by Nick DeRiso On “Y Not,” his 16th album, Ringo Starr offers a Beatles collaboration that closes the circle started with his solo career-making turn on George Harrison‘s “It Don’t Come Easy” from 1971. “Walk With You,” a duet with fellow bandmate Paul McCartney, finds the friendly bravado of Ringo’s best early records melting into a sadly appropriate melancholy — [...]

by Nick DeRiso Marc Copland has this welcoming, inward voice — cerebral but somehow completely accessible, in the way of the most enchanting records by Bill Evans from years back. But as quiet as he can be, it seems that Copland never stops playing. “Alone” is actually the prolific pianist’s third album of 2009 — following the finale of his [...]

by Nick DeRiso Both the most French of American musicians, and the other way around, Cajun rock star Zachary Richard makes roots music that couldn’t go by any other name. It is about his heritage, and his people’s, in Louisiana and in Canada and back all the way to France. In fact, his newest recording, “Last Kiss,” is Richard’s first [...]

by Nick DeRiso What does Paul McCartney, after five decades in music and an astonishing seven previous concert recordings, still have to tell us in yet another multi-disc live offering? Turns out, more than I thought. “Good Evening New York City” (Hear Music/Concord Music Group), out today, commemorates McCartney’s three-night concert event to open New York’s new Citi Field, played [...]

by Nick DeRiso Billie Holiday’s voice, fragile and thin at the end, belied the strong-willed fighter she always was. This record, dotted with tunes she’d once owned two decades before as a bubbly bird in front of big bands, makes the argument for her. By the mid-1950s, the hard-living Holiday had lost some dexterity, but none of her gumption. Few [...]

by Nick DeRiso Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, a spirited, bluesy and always fun performer, seemed to burst out from a series of early live recordings during a period when that was rare. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, there were just too many logistical nightmares, from getting good takes in the smoky, raucous atmosphere of a nightclub, to finding a [...]

by Nick DeRiso An honorable, if ultimately somewhat superficial, tribute to the thing that makes Robert “Jr.” Lockwood such an important element to modern blues. Lockwood was something of a stepson to Robert Johnson. The doomed Delta bluesman would stop in to stay with Lockwood’s mother in Helena, Ark., during early 1930s road trips along the chitlin’ circuit, and they [...]

By Nick DeRiso “Two Of Us,” the old Beatles album cut, is reborn — as is a long-ago relationship — in the hands of this pair of early 1970s-era country-rock stars. Part of a new Disney children’s album “All Join In,” the tune is actually one of two by the Beatles (the other being a slightly touched-up “All Together Now”) [...]

by Nick DeRiso General Patterson’s “Shackville,” recorded with former bandmates from north Louisiana bar-band legends Howard Shaft, moves like a warm, rustling breeze through the treetops. Surprising, indeed, for an on-stage performer known for his rumbling Southern-fried blues grind. Where Patterson’s shows typically push out from the stage with a tough, muscular emotion, “Shackville” offers delicate insights, set to a [...]

You made out to Al Green. It’s what worked. Only later, did you realize all that had gone on in those records, starting with this — Green’s first charting hit, “Tired of Being Alone.” His is a voice that whips around, like a sparrow, from flat-footed baritone — all silky-smooth grace and twinkling smile — to burning, yearning falsetto. He [...]