by Tom Johnson Jazz has been in a kind of holding pattern since the mid-1970s, when even Miles Davis declared the genre dead. You May Also Like: Matthew Shipp Trio – Piano Song (2017) Matthew Shipp – Zero (2018) Matthew Shipp – Symbol Systems (1996, 2018 reissue)
Much of Springsteen’s early work was populated with large casts of characters and places, skillfully woven into the narrative. Heck, sometimes the people and places were the narrative. You May Also Like: Reevaluating Bruce Springsteen’s ‘The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle’
by Tom Johnson It took the late Jay Bennett a few years, but in 2006 he finally released the kind of album that made listeners sit up and think “Maybe Jeff Tweedy should have kept him around in Wilco after all.” Full of heartfelt ballads and Stones-influenced rockers, The MagnificentRead More
With little apparent interest in pursuing non-ironic love songs, Steely Dan have often touched on themes of criminal activity (hell, I think most of The Royal Scam was about crime). They never pursued the topic with an approving tone, though. You May Also Like: Steely Dan, “Carey” (circa 2001): SteelyRead More
Asked to describe this new album, Canadian guitarist Tim Vaughn said: “It’s like Prince, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix and Radiohead all met Los Lobos at a bar in “From Dusk Til’ Dawn,” and Jack White was playing there with Elvis Costello.” Thing is, as knee-slappingly over-the-top asRead More
by Tom Johnson Drummer Joey Baron’s Barondown, featuring Steve Swell on trombone and Ellery Eskelin on tenor sax comes across like the mischievous little brother to John Zorn’s Masada. You May Also Like: Trombone Shorty Raced Beyond Genres on Transcendent ‘Backatown’
by Mark Saleski Reviewers sometimes get too caught up playing the label game: jazz, pop, world (ah, the ambiguous catch-all label), rock, ambient. Whenever a writer struggles with material that lacks a definite musical anchor, I am reminded of the transformation seen through Miles Davis’ electric years. You May AlsoRead More
The distractions when it comes to Heart (gender politics, obvious curtsies to Led Zeppelin, wall-to-wall 1980s power-ballads, etc.) are swept away You May Also Like: Elton John – Greatest Hits 1976-1986 (1992): On Second Thought
by Mark Saleski Digital. It’s just got to be digital — ones ‘n zeros. Forget that old-fashioned analog stuff. That’s for old fogies. If you want to be with it, current, where it’s at, up to date, in the know, down with it … your activity must be presented inRead More
L.A. pianist and composer Josh Nelson has been busy making records (while not backing up Natalie Cole) since his 2006 semi-finalist finish in the Thelonious Monk competition. You May Also Like: Matt Nelson, Tim Dahl, Nick Podgurski – GRID (2017)
