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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
Greg Skaff
The only thing traditional about the organ trio featuring guitarist Greg Skaff, organist Pat Bianchi, and drummer Ralph Peterson Jr. is that there are three of them in the band. From there, they…
Harvey Dalton Arnold Blues Band
Music Mania Studios
Named for its founder, this band is steeped in the blues and modern interpretations of classics. An album of covers? Not inasmuch as the arrangements are completely different which provides an unexpected character…
The Rolling Stones
Mick Jagger’s famous 1968 statement – “What’s the point in listening to us doing ‘I’m A King Bee’ when you can hear Slim Harpo do it?” – has been a (sometimes) credo for…
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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,
Golden State-Lone Star Blues Revue
Welcome to a cross-country meeting of blues minds. The first release from this group of veteran California and Texas bluesmen features guitarists Little Charlie Baty, an Alabama-to-California transplant grounded originally in Chicago blues…
Russell Malone
MaxJazz
Triple Play is a trio record, with Russell Malone’s guitar being the only harmonic instrument. Many guitarists would shy from the challenge of keeping the harmony and melody while soloing. It’s not a…
Phil Lynott
Songs For While I’m Away
A rock-doc of Thin Lizzy’s fabled frontman, this film traces the singer/bassist’s life through interviews from bandmates, family, and friends. A half-black child in 1950s and ’60s Dublin, Lynott grew into a tough,…
Pete Anderson – Daredevil
Daredevil
Pete is best known as Dwight Yoakam’s guitarist and producer of many talents. He enlivened many a Dwight tune with solos that didn’t fit convention. He also released a couple of fine solo…
Don Rigsby – Empty Old Mailbox
From Jerry Douglas’ opening dobro licks to the last ensemble G chord, Empty Old Mailbox is a nearly perfect bluegrass album. Nearly perfect because it lacks the late great fiddler Randy Howard, to…
The Love Dogs – New Tricks
New Tricks
Loveable? I guess. Dogs? Maybe. They’ve got all the musical tricks new and old, and they’re not jumping through hoops to get their rootsy message across. Elegant arrangements, diverse tunes, strong presentation, and…
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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
Kombo – Cookin’ out
Kombo is Ron Pedley on keyboards, and Jon Pondel on guitars. They’ve got lots of great help too, with guys like Steve Ferrone, Matt Bissonette, and Sharon Hendrix. The music is the same…
Kirk Fletcher
Blues gets a bad rap because of a preponderance of mediocre imposters who lack the magic. The great stuff will stir you and mesmerize. Two-time WC Handy Award nominee Kirk Fletcher has the…
Cousin Harley
Blue Smoke: The Music Of Merle Travis
Canadian guitarslinger Paul Pigat has recorded under his own name (Boxcar Campfire) and with his wild, infectious rockabilly trio, Cousin Harley. The latter’s tribute to Merle Travis may be the group’s best effort…
Wilco
Roger That
Tough to believe it’s been two decades since Jeff Tweedy reluctantly took the remains of the critically adored but ultimately doomed alt-country standard-bearers Uncle Tupelo and laid down roots for a Chicago-based band…
Bola Sete
Samba In Seattle
The uninitiated will wonder why they’re just now hearing such a guitar genius, while aficionados bemoan the fact Bola Sete isn’t a household name. Previously unreleased, this triple-CD, subtitled Live At The Penthouse…
The Move, Santana, Derringer
Under the Radar
Sometimes great bands and albums don’t bubble to the surface of fame, depriving fans of brilliant music. The Move is one of those acts and its wondrous pop is compiled in the 2-disc…
Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton Anniversary Deluxe Edition
Recorded following the demise of Blind Faith, Clapton’s 1970 debut found the 24-year-old guitarist discovering his own voice as he morphed into a solo artist. We also witness Slowhand’s conversion to Fender; the…
Burton Garr – Home of the Blues
I’ve been chomping at the bit to get the word out on this articulate, contemporary Louisiana blues man. There must be something in the water that runs between Memphis and Baton Rouge, ‘cuz…
Yes
Yes fans have long been waiting for the legendary prog band to deliver a comeback album. Rest assured, this is not it. Even with platinum producer Roy Thomas Baker and a Jon Anderson…
Paul Brown
A lot of people paint the smooth jazz world with a broad brush that sometimes ignores the players who play with soul, intensity, and smartness. Paul Brown would be one such player. While…
Deke Dickerson
Guitarchaeology
When Deke Dickerson’s first Strat In The Attic book debuted in 2013, it was an instant best-seller among guitarists in the smart set. Beer parties were abuzz; jam sessions dissolved into ersatz book…
Jeff Golub – Do It Again
I can hear the naysayers already. They’ll call this album a boring, derivative, smooth jazz standerbearer. That’s fine. Listen closely, though, and you’ll hear a soulful guitarist doing heartfelt covers of some of…
Robert Gordon: Memphis Rent Party
There’s no city like Memphis when it comes to music. And thankfully, there’s Robert Gordon to chronicle its story. Gordon has written books and helmed documentaries about Muddy Waters, Stax Records, and, of…
John Cowan
E1 Entertainment
John Cowan’s latest is taken from sessions recorded four years ago by George Massenburg. Cowan’s music combines traditional bluegrass with rock-influenced players and the songs here show Cowan’s talents as a singer and…
Toulouse Engelhardt
Lost Grove Records
Acoustic-guitar pioneer John Fahey influenced a generation of fingerpickers, and none sound more like a genuine musical heir than Toulouse Engelhardt This is a solo guitar album, and its tunes, with titles such…
The Jimmy Bruno Group – Midnight Blue
I dunno… sometimes it seems silly to review things like this. Everyone who follows jazz guitar knows Jimmy Bruno is a knock-down monster player with both chops and soul. In fact, technically, he’s…
David Bromberg – Demon in Disguise
Not to be confused with a live DVD of the same name, which was released in 2008 and quickly vanished, this is part of Stefan Grossman’s “Guitar Artistry Of” series. Playing only his…
Damn Straight We’ve Got the Blues
Various artists
This carefully curated 60-track, digital-only compilation draws deeply from the catalogs of New West and Antones Records as well as New West’s “Live from Austin” series. The focus? Blues numbers from a swath…
Deke Dickerson
Guitarchaeology
When Deke Dickerson’s first Strat In The Attic book debuted in 2013, it was an instant best-seller among guitarists in the smart set. Beer parties were abuzz; jam sessions dissolved into ersatz book…
Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez – The Trouble With Humans
The Trouble With Humans
Some famous musical duos originate in the womb, like The Louvin or Everly brothers. Others are created by love, like Ian and Silvia, Richard and Mimi Farina, and Buddy and Julie Miller. Finally…
Holden
Think of Holden as the Velvet Underground with a French accent. This noise-pop duo differs, however, in chronicling not the wild side of the ’60s, but the existential estrangement of modern-day life –…
Led Zeppelin: The Biography
Bob Spitz