Though hip hop had been around for a few years, it started to become a national phenomenon 30 years ago — a period that still resonates because of the way the music connected on several different levels. You May Also Like: Butcher Brown – ‘#KingButch’ (2020)

Ric Harris put his career as a jazz guitarist on hold to raise his kids and deal with a life long seizure disorder, so he can be excused to taken so long to make his first album, but he made the most of that long-delayed moment. Coming back to thisRead More

It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since this snarling beast first roared out of my speakers. You May Also Like: Pantera – ‘Power Metal’ (1988): Forgotten Series

P.J. Pacifico’s voice, like a honeysuckle breeze, is inviting, deeply pastoral, almost hypnotizing. Not for nothing, it seems, do two of the first three songs here focus so completely on “home.” You May Also Like: No related posts.

Garbage shows it can still swirl alt-rock, post-pop and electro-dance beats in a highball glass of lip-busting attitude on this, their first album in seven years. The difference here is the band’s newfound sense of angsty consequence. You May Also Like: Why R.E.M.’s ‘Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, PartRead More

Jens Wendelboe is putting together some terrific stuff with his big band and Fresh Heat is the latest in what should be a regular occurrence on the jazz release calendar. You May Also Like: The Maharajas – You Can’t Beat Youth (2017) William Shatner and Canned Heat, “Let’s Work Together”Read More

At times, jazz vocalist Maria Neckam’s music sounds like Joni Mitchell during her mid-70s jazz excursion but with a Annette Peacock stream-of-conscienceness flow and Bjork-like modern sensibility, delivered with pipes as pure as Suzanne Vega. You May Also Like: Jacob Garchik – ‘Assembly’ (2022) Roberto Maria Zorzi, Michael Manring, ScottRead More

Under different circumstances, there is no doubt Homer would have been major players in the hard-rock league. The San Antonio, Texas band’s lead guitarist, Galen Niles, informs us in the liner notes to this comprehensive collection of works that limited distribution of their discs was the prime reason they wereRead More

Amazon.com Widgets While many a pianist/vocalist duo has surely been influenced by the twin mid-1970s collaborations of Bill Evans and Tony Bennett, it’s another thing entirely to take those albums head on. You May Also Like: Rod Harris Jr., “I Can’t Tell You Why” from Exits and Options EP (2018):Read More

There could be no better way to open Bob Wayne’s upcoming album than with the title track, “Till the Wheels Fall Off.” If you don’t know anything about Wayne going into this song, you’ll know everything you need to know about him once it’s over. You May Also Like: NoRead More