Preston Frazier’s Best Rock and Pop of 2017 list touches on projects from established legends, as well as up-and-coming and criminally under-appreciated acts.

Greg Phillinganes and Burt Bacharach are part of the latest edition of Five for the Road, an occasional look at music that’s been in my car lately.

Authored by Hal David and Burt Bacharach, “My Little Red Book” was a staple of just about every garage rock band’s diet during the ’60s. Manfred Mann’s jazz styled version of the song — which appeared in the movie, “What’s New Pussycat” and on their My Little Red Book OfRead More

The master of the eight-string acoustic guitar follows a laudable collection of originals performed by his Core trio with a set of pop standards. You May Also Like: Burt Bacharach, Greg Phillinganes, Marilyn Scott + others: Five for the Road Michael Bisio, Kirk Knuffke + Fred Lonberg-Holm – ‘The ArtRead More

Like Thelonious Monk and his one-time boss Charles Mingus, Rahsaan Roland Kirk loved a pretty melody but also loved to present them in eccentric ways. You May Also Like: Michael Bisio & Kirk Knuffke – Row For William O. (2016) Michael Bisio, Kirk Knuffke + Fred Lonberg-Holm – ‘Requiem forRead More

The Bay Area guerrilla thrash-jazzers the Splatter Trio were only together for five or six years during the first half of the 90s, but they managed to leave a path of destruction in their wake. You May Also Like: Andrew Lamb Trio – ‘Casbah of Love’ (2018) Radical Empathy TrioRead More