NICK DERISO: We blast off with two break-neck covers from this bluesy Tex-Mex bar band — Jimi Hendrix’s scorching “Hey Joe” and then ? and the Mysterians’ “96 Tears.” Consider yourself warned. This is floor-it fun, with the brake pedal broken off. Carrasco and Co. rarely stop even to breathe between tracks on “Royal, Loyal and Live” — which was [...]

by S. Victor Aaron From the first two words of this group, you already know that it’s a combo that features King Crimson’s all-everything rhythm section of Bill Bruford (drummer extraordinaire) and Tony Levin (bassist extraordinaire). This side project of theirs produced just a self-titled studio album in 1999 and a live document (BLUE Nights) the following year. In spite [...]

NICK DERISO: Burnside, a Holly Springs, Miss., native, was already father to 12 boogie chillen when he put out “Bad Luck City,” and that’s exactly what they do here. From sons Dwayne on guitar and Joseph on bass, to son-in-law Calvin Johnson on drums, everything is cozy and cool. That vibe is carried throughout this riffy batch of originals and [...]

NICK DERISO: As reliably great as the first Bluesiana release was in 1990, this one packed its own considerable surprises. I didn’t have high hopes. See: Art Blakey, this jazz-soul-and-something-else supergroup’s original drummer, passed in the interim between releases — who could forget one of his final turns on “Shoo Fly”? — only to be replaced by … Will Calhoun. [...]

by S. Victor Aaron Robert Cray is kind of like the George Benson of the blues. He owns an outstanding voice for R&B and, as Nick pointed out last year, can make the blues appealing to even the mainstream crowd, much as Benson was once able to get the masses to listen to something resembling jazz. But the most important [...]

NICK DERISO: Graham Parker — the forefather of new wave Angry Young Men like Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson — always had a fervent, if small following. That’s the way it is with individualists, not to mention sharply critical ones. In fact, Mercury originally pressed just 8,000 copies of Parker’s first best album, 1976′s “Howlin’ Wind.” Yet that thrilling blending [...]

Randy Newman, a good ol’ boy from New Orleans, La., has been thought of as a national treasure by many, and for good reason. From “My Old Kentucky Home” to “I Love L.A.,” Newman’s deft mixture of Broadway show-tunes and modern pop makes him the closest thing to a modern-day Cole Porter of the late twentieth century. The carefully constructed [...]

NICK DERISO: Used to be, liking the Alabama-born Sullivans was akin to being part of some secret society. Nobody knew ‘em. But the ones who did, well, they flat-out loved ‘em. Then, somewhere along the way, Jerry and Tammy Sullivan went from being little-known gospel greats to gosh-dog superstars. We’re talking: Television appearances. Shows with top country acts like Brooks [...]

NICK DERISO: Sequencing an album by the New Orleans-based Irish folkie Beth Patterson must be like trying to make sense of a series of radio stations. The first track on her debut solo CD was a classic reel, one of those familiar yet still luminous moments with the swirling rhythms seem to lift every soul at a pub performance. The [...]

By Pico The fertile music grounds of Austin, Texas has brought the world such uniquely talented guitar big shots like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Johnson. But the list doesn’t stop there; among many other specialists of the six string from that locale is a dude who stands out a little more than the others. I’m talking about Monte Montgomery. [...]