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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
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…
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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,
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.…
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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
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…
The Hellecasters – Essential Listening Volume 1
Essential Listening Volume 1
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…
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…
