• 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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Rodney Jones – Soul Manifesto

Okay, it’s not like Rodney Jones doesn’t have the pedigree. He spent lots of time on the road with Maceo Parker, so it’s not like funk would be foreign to him. But on…

Various Artists – Concerts for a Landmine-Free World

Ever since the first Farm Aid concert, musical extravaganzas for worthy causes have become standard fare. Concerts for a Landmine-Free World is different from the usual star-studded gangbang because it features roots-oriented artists.…

Scott Lindsey

Grey Trailer Music

From the first raucous notes of “You Only Call Me (When You’re Drunk)” it’s obvious Scott Lindsey is invoking the spirit (and spirits!) of the late Gary Stewart. There are certainly worse musical…

Jackson County Line

Self-distributed

Led by acoustic guitarist/singer/ songwriter Kevin Jackson, Jackson County Line has a California countrysoul with elements of War and Santana and plenty of Buffalo Springfield with an emphasis on Neil Young. “Easy To…

Pieta Brown – One and All

Red House Records

Following last year’s stripped-down Shimmer, with her new album, Pieta Brown returns to a more familiar sound with longtime guitarist and producer, Bo Ramsey. Brown is a wonderful songwriter. Mixing folk, country, rock,…

The Clutter Family

(Self-distributed)

Whatever else happens to The Clutters, they will never be invited to Sarah Palin’s house for Thanksgiving dinner – the name of their song about her can’t even be printed. But they are…

Jeff Golub with Brian Auger

Two years back, touring pro and studio ace Jeff Golub’s optic nerves collapsed, leaving him permanently blind. Now he’s back, with a twelfth solo album, getting a little help from jazz-rock keyboard pioneer…

Hellecasters – Live…Raw…In Germany On…The Filter

Yikes! Here’s a truly awe-inspiring display of guitar playing. Recorded live on German television, Jerry Donahue, John Jorgenson, and Will Ray take you on a roller-coaster ride that will leave you sitting on…

Omar & the Howlers – Big Delta

In his 22 years as a recording artist, Omar Dykes has churned out a steady stream of solid albums (more than a dozen to date), but lately seems to be on a creative…

Roy Roberts – Deeper Shade of Blue

North Carolina bluesman Roy Roberts is an original, and there’s no other blues singer or guitarist who can equal his blend of minor-key, soul-laced shuffles. Like the great Otis Rush, much of Roberts’…

Nancy Wright

The ubiquitous saxophonist of the San Francisco blues scene for 30 years, Nancy Wright finally stepped to the fore and released her solo debut in 2009 – a fine instrumental outing in a…

D.A.D. – No Fuel Left for the Pilgrims

Wounded Bird Records

On their first major label release, the band formerly known as Disneyland After Dark (changed after a threatened lawsuit by the Disney Co.) was poised for a breakthrough in the U.S. with backing…

Jean-Luc Katchoura with Michele Hyk-Farlow

A Bebop Guitar Masterpiece

Maybe it’s sour grapes, but it sometimes seems jazz guitarists – in comparison with pianists and horn players – never get the recognition they’re due among the music’s diehard cognoscenti. On the other…

Eddy

If you’re a blues fan and left-handed guitarist Eddie Clearwater’s name has remained unfamiliar over the course of his six-decade career, now’s the time to rectify that grievous error. If you’re looking for…

Eric Clapton and Friends

After Midnight

Eric Clapton has worn many a hat during his career. English bluesman, psychedelic guitar god, downhome roots rocker, even ’80s big-suited popmeister. In recent decades, he’s added another chapeau to the curious collection:…

The Clash

In the far distant past – 1979, to be exact – the Clash were crowned “The Only Band That Matters.” The mantra originally appeared on a promo sticker stuck to their double LP…

Paul Johnson – Liquid Blues

Having played a pivotal role in the development of instrumental surf music in the early ’60s with his band, the Belairs (best-remembered for the Johnson-penned classic “Mr. Moto”), and having presaged any notion…

The Aristocrats

The rock-fusion trio known as the Aristocrats are back with a second album fortified with artistic maturity from gigging around the world. With a stronger, more-cohesive musical vision, bassist Bryan Beller, drummer Marco…

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…

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…

Robert Cray – Twenty

Once every couple of years, Cray puts out a well-crafted record with fine writing, guitar solos that ooze soul, and vocals that rank with the best. No change here. Twenty should make plenty…

Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers

Full-Throttle Rockabilly

Darrell Scott

Appleseed Recordings

Ty Tabor

Shades

Chuck Mead – Journeyman’s Wager

The BR549 co-founder’s new disc is loaded with great stuff, including his guitar work. In the band, Mead split lead duties with Chris Scruggs and Gary Bennett, but was more than capable of…

Monte Montgomery

That guitar players will ever stop reinterpreting Jimi Hendrix’ “Little Wing” is neither likely nor necessary. The song is so rich and inviting, so mesmerizing to play, its beautiful chord structure and melody…

Various Artists – All My Loving

“All My Loving” was a 1967 TV special on the BBC that scared some people – and it’s easy to see why. For older folks tuned in, video of musical acts and other…

James Brown – I Got the Feellin’

While a generation may remember James Brown as a soul star who fell on hard times, or as a man whose death has led to a tabloid-ready story of a fight for his…

Jorge Garcia

Crossover

Jazz covers of FM rock can be cringeworthy unless you do it right – and Jorge Garcia does it right. His take on Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze” recalls the groove of ’70s releases…

Rosie Flores

The first of Flores’ 11 solo albums came out in ’87, but by then she’d run the gamut from singer/songwriter (in sort of an L.A./Ronstadt mold) to punk (including a 1984 LP by…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

Sue Foley

Pinky’s Blues

Sue Foley named her paisley Telecaster reissue “Pinky,” and her latest album celebrates the guitar she has played her whole career. Over the years, Foley moved from her native Canada to Austin, and…

John Hiatt

New West

Hiatt is nothing if not prolific – not only releasing approximately 20 albums in 36 years, but writing virtually every song they included. There’ve been some twists and turns and ups and downs…

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…