What more perfect song to include in a benefit for the homeless than “Worried Down With The Blues”?

That classically inspired guitarist Richard Robeson, a master at the instrument, plays with logic and decisive skill should come as no surprise. That he has constructed an album of such meaningful emotions and relaxed lucidity is something else entirely.

Boasting a homey, Dan Fogelberg-esque nostalgia in both tone and style, Drexel Rayford’s Cherokee Road takes a series of long looks back

The dB’s will release a new song called “Revolution of the Mind” for free download through their Web site.

Ben Folds, for all his blind-alley turns into jokes that go nowhere, retains a particular eye for the turn of phrase, for the precise word the opens your heart like a flower

Tribute records are a tricky things; star-studded tribute projects even more so. It takes a strong unifying voice, some central character beyond the featured composer, to save them from sounding like choppy compilations.

Dancing with Duke, the second album as a leader from North Carolina bassist John Brown (Nnenna Freelon), follows the thematic pattern established by his well-received initial recording — a tribute to Art Blakey. But this homage to Ellington explores more interesting territory, in that Blakey’s music has always been associated with a gripping, meat-off-the-bone groove. Ellington’s work, unfortunately, can sometimes [...]

Guitarist John McLaughlin, decades after his audacious late 1960s’ stateside debut with Tony Williams and Miles Davis, has lost none of his power, virtuosity and vision

Steve Cropper, a seminal soul figure and guitarist in Booker T. and the MGs, pays tribute to childhood musical heroes the 5 Royales with Dedicated, set for release on August 9.

Fusion label Abstract Logix, which played host to the newly formed New Universe Festival last November in Raleigh, North Carolina, will issue a two-disc commemorative highlights package on July 19