Steely Dan stuck with me through the years, because this brainy, Jack Kerouac-type hipster band remained appealing even as my tastes in music evolved.

by Nick DeRiso The 1970s weren’t all shag carpeting and plaid pants. OK, they were. But not all of it sucked. Really. We’ve done the research. If it meant dusting off the turntable, digging out the flared pants, and fro-ing up their hair again? Well, those are the sacrifices thatRead More

Yet another product from Moppa Elliot’s Hot Cup Records, which already says a lot about a record that shares the same label as Bryan And The Haggards, Puttin’ On The Ritz, and Mostly Other People Do The Killing. But we were already saying things — nice things — about Lundbom’sRead More

by Mark Saleski Jazz fans have always been sort of coy with the word ‘fusion.’ We like to make jokes about it, even applying a nickname of sorts — The F-Word — because we’d hate to admit that we’re ever serious about the genre. Yeah, fusion seems to get theRead More

  by S. Victor Aaron For a lot of us, our first exposure to jazz was those Charlie Brown TV specials featuring the piano trio music of Vince Guaraldi. Then again, some Disney films like 101 Dalmations, Lady And The Tramp and especially The Aristocats contained jazz or jazz-y tunes.Read More

The Talking Heads seemed to do what so few manage – start a career almost fully formed, then gradually grow without giving up their signature style. They emerged weird, polished that weirdness, and let the world catch up. You May Also Like: Ever Wonder How David Byrne Fit Inside ThatRead More

Imagine a musician who was totally immersed in his craft. Imagine that person setting down his instrument for 45 years. All of those decades away (and I’m sure Mort is tired of hearing about this story), all of that bad living. A reasonable person might think that attempts at aRead More

by Nick DeRiso First off, this doesn’t start off with any piano, but also not the churchy wistfulness of the Cowboy Junkies’ 1987 breakthrough The Trinity Session. Instead, there is a gnarled electric guitar from Michael Timmins, a mashed-down organ and an updated worldliness in Margo Timmons’ familiar alto. They’reRead More

Simplicity is a key to why ‘Largo’ is such a stunning album from an already well-established artist of Brad Mehldau’s stature.

  by Mark Saleski Just what in hell is going on here?! That was my reaction back when I had my first crack at records like King Crimson‘s In The Court Of The Crimson King, Pink Floyd‘s Ummagumma, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s Tarkus. Art rock. Art … Rock. I’veRead More