Articles by: Nick DeRiso

Vinyl

Brad Mehldau and Mark Guiliana – Mehliana: Taming the Dragon (2014)

Forget everything you know about Brad Mehldau, who rose to fame via contemplative classical-leaning reimagingings of pop songs at an acoustic piano. This isn’t that. It isn’t even jazz You May Also Like: Dave Douglas and High Risk + Shigeto, “Molten Sunset” (2015): One Track Mind Avishai Cohen’s Melodic, MasterfulRead More

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One Track Mind: Damian Joyce with Keith Emerson, “When You’re Around” (2014)

Offered with a rough-hewn, acoustic grace, Damian Joyce’s paean to the Big Apple unfolds with a warm confidentiality. But the beginning? Pure Keith Emerson. You May Also Like: Did Emerson Lake and Palmer almost lose Keith Emerson to Yes? ‘Fanfare For the Uncommon Man: The Official Keith Emerson Tribute Concert’Read More

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One Track Mind: Asia, “Valkyrie” from Gravitas (2014)

Once the proposed title for the first album from this new iteration of Asia, “Valkyrie” finds John Wetton fashioning an epic tale of struggle and of redemption — something that couldn’t be further away from the compact pop of signature hits like “Heat of the Moment.” You May Also Like:Read More

Johnny Winter - True to the Blues: The Johnny Winter Story (2014)

Johnny Winter – True to the Blues: The Johnny Winter Story (2014)

You want to know the Johnny Winter story? Listen to the blues stuff, and there’s a heaping helping of it here.

Vinyl

Fleetwood Mac’s Jeremy Spencer – ‘Coventry Blue’ (2014)

Jeremy Spencer’s ‘Coventry Blue’ dives deeper into the sense of varied experimentation that guided 2012’s ‘Bend in the Road.’

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One Track Mind: John McLaughlin, “Abbaji” from The Boston Record (2014)

It’s easy enough to focus on the initial dry-ice fluidity that guitarist John McLaughlin brings to this advance track from the forthcoming Boston Record, recorded live at the Berklee College of Music. Instead, take a moment to let Etienne Mbappe’s chocolatey sweet bass line envelop you. You May Also Like:Read More

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St. Paul and the Broken Bones – Half the City (2014)

Close your eyes, and there’s no way you picture this guy singing these songs. The guy with the glasses, the suit, the flushed cheeks. You May Also Like: John Belushi originally thought Steve Cropper was a roadie: ‘The guy with the long hair?’

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Benmont Tench – You Should Be So Lucky (2014)

The songs, after a long time away, just started floating to the surface for Benmont Tench. He’d been a member of Tom Petty’s staggeringly underrated band the Heartbreakers forever, had even had a Nashville writing gig for a time. You May Also Like: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ gritty MojoRead More

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Jimbo Mathus and the Tri-State Coalition – Dark Night of the Soul (2014)

Rattling out like a loose-mufflered muscle car, Dark Night of the Soul is a more raw-boned version of Jimbo Mathus’ typical roots rock — darker and harder, like a grittier, more visceral take on the mythical parables of the Band. You May Also Like: Robert Randolph & the Family BandRead More

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Amy Edwards – Ghosts and Saints (2014)

Left to her own devices after a band breakup, Austin-based singer-songwriter Amy Edwards found herself stuck between her melancholy over what had been and her hopefulness for what might come next. Ghosts and Saints, at times hard-eyed and at others remarkably open, is stronger for that essential dichotomy. She purrsRead More