by Nick DeRiso Every so often, a singer gets so dispirited, laid so low, that he’s simply got to talk back to the blues. I love those songs. Think Billie Holiday’s “Good Morning Heartache,” and this one — recorded by Jimmy Rushing with a sizzling early edition of the Count Basie Orchestra. Included on the Decca date are Lester Young [...]

by Nick DeRiso Elton John’s long and often dispiriting journey back to his 1970s muse led him to an early idol, Leon Russell. The result is “The Union,” a sturdy new collaboration full of spiralling soul and timeless revelations about starting over. Produced by T Bone Burnett and set for issue by Decca on Oct. 19, the album refurbishes John’s [...]

by Nick DeRiso Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter was a man of sweeping appetites, for songs, for drink and for life. This made his music rugged and true, but also got him into his share of big trouble. Very big. Ledbetter, born on Jan. 29, 1885 on the Jeter Plantation near Mooringsport, La., would spend several stints in jail, once reportedly [...]

by Nick DeRiso “Double Fantasy” never felt dangerous enough to be a great John Lennon record. That started with this too-slick, of-its-moment presentation. I guess it shouldn’t have come as too much of a surprise, really, since the best of Lennon’s solo stuff after 1970′s “Plastic Ono Band” similarly suffered from dated, shag-carpety production. He loved a big sound, when [...]

By Nick DeRiso and S. Victor Aaron Beatles drummer Ringo Starr has taken his share of knocks over the years. Some of those, in the interest of full disclosure, came from us. Then there was legendary jazz figure Buddy Rich’s blunt assessment: “Ringo Starr was adequate. No more than that.” Still, it wasn’t like he didn’t have his moments — [...]

by Nick DeRiso Even a passing fan can purchase with some confidence the touchstone jazz recordings of the last century. But what next? How to explore deeper into the legacy? SomethingElse! is here to help, with an ongoing guide to what we like to call “if/then” jazz listening … IF YOU LIKE … Charles Mingus’ The Black Saint and the [...]

by Nick DeRiso Even after a damaging season of loss, Neil Young remains, as always, restless and relentless — imbuing the modernistic, reverb-soaked “Le Noise” with a kind of anti-melancholy. He hasn’t stopped searching for light in the darkness and, even now, somehow never sounds quite the same from album to album. This time, Young partners with producer Daniel Lanois (Peter [...]

Spend enough time around rock music — or, at least, rock critics — and you’ll be convinced that any number of Seminal Works, Forgotten Gems and Timeless Standards are must-have items for your record collection. Even if they turn out to be, you know, retreads dressed up as brilliant pop redux (Gene Clark’s post-Byrds catalogue, many of Syd Barrett‘s solo [...]

A canny mixture of an old-school swinging style with the then-new cool sound, even if its name sounds like a goof. Shorty Rogers, who’d first garnered attention as part of bands led by Woody Herman (both the first and second Herds) and then Stan Kenton, had a way of confounding expectations. Born Milton Rajonsky in 1924, Rogers was one of [...]

The cover art for “Secret Story” on Geffen is telling: There’s no central image, but a dizzying patchwork of photographs. The lineup is much the same: Leave it to Pat Metheny to make a solo album with about 80 other players — including everybody from the Metheny Group and a good portion of the London Orchestra. I was more concerned [...]