Richard Thompson seems to put out a live album every year and being a sucker for his clever songwriting and maximal guitar playing, I usually lap it up all the same. The former founding member of that seminal British folk-rock group Fairport Convention, Thompson has not only been a partRead More

NICK DERISO: We blast off with two break-neck covers from this bluesy Tex-Mex bar band — Jimi Hendrix’s scorching “Hey Joe” and then ? and the Mysterians’ “96 Tears.” Consider yourself warned. This is floor-it fun, with the brake pedal broken off. Carrasco and Co. rarely stop even to breatheRead More

by S. Victor Aaron It’s been hard to get my head out of the jazz idiom lately. That hadn’t limited the variety in my listening that much, since “jazz” covers so much musical ground. For this go-around of Quickies, the first two selections aren’t all that dissimilar but then theRead More

This week my contributions to the pile of music reviews got a little bit off the road with William Parker then Bill Frisell. Since we’re already off the pavement, I might as well head straight into the culvert with a panegyrist over a Tom Cora performance. Tom Cora, you ask?Read More

by S. Victor Aaron Bill Frisell is a guy I’ve been a huge fan of for about six or seven years, but the sheer volume, originality and wide range of his music has made it impossible for me to know where to begin when writing about him. There is notRead More

William Parker is in many ways like fellow double-bassist Dave Holland: nimble, quick, creative, accurate and full of ideas. He is also one of the rare bassists whose notes manage to capture attention even in a strictly supportive role. Village Voice calls him “the most consistently brilliant free jazz bassistRead More

by S. Victor Aaron From the first two words of this group, you already know that it’s a combo that features King Crimson’s all-everything rhythm section of Bill Bruford (drummer extraordinaire) and Tony Levin (bassist extraordinaire). This side project of theirs produced just a self-titled studio album in 1999 andRead More

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