by Pico When Julian Lennon unfurled his debut Valotte back in 1984 about four years following his father’s untimely death, it gave John Lennon fans hope that the offspring could pick up where his Dad left off. We know now that the expectations were unrealistic and try as he mightRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Let’s get this out of the way first: “Do The Hate Laugh Shimmy” is a title that the artist took from an e.e.cummings poem. Don’t ask me what it means (even the artist is not entirely sure), but it’s sounds stylin’ all the same. The stylin’Read More

They grew up, practically, as neighbors in Louisiana. But strangers, all the same. Here’s how they became the country blues duo Po’ Henry and Tookie.

NICK DERISO: Take some time with this one, which underscores the impressive contributions of a guy who first blew us away backing up with bluesman ZuZu Bollin, later came to fame playing a sideman’s role with Ray Charles, made some bold moves in jazz — then settled into R&B andRead More

NICK DERISO: When Duke Ellington strolled out on stage for this 1958 date, it had been 25 years since he’d previously appeared in Europe. Still, though he was kept away by a war and a drawn-out dispute between the U.S. and Brit’s musicians unions, you could say Ellington had madeRead More

From time to time I’ve mused about reviewing one of John Abercrombie’s best latter ECM recordings called November from 1992. I may still tackle that one, but I need to put that write-up aside for now to muse about another, brand-new, ECM release titled after the name of a month.Read More

Recorded live — and I do mean live, with no rehearsals and no overdubs — this new release from Cajun master fiddler Michael Doucet possesses a passionate immediacy. And not just in the playing. Once on an academic career track, the LSU graduate long ago (as he once famously said)Read More

Koko Taylor marked her 20th year on Alligator Records with an album reminds you she’s still got it. A lot of it.

I’ve got a problem but it’s the good kind of problem. There’s a backlog of CD’s sitting on my desk deserving of some shout-outs. So much so, it make take two or more additional “Quickies” to clear off this stack. With just a little time for writing at the momentRead More