West Coast-based pianist Michael Ray has been performing with sibling drummer Stephen since they were 10 and 7 years old, respectively. Together, they’ve played more than 2,300 concerts together. That deeply ingrained sense of musical brotherhood, almost like the two are finishing each other’s sentences, plays out on the idiosyncratic,Read More

Insistent but quiet, Avi Wisnia begins with a bracing confidentiality, gently pulling you in the pillowy reverie of “New Year.” But, just like that, Wisnia shakes himself awake as Renee Warnick’s swooning voila surrounds him, moving from the brink of resignation into a contagious confidence: “Never turn your back onRead More

The new Doctor Faith, Christopher Cross’ first original studio album in 12 years, occasionally finds him taking a darker — hell, I’ll just say it, crankier — view of things. You May Also Like: No related posts.

King Crimson mastermind Robert Fripp finally got around to re-issuing his first solo album in 2006, one that manages to cover pretty much all the bases he would ever touch upon — arty rock, post-punk, new wave, noise, it’s all there. And finally it’s there as Fripp originally planned itRead More

Skunk Baxter was just beginning to make his mark in 1972, but it was already evident that Steely Dan landed the right man for the job.

The story of how country folk/Americana performer Andy Budd came to make this record is uniquely American. A car dealer by day, Budd always wanted to be a country singer. With support from his family and staff, that dream was made real You May Also Like: Richard Turgeon, “Car Crash”Read More

Given the fact that Pat Martino had played with some of the biggest B3 players in the business (including Jack McDuff and the great Jimmy Smith), it probably surprised no one that Martino’s first solo release You May Also Like: Wes Montgomery – ‘The Complete Full House Recordings’ (2023)

by Derrick Lord I’ll never forget my first night at a “real bar” when I turned legal. There used to be this place called Daddy Rawshucks Oyster Bar, which was the typical cool joint so common then and so rare now. No corporate logo needed. I was legal anyway butRead More

Patrick Boissel’s Alive Natural Sound record company, an outfit he founded in 1994, has become a haven for music acts in the realms of garage rock, punk, power pop, and just about any band that plays the blues with bluster and the volume up at 10. It’s the smaller labelsRead More

by Tom Johnson Paul McCartney has managed to document each of his more recent tours, yet insists on releasing them not as actual concert videos but more as documentaries of the show. This would be fine if he’d do as others have done, such as Peter Gabriel with Still GrowingRead More