Paul McCartney’s “Band on the Run” still represents the creative highpoint of his career away from the Beatles, nearly four decades later. So, to paraphrase a tune here, what’s the use in repackaging the thing again? Well, a brilliant remaster of the original tapes, which have always been a littleRead More

by S. Victor Aaron What a stellar year it’s been for Posi-Tone Records. They’ve generated record after record of honest-to-goodness mainstream jazz done with taste, style, with exceptional sidemen and flawless production. After reviewing zero releases prior to 2010, we’ve now given our impressions on a dozen releases, eleven ofRead More

Fusion guitarist and Berklee grad Todd Clouser splits his residency between the frigid climes of Minneapolis, MN and the balmy, seaside vistas of Los Cabos, Mexico at the tip of the Baja California peninsula. Like scenery, Clouser enjoys contrasts in his music, too. After fronting a number of rock bands,Read More

by Mark Saleski The Vanishing Voter Project conducted over 80,000 interviews during the year 2000 United States presidential campaign. The goal was to study the reasons behind the the fact that the United States has one of the lowest voter turnout rates among industial nations. The resultant book, Thomas E.Read More

by Mark Saleski It’s the last great Rolling Stones album!! Sticky Fingers! Tattoo You! Exile On Main St.! Beggar’s Banquet! Goat’s Head Soup! Get Yer Ya-Yas’s Out! Uh, that one that Brian Jones was sort of on but not too much! Sure, it’s a silly argument. It’s also fun. SometimesRead More

by Mark Saleski The complete list of collaborators attached to pianist/composer/modern day Renaissance man Ryuichi Sakamoto could easily fill the space reserved for a full-length review. The short list includes Brian Wilson, Thomas Dolby, Iggy Pop, David Sylvain, Robbie Robertson, and Daniel Bernard Roumain. His film score resume, while somewhatRead More

A couple of years back keyboardist and composer Pete Levin put forth Certified Organic, the second in a string of Hammond B-3 jazz records he’s recently taken an interest in making. It was a thoroughly enjoyable set, one that sizzled and simmered in all the right places, and we hadRead More

As a Louisiana-born singing and songwriting swamp pop legend, Tony Joe White is a guy we like a lot around here but never gotten around to singing his praises. His new album The Shine, released last September 26, gives us the perfect occasion to do so. The originator of hitsRead More

Photo by Tommy Hazeltine by Mark Saleski It was many years ago, in the early 1990’s, that I had my first encounter with Ronnie Earl. He was playing at Raoul’s Roadside Attraction in Portland, Maine. I had never heard of him before but a friend of mine was sure thatRead More

Photo: Julieta Cervantes by Mark Saleski Not long after receiving Etudes 4 Violin & Electronix, I got up one morning before the alarm went off, and settled myself down to some coffee. The idea was to catch up on the reading material that had stacked up over the past fewRead More