B. King. The result is music that moves you. When Coleman released…

Guy Davis – You Don’t Know My Mind

Guy Davis is the real thing. This young black bluesman plays his version of the downhome blues like he, too, has a hellhound on his trail. Davis has released two earlier collections of…

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…

Elana James

For her second solo effort, Elana James, fiddler-vocalist for the western-swing trio Hot Club of Cowtown, ventures afield into other genres. This shouldn’t be surprising, given her 2006 touring work as part of…

Richie Kotzen

Soul Survivor

Richie Kotzen may not be a household name, but with nearly 20 albums and countless group projects on his resumé, he’s on the verge. Coming to prominence in ’89 after being signed to…

Bearfoot

The teenagers who began the Bearfoot Bluegrass Band in 2006 have matured into young adults. As they’ve matured, so has their music. Even their name has changed slightly; it’s been shortened to Bearfoot.…

Anders Osborne

On his third full-length recording for Alligator, Osborne has hit the jackpot. While his songwriting has always been precise, soulful, and detailed, he nails every song here with a straightforwardness. Lyrically, the themes…

Johnny Nicholas & Friends

Too Many Bad Habits

When Johnny Nicholas was kicking out blues in Austin in the ’70s, between there and Detroit, he recorded his 1977 album Too Many Bad Habits, 14 raw, authentic tracks released on the Blind…

Paul Gilbert

The Dio Album

It’s been almost 13 years since the passing of vocalist and metal visionary Ronnie James Dio, yet his essence looms large in the minds of fans and bands around the world, many of…

Steve Howe Trio

HoweSound Records

The idea of a straight jazz album from Steve Howe might bring out the skeptic in proggers and beboppers alike, but Travelling is a pleasant surprise. Certainly, Howe’s jazzflavored leads were prominent in…

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.…

Tommy Castro – Gratitude

Tommy Castro goes for the throat, emotionally, no matter if he’s playing straight blues, funk, or good old-fashioned rock and roll. This album is a good case in point. It’s set up as…

Ace Frehley

Ace is back – and he told you so! The former Kiss guitarist shares a buffet of the gems that influenced him – Hendrix, Clapton, Page, and the Rolling Stones, to name a…

Stacie Collins

Rev Records

The list of people who call themselves “professional harmonica players” certainly is not all that long. And the number of female harmonica players… well, beyond Stacie Collins, I can’t think of one. On…

Brian Wright

Sugar Hill Records

Off kilter, warped, but addictive, Brian Wright’s music grabs your attention. He describes it as, “…situated somewhere between Woody Guthrie and The Velvet Underground.” Where exactly, depends on the song. Beyond writing the…

Bob Dylan

What to make of a box set compiling the half-century career of the most towering figure in American popular music? After all, Bob Dylan’s stature ensures that the target market already owns a…

Hiromi’s Sonicbloom – Time Control

Ignore the silly cover photo – this ain’t no pop-diva record. Instead, it could be the jazz-rock CD of the year. Hiromi Uehara is a monster jazz pianist who’s been making a name…

Jake Shimabukuro – Dragon

Jake Shimabukuro – Dragon The ukulele is where many a guitarist got his or her start, but for Jake Shimabukuro, it was the destination. The lowly four-string has always been capable of more…

Check This Action: Monumental Treasures

One of my favorite gospel albums has the mouthful title An Evening With Rev. Louis Overstreet, His Guitar, His Four Sons, and The Congregation of St. Luke Powerhouse Church of God In Christ.…

Tonechaser – Understanding Edward: My 26-Year Journey with Edward Van Halen

Steve Rosen

Imagine having Edward Van Halen at your house, playing new Van Halen songs or listening to no-vocals cassettes of in-progress albums in EVH’s cigarette-smoke-filled car. How about jamming with the guitar icon? It…

Jimi Hendrix Experience

Hollywood Bowl: August 18, 1967

 Imagine a Jimi Hendrix Experience concert where the audience actually disliked the band. That’s the scenario here, a secretly recorded gig opening for The Mamas & the Papas, a week before the U.S.…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

Greg Trooper

52 Shakes Records

Greg Trooper’s music displays a variety of influences – bluesy inflections from R&B coupled with rootsy country melodies and arrangements. On his latest release, he handles most of the acoustic guitar, with veteran…

Lee Rocker – Racin’ the Devil

Lee Rocker is best known as the bassist in the Stray Cats. He’s signed with Alligator, which appears to be expanding its scope with acts outside of blues, and here they’ve made a…

Dave Hunter

The British Amp Invasion

American makers may have pioneered guitar amplifiers in the jazz age, but when the British builders jumped in during the late 1950s, they were primarily building amps for the whole new world of…


Ally Venable

Real Gone

Vince Gill & Paul Franklin

Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price and the Cherokee Cowboys

The Replacements

Tim: Let It Bleed Edition