by S. Victor Aaron Chris Rea is something of a lingering figure in popular music. He had a top 20 hit way back in 1978 for “Fool (If You Think It’s Over)” and then a smaller one in 1986 with “On The Beach.” Both of these songs casted him asRead More

by Pico When it comes to jazz crooners, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Harry Connick, Jr. are the usual suspects most people think of. Do they all have to be the big, showy types, though? Do they have to have the big, swing orchestras, wear tuxedos, appear in movies andRead More

Rare groove merchant Karl Denson has been around since serving as a sideman to Lenny Kravitz during Kravitz’ peak Let Love Grow/Are You Gonna Go My Way era. But since that career-enhancing stint, Denson focused his sax, flute and singing talents on the acid jazz scene that was burgeoning aboutRead More

by S. Victor Aaron A few years ago I came across a list of the all-time “50 funkiest songs.” I remember an entry in there for The Meters, I think it was “Cissy Strut.” Pffft, what a useless excercise. Try coming up with “The Fifty Funkiest Meters Songs.” If youRead More

by Pico John Scofield hates to sit still. He rarely goes more than two or three years playing a certain variety of jazz before he abruptly switches gears. His restlessness is part of the reason why he is one of the most highly respected six-string wielding jazz musicians of thisRead More

Later this month, elite jazz guitarist John Scofield will be releasing a new CD, This Meets That, which includes Scofield’s long time friend and sometimes bass player Steve Swallow. I’ll be covering that CD real soon, but listening to this fresh new offering from Scofield harks back to his daysRead More

You had to wonder how much better “Louisiana 1926” would have been with someone who could really sing it. Enter Aaron Neville.

NICK DERISO: Used to be, liking the Alabama-born Sullivans was akin to being part of some secret society. Nobody knew ’em. But the ones who did, well, they flat-out loved ’em. Then, somewhere along the way, Jerry and Tammy Sullivan went from being little-known gospel greats to gosh-dog superstars. We’reRead More

by S. Victor Aaron They look and sound like they’ve been around forever, but the Subdudes have “only” existed for 20 years (counting the roughly eight-year hiatus from 1996-2004), mainly flying under the radar. They come out of that musically rich town of New Orleans, but have rarely been mentionedRead More

NICK DERISO: Sequencing an album by the New Orleans-based Irish folkie Beth Patterson must be like trying to make sense of a series of radio stations. The first track on her debut solo CD was a classic reel, one of those familiar yet still luminous moments with the swirling rhythmsRead More