• 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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Vince Gill, Duane Eddy, Steve Fishell, and others

Buddy Gene Emmons stands as one of a handful of pedal steel players who truly advanced the instrument. His innovations as the “Bud” half of Sho-Bud guitars with partner Shot Jackson are just…

James Blood Ulmer – Bad Blood in the City: The Piety Street Sessions

A collection of songs inspired by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, this is one of the best albums of the year. Vernon Reid returns to produce (and supply guitar in spots), and the…

Freddy Cole

HighNote

Asked what younger jazz guitarists stood out to him, in his March ’10 VG interview, George Benson listed Norman Brown, Mark Whitfield, Russell Malone, and “the guitar player who’s playing with Freddy Cole.”…

Arty Hill

Self-distributed

Good musicians just might outnumber good songwriters, but don’t tell Arty Hill. This album of 11 originals out of 12 cuts sports snappy country swing and blues numbers like the energetic “Mae Dawn”…

Rosie Flores

The first of Flores’ 11 solo albums came out in ’87, but by then she’d run the gamut from singer/songwriter (in sort of an L.A./Ronstadt mold) to punk (including a 1984 LP by…

Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Roadrunner Records

While we may wish he’d step further out of the shadows of his influences (especially Stevie Ray Vaughan), there’s no denying the guitar skills of one Kenny Wayne Shepherd. That said, his latest…

The Subdudes

4 On The Floor

At its core, the Subdudes’ character sound is Tommy Malone’s sophisticated acoustic guitar blended with John Magnie’s keyboards, their soulful vocalizing, and Steve Amadee’s stripped-to-the-bone percussion. At times Malone’s playing is so impressive…

Bo Diddley – A Man Amongst Men

A Man Amongst Men

Okay, it seems kind of weird to write a review of a guy who’s in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but this is such a good album that I had to.…

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.…

George Harrison

A Wilbury's Early Works

As the Beatles came to an end, George Harrison moved from the back seat to the catbird seat. In the Scorsese documentary, Living In The Material World, Phil Spector recalls Harrison offhandedly mentioning…

Otis Redding

Otis Forever: The Albums & Singles (1968-1970)

Otis Redding’s death in a plane crash in late 1967 created a monumental task for producer and guitarist Steve Cropper – the posthumous presentation of Redding’s unreleased work. Ultimately, four collections were released,…

Popa Chubby

Blind Pig Records

Popa Chubby is usually described as a blues guitarist, but he’s actually a damn good rock and roll guitarist. This set starts with a couple of songs that are autobiographical in nature and…

Urge Overkill

Oui

Though Urge Overkill’s Saturation was one of the great major-label debuts of the ’90s, just as much ink was spilled on the group’s rock and roll lifestyle, matching velour jackets, and cover of…

Matt Backer – Impulse Man

Backer is New Orleans native who lives in London and has sung and played guitar with the likes of Elton John, Sinead O’Connor, and Alice Cooper. His new solo record assembles an amazing…

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.…

The Holmes Brothers – State of Grace

It’s tough to write great songs and perform them well. But it’s another thing altogether to covergreat songwriters, make their songs your own, and do them well. And it’s an incredible feat when…

Alejandro Escovedo – Street Songs of Love

Fantasy Records

If straight-ahead rock with hints of punk, new wave, and ’50s rock and roll is your deal, Escovedo offers it in spades. Street Songs of Love has plenty of chugging riff-driven rock and…

Perry Beekman

Perry Beekman’s solo debut, subtitled Sings And Plays Cole Porter, offers 15 examples of why Porter’s catalog has outlived passing fashions and fads. The Woodstock-based guitarist considered calling it A Tale of Two…

Larry Sparks – 40

After doing one thing for 40 years, you either get really good or you die. Larry Sparks refers to himself as “The youngest of the old-timers,” and on his latest, he delivers bluegrass…

Iron Maiden

Senjutsu

Now in their mid 60s, the lads of Iron Maiden are still plenty heavy, but don’t always revert to patented galloping rhythms, C-D-Em progressions, and piercing vocals. Over 40 years on, this venerable…

Rodney Jones – Soul Manifesto

Okay, it’s not like Rodney Jones doesn’t have the pedigree. He spent lots of time on the road with Maceo Parker, so it’s not like funk would be foreign to him. But on…

Buick 6

Rocks Well With Others

You’re likely wondering, just who is this Buick 6 and who do they play well with? Good questions. The trio is Lucinda Williams’ backing band, which has also become her opening act for…

Julian Lage

Squint

Julian Lage walks an intriguing line between jazz and rock-and-roll. On his latest – and first release on the stellar jazz label, Blue Note – he continues that tradition, and the result may…

Roy Jay

Roy Jay’s music flutters between swaggering suburban bar blues to California country/rock; sometimes within a single song, as on “Fatal Mistake.” But he’s a good player, with a fine acoustic sound (“John Brown”),…

Eric Clapton and Friends

After Midnight

Eric Clapton has worn many a hat during his career. English bluesman, psychedelic guitar god, downhome roots rocker, even ’80s big-suited popmeister. In recent decades, he’s added another chapeau to the curious collection:…

Robben Ford

Spontaneity is one of Robben Ford’s earmarks. So, recording nine backing tracks in one day, then adding vocals and finishing touches a week later (rarely attempted these days) played to his strength. To…

Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant – There’s Gonna Be A Party…

Longtime readers of this column know how much I love Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant. Through the years I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing/profiling Speedy (Feb. ’94) and “SPOTLIGHTlighting” Jimmy (Dec. ’94) and…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

Glenn Phillips – Angel Sparks

Angel Sparks

Glenn?! What’s up, you ol’ squirrelly Atlanta devil? You haven’t released an album since 1996; it’s good to hear from you again. I never figured you’d given up music, it’s much too important…

Mr. Big

Mr. Big has withstood multi-platinum successes, personnel changes, and volatile disputes. Despite the band’s ups and downs, the original line-up remains intact. Paul Gilbert, Billy Sheehan, Eric Martin, and Pat Torpey stay frosty…

Shel Silverstein

Sugar Hill Records

Musical comedian Shel Silverstein wrote many songs; some were the melodic and lyrical equivalents of one-liners, but others were gems, as on Twistable Turnable Man. Produced by friend and collaborator Bobby Bare, Sr.,…