Koko Taylor marked her 20th year on Alligator Records with an album reminds you she’s still got it. A lot of it.

I’ve got a problem but it’s the good kind of problem. There’s a backlog of CD’s sitting on my desk deserving of some shout-outs. So much so, it make take two or more additional “Quickies” to clear off this stack. With just a little time for writing at the momentRead More

NICK DERISO: One of those all-star dates that bridges genres, even generations, “The Trumpet Kings” is an amalgamation of so many concurrent joys that it’s a wonder this Pablo release ever got made. We have out front one Big Joe Turner, a 6-2, 300-something pound Kansas City belter known asRead More

photo: Catherine Stockhausen by S. Victor Aaron When I think of a drummer of one of the most familiar-sounding trios in all of jazz who is still pushing out the boundaries of the genres, Paul Motian is the first name that comes to my mind. So much so, I easilyRead More

Richard “Blue” Mitchell may not have been the best trumpeter in straight-ahead jazz but he’s among the best who didn’t become a household name. Mitchell didn’t display the the sharp timbre and fanciful trips up and down scales like contemporaries such as Freddie Hubbard or Booker Little. He never developedRead More

Less anthematic, in the way of his work with The Who, than it is reflective and frank, Pete Townshend convincingly argues the case for middle-aged rock with “Slit Skirts.” That the gap between the extroversion of his band recordings and the smaller joys of his solo stuff was already disappearingRead More

Charlie Musselwhite, who once played with Muddy Waters, has just gotten better in his absence. A fine example is this Grammy-nominated release, which includes a deft cover of Sleepy John Estes’ fine “Brownsville Blues.” It’s a career highpoint, and (funny thing) Musselwhite hasn’t even put harmonica to mouth yet atRead More

by Pico It’s a CD that might be best enjoyed with a bucket of popcorn and a box of Ju Ju beans. That’s probably the way Barry Adamson intends for it to be, too. Ever since his first solo album Moss Side Story from almost two decades ago, Adamson hasRead More

by Pico Readers of this site are going to think that we are celebrating Father’s Day two months early because for the second time in as many days, a talented offspring of a famous father is getting the spotlight. Charlie Haden’s daughter Petra never aspired to fill her dad’s hugeRead More

Since his early days of hangin’ with Mr. Cougar, James McMurtry remains the same guy he was back then, but with some subtle differences.