• Paul Johnson

    Music

    Paul Johnson

    The Hepcats Live at the Ajax Novelty Company

    This isn’t live, there may not be an Ajax Novelty Company, and the three felines known as the Hepcats are actually the brainchild of Paul Johnson, whose Belairs were early-’60s pioneers of surf music. Suspend reality and dig how the “trio” expertly articulates layers of acoustic guitar. Across decades, Johnson has embraced folk-rock, psychedelia, and…

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Paul Priest – The Keeley Effect

The title references the “impact” of the guitar effects pedals made by Robert Keeley in making the album. That’s all fine and good, but more important is the fine music, propelled by the…

Jimi Hendrix Experience

Los Angeles Forum: April 26, 1969

With endless Hendrix live albums available, you may be justly skeptical about this concert recording. However, one attraction is its modern remix, with a level of audio detail that lets us hear the…

Dusty Springfield – Dusty in Memphis & Dusty in London

Ironically enough, these showed up in my mailbox on the day Dusty succumbed to breast cancer. Certainly one of the best pop/soul singers of the past 30 years, she has remained criminally underexposed.…

Drew Zingg

Best known for stints with Steely Dan, Donald Fagen’s New York Rock and Soul Revue, and Boz Scaggs, Drew Zingg is a complete guitarist. And he has gone a unique route with this…

Thin Lizzy – Still Dangerous

Thin Lizzy was one of the most badass guitar bands of the ’70s. After a series of lineup changes early in the decade, the Irish-rooted group finally settled on the axe duo of…

Tav Falco & the Unapproachable Panther Burns

Conjurations: Seance for Deranged Lovers

“Unapproachable” is right. “Indescribable” may also be justified. Just like the myriad musics of Memphis, from where Tav Falco hails, his longtime band Panther Burns remains a fascinating and ongoing conundrum. The band…

Animals As Leaders

Parrhesia

The dictionary defines parrhesia as “boldness or freedom of speech,” related to the noun meaning, “one who speaks the truth.” Guitarist Tosin Abasi does just that on the latest album from Animals As…

Waters, Winter & Cotton – Breakin’ It Up & Breakin’ It Down

Even though Waters was undoubtedly the most important blues artist in Chess Records’ stable (indeed, the most influential bluesman of his generation), when you look back on his discography, most of his albums…

LeRoi Brothers

Check This Action: Deluxe Reissue

The term “roots-rock” can mean many things, but few bands epitomize the sub-genre as definitively as Austin’s LeRoi Brothers. Cub Koda cited how they “capably take on anything from blues to rockabilly to…

Imelda May

Irish chanteuse Imelda May proved she could sing on her first discs of retro rockabilly originals. Her new album shows she can also rock. May is backed as usual by her husband, guitarman…

Rush

Grab your hankies, Rush fans – this DVD doc captures moments from the trio’s R40 farewell tour, along with reminiscences on their four-decade career. There are interviews with Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee, and…

Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, Paco de Lucía

Saturday Night in San Francisco

Recorded in December, 1980, Friday Night in San Francisco was a genre-busting album of acoustic guitar, and a surprise best-seller. The following night’s gig at the Warfield Theater is here, resurrected from 16-track…

Eric Lindell

Eric Lindell’s past efforts have showcased his multiple skills, and this latest is no different. His songwriting is strong as ever, his interpretive skills are impeccable, he handles various instruments with ease, and…

Sea Level

By today’s standards, Sea Level was a “jam band,” but 35 years ago, they were an eclectic group variously labeled as Southern rock, jazz-fusion, or West Coast funkpop. An offshoot of the Allman…

Various Artists

“Mixed bag” would be an understatement regarding this tribute to the Texas trio. Two important elements that you have to understand to do ZZ Top’s music: humor and sex. Some of the artists…

Yarn

UFO

On its third album, this Brooklynbased country/roots band pushes further into the darker side of Americana. Guitarist/lead vocalist Blake Christiana guides the band, with Trevor MacArthur on guitar and vocals, Andrew Hendryx on…

Duke Levine – Beneath the Blue

As a player, Duke Levine is unclassifiable. He calls his style “country-soul” guitar, and that’s fair. But what do you call a guy who opens his latest record with a twangy version of…

Dwight Yoakam – Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc.Etc.: Deluxe Edition

When this album was released in 1986, country music had become stale. But its no-holds-barred step back to the great Bakersfield sound, wonderfully original songs, killer covers, and Yoakam’s wholly original style had…

Tom Jones

A Tom Jones gospel album? The image that first comes to mind is probably something like Elvis’ How Great Thou Art – big production, choirs – and Jones certainly has the lungs to…

Kris Kristofferson

Nearly a half century ago, a longhaired former Army chopper pilot named Kris Kristofferson was Nashville’s hottest new songwriter. Today, after decades of success, the 80-year-old singer/songwriter and actor is a member of…

Mississippi John Hurt – Live

It still surprises me, but every once in a while I run into a neophyte who thinks the blues (all blues) is, by definition, depressing – as if there’s but one emotion conveyed…

Steely Dan – Two Against Nature: Steeply Can’s Plush

Here’s a video that features a band recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Steely Dan. Two Against Nature features the current touring band doing new and olk tunes in…

Rory Block – The Guitar of Robert Johnson

Rory Block has been involved with the music of Robert Johnson most of her life. At a young age, she apprenticed directly with Son House, Skip James, Reverend Gary Davis and other seminal…

Joe Bonamassa

Royal Tea

It’s no secret that Joe Bonamassa has a Jones for British blues-rock. Royal Tea is Exhibit A, as it was recorded at Abbey Road Studios. Co-writing with former Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden, Bonamassa…

Dick Dale – Better Shred than Dead: The Dick Dale Anthology

Well, what needs to be said about this? The King of the Surf Guitar at his finest. This covers 1959 to 1996 and hits all the high points. All the tunes are here,…

Joe Pass – Resonance

In the history of jazz there have no doubt been numerous creative rolls like the one the late Joe Pass experienced in the early 1970s. But in Pass’ case, his DiMaggio-like streak was…

Duke Robillard – Blue Mood

An album like this should come as no surprise. Duke Robillard paying tribute to T-Bone Walker is about as natural as it gets. Anyone familiar with Duke’s background knows that T-Bone’s music is…

Eric Gales

Eric Gales is a disciple of Jimi Hendrix, Frank Marino, Robin Trower, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Eric Johnson. Yet this new CD is a soul album, filled with hot licks. Finally breaking away…

The Everly Brothers

If you’re weary of rock concert DVDs with critical commentary, typically unauthorized and of varying quality, this Everly Brothers retrospective is highly recommended. Authorized, with participation of Don Everly and a 2010 interview…

Jackson Browne

Eagle Rock

Part documentary, part performance (then-current and archival), this reissue of the 1999 portrait of the singer/songwriter reveals his sense of humor, commitment to social causes, and, most of all, talent. There is no…