Archive for September, 2015

Vinyl

Bernie Worrell’s Improvisczario went well beyond the expected funk

Bernie Worrell’s ‘Improvisczario,’ released this week in 2007, is bubbling over with grooves. That’s not the surprising part.

How Yes' 'Magnification' Marked a Turning Point: 'That Was a Bit of a Nightmare'

How Yes’ ‘Magnification’ Marked a Turning Point: ‘That Was a Bit of a Nightmare’

Steve Howe and Chris Squire talked to us about Yes’ ‘Magnification.’ Released on Sept. 11, 2001, it would be their final album with Jon Anderson.

Vinyl

Shemekia Copeland – Outskirts of Love (2015)

There’s no let up in Shemekia Copeland found on ‘Outskirts of Love’; her hold on the Queen of the Blues crown is as firm as ever.

Producer Don Was on Bob Dylan's 'Under the Red Sky': 'I was maybe a little out of my league'

Producer Don Was on Bob Dylan’s ‘Under the Red Sky’: ‘I was maybe a little out of my league’

Don Was talks about the mistakes he made while producing Bob Dylan’s ‘Under the Red Sky,’ released on September 10, 1990.

Vinyl

Mort Weiss – Mort Weiss Is a Jazz Reality Show (2015)

Delightful, lifting and energetic, ‘Mort Weiss Is a Jazz Reality Show’ recalls the best vintage straight-ahead jazz – but done the Mort Weiss way.

Vinyl

Randy Brecker, “New Frontier” (2015): Something Else! exclusive stream

Randy Brecker knows his way around both pop and modern jazz. He puts both together so convincingly on this update of a Donald Fagen classic.

John Lennon's 'Imagine' Was More Than the Sum of its Inspirational Title Track

John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ Was More Than the Sum of its Inspirational Title Track

Sidemen Joey Molland and Alan White joined us for a deeper dive in John Lennon’s ‘Imagine,’ released on Sept. 9, 1971.

Vinyl

Dead Neanderthals – Worship the Sun (2015)

Reaching out to anyone who enjoys improvised music, Dead Neanderthals’ ‘Worship the Sun’ is simple, coherent and above all, fun.

Vinyl

Charlie Hunter got his groove back on the endlessly accessible Baboon Strength

With ‘Baboon Strength,’ released on Sept. 9, 2008, Charlie Hunter didn’t waver so much between an R&B-influenced feel and the abstract.

Vinyl

‘Pretend You’re in a War: The Who and the Sixties,’ by Mark Blake (2015): Books

Mark Blake’s ‘Pretend You’re in a War: The Who and the Sixties’ sets the stage for later successes, even as he delves deeper into what drove them.