• 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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Brian Setzer ’68 Comeback Special – Ignition

Ignition

Okay, I confess. Somehow this one slid in under the radar. Released in late summer, it features Setzer back in a trio setting, basically just cutting loose, guitar-wise and vocally. And let’s face…

The Mike Eldridge Trio

Self-released

Mike Eldred is an L.A. guitarslinger with a strong taste for Americana. His power trio includes Blasters’ backline men John Bazz (bass) and Jerry Angel (drums), and together they serve up a tasty…

Coco Montoya

Hard Truth

It’s been awhile since Coco Montoya’s last studio effort, but he comes out firing here. From the Albert King-style blast that kicks off the opener, “Before The Bullets Fly,” to the loud, raucous…

Steve Earle

Hillbilly Highway

When Epic Records dropped Steve Earle in ’85 after a series of fiery but commercially unsuccessful recordings, Nashville was in panic mode. The frothy, easy listening mainstream country of Kenny Rogers and others…

Alvin Youngblood Hart – Down in the Alley

Down in the Alley

I wasn’t prepared for how good this disc is. Hart’s mostly known for his work in country blues. Here, he does a program of good, old-fashioned country blues. And this Mississippi-Delta songfest is…

Larry Carlton/Steve Lukather – No Substitutions

I don’t really know what to say about this one. It’s just a good, old-fashioned jam by a couple of great guitarists. To no one’s surprise, they’re both up to the task. The…

Larry Carlton – Live in Tokyo

Larry Carlton and Robben Ford share a special relationship. Carlton helped the young blues-slinger learn some of his licks and techniques when he got the gig backing Joni Mitchell. As he writes in…

Robert Randolph & the Family Band

The latest album by sacred steel giant Randolph and his band is a non-stop, foot-stomping mix of R&B, soul, rock and roll, and gospel that is as invigorating as it is smart. Randolph’s…

Sean Costello – Moanin’ For Molasses

Moanin' For Molasses

I really enjoyed Sean’s last album, Cuttin’ In, and this one is just as likeable. He’s young, but man, he knows the blues. Both his singing and his guitar playing reek of soul.…

Nate Najar

This Is Nate Najar

Nate Najar plays accessible jazz on a classical guitar and applies classical technique to match. This album showcases the music veteran playing a variety of tunes that range from Chopin’s “Prelude in E…

The Mavericks

Since reforming five years ago, the Mavericks have released two studio albums and 2016’s All Night Live, Vol. 1. And again here, the core quartet of vocalist-guitarist Raul Malo, guitarist Eddie Perez, keyboard…

Pentagram

If you want to explore the roots of metal, check out Pentagram, an obscure Virginia band that started recording in 1971. Unlike the technically proficient metal of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, this…

James Hunter – Believe What I Say

This U.S. release of Hunter’s ’96 U.K.-distributed album shows Hunter honing the skills that would lead to his new album, People Gonna Talk. If you’re familiar with that one, this mix of Sam…

Kelly Richey – Carry the Light

Kelly Richey’s live shows are full-tilt affairs where Richey wrenches blistering lines from her Stratocaster, occasionally using a beer bottle as a slide. At the end, everyone is sweaty and satisfied. That’s the…

Sir Clive and the Raging Cartographers – Guitar Safari

An aptly titled collection of songs, if any guitarist was indeed hunting guitar sounds and styles, finding something like this would indeed make for a successful safari. Composed, played, and recorded by VG…

Pops Staples

Roebuck “Pops” Staples learned his chops at the elbows of Son House and Robert Johnson. When he passed away in 2000, American culture lost perhaps the last direct link to rock and roll’s…

The Jayhawks

Recorded in January 2015, this digital-only live show captures the legendary Minneapolis alt-country outfit’s 1997 lineup running through chestnuts from throughout their catalog, including some of their more decidedly un-Americana tracks. Lead guitarist…

Stephane Wrembel

Django New Orleans

The concept is simple enough: a mashup of Django Reinhardt’s gypsy swing with the buoyant sounds of Louis Armstrong and New Orleans jazz. Could easily become marketing hokum, but in the trustworthy hands…

Dylan – Pop’s 15 Greatest Minutes

Pop quiz: What was the most important and influential live set in the history of pop music? Your choices are Elvis on Ed Sullivan, The Beatles at Shea Stadium, Jimi Hendrix at Monterey,…

Bucky Pizzarelli & Scott Hamilton – The Red Door & Bucky Pizzarelli Nirvana

The Red Door, Bucky Pizzarelli and Scott Hamilton’s tribute to sax god Zoot Sims, is an amazingly sublime album. Sims was a true sultan of swing, a classic golden-age jazzer of the ’30s…

My Years With UFO

Michael Schenker

One of the most-underrated rock guitarists in history, it’s about time homage was paid to the master of the Flying V. My Years With UFO is a tribute to the cherry years of…

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…

Kiss

Off the Soundboard: Live in Tokyo 2001

Love ’em or hate ’em, Kiss revolutionized the live-entertainment industry, creating the circus-like spectacle captured on the 1975 concert smash Alive. More than 25 years later, the reunited quartet performed a “farewell tour,”…

Kenny Burrell

Consistency has always been one of Kenny Burrell’s hallmarks – as in consistently great. Ironically, he’s almost taken for granted because of it. He was Duke Ellington’s favorite guitarist, cut his first session…

Subdudes – Street Symphony

It’s a good thing the Subdudes decided to “put the band back together” in ’02. In this set of music, their first since Hurricane Katrina devastated their hometown of New Orleans, they touch…

Jimmy McIntosh

While guitarists in high-profile bands get the lion’s of share of publicity, the working stiffs who slug it out on local stages get no love. Las Vegas sideman Jimmy McIntosh is one of…

Crooked Still – Still Crooked

Signature Sounds

When a founding member of a band departs, the other members face a difficult choice. Do they find someone who merely “fits in,” or do they add personnel who might change the ensemble’s…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

ZZ Top

RAW

The latest from ZZ Top is the soundtrack from the Netflix documentary That Little Ol’ Band From Texas, released in 2019. Recorded live at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas, this 12-track release…

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…

Arlen Roth – Tooling Around Woodstock

Roth’s “Hot Licks” instructional series has helped many a player. But he’s criminally overlooked to the general public. Toolin’ Around puts him in the limelight with wonderful songs that exhibit his mastery. Most…