James Brown got all of the headlines, be they for his fancy moves, his fancier suits or his brushes with the law. But the JB Horns, those great groovers who provided the punctuation to every grunt, gasp and squeal, remain an underrated element to the legend. You May Also Like:Read More

While the all-girl Luscious Jackson made all kinds of concessions by including then-hip back beats and low-key rhymes, Manny still aspires to a groovy article of faith. (It’s something they shared with the Beastie Boys, who ran the label this album appeared on.) Even now, there’s an involving adventurousness hereRead More

Delfeayo Marsalis talks about working with his brothers, even while he established his own musical philosophy away from them.

Yes’ 2011 comeback album ‘Fly From Here’ is, in many ways, better than it has any right to be.

Liam Finn’s second solo record is different, something far more conventionally pop-infused than his 2007 debut, a thrilling but almost confusingly complex outburst of creativity called I’ll Be Lightning — and that can, at first, sound like a step backward. It starts with his noticeable drift back into the shadowRead More

Joey Molland discusses a few Badfinger moments, both good and bad, as well as sitting in with the Beatles – and taking it, yes, day after day.

The crashing brilliance of “The Best Is Yet To Come,” courtesy of Frank Sinatra and the Count Basie band, came to mind on this, the fifth anniversary of Something Else! Reviews. You May Also Like: Frank Sinatra + Count Basie, “The Best is Yet To Come” from Ultimate Sinatra (2015)Read More

Inspired by an early Cachao album, “Tin Marin” is the rousing closer on Mongorama’s new self-titled project on California-based Saungu Records. A thrilling exposion of classic charanga-jazz, the album features a nine-piece all-star band You May Also Like: How ‘Live: Oy Vey, Baby’ Reminded Us That We Never Deserved TinRead More

Guitarists Bill Anderson and Billysteve (yep, one word) Kopri turn the blues inside out on Churchwood’s “Vendidi Fumar,” then wear it around like Lady Gaga’s meat dress. Theirs is a sound — sudden, bright and menacing — not unlike a car crash You May Also Like: Otis Taylor, “Cold atRead More

What Grayson Capps brings to country music, if you can call it that, is a real sense of danger. From the first of “Highway 42,” a tune that jangles like a loose fender, I was thinking about those long-haired rebels of the 1970s You May Also Like: Fortunato Isgro, “KeepRead More