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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
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…
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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,
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…
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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
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.…
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…
