by S. Victor Aaron With so many women blues singers patterning themselves after Bessie Smith or Koko Taylor, Rory Block is one of the rare ones in modern times (aside from the late Jo-Ann Kelly) who is more inspired by the bluesmen of pre-War blues, like Charley Patton, Robert JohnsonRead More

by Pico So I was listening to this tune off of Hotcakes and Outtakes the other day on the Pico ‘Pod and ohmygawd it hit me: this blog has never respresented for Little Feat before! After all, we did promise to deliver musical musings in the realm of blues, rockRead More

by Pico Most everyone’s first exposure to jazz from about 1965 on has come from Vince Guaraldi’s kick butt soundtrack music to the Peanuts television specials. But rock? Well that depends on when you grew up and what was permeating the radio and tv (or at least children’s tv) atRead More

The foundations laid down here set up the Pat Metheny Group for commercial success on 1985’s ‘The Falcon and the Snowman’ and 1987’s ‘Still Life (Talking).’

by Pico There’s a good reason why we’re looking at this record on this day. In the wake of the tragic events of September, 11, 2001 and it’s aftermath, L.A. producer Carlos Nino cobbled together a collective of about 20 local area musicians he named Build An Ark with theRead More

Al Jarreau has found a good measure of success from applying his unique weave of octave shifting singing and jazz scatting to a wide array of songs ranging from jazz standards to r&b to straight pop. And like Linda Ronstadt and Robert Palmer, he’s had a knack for finding someoneRead More

If you recall how the Fabulous Thunderbirds sounded early on, before “Tuff Enuff” and all that, they were a throwback to the vintage blues-rock bands. Not of the sixties, mind you, but of the fifties. Back in the day when rock ‘n’ roll had just spun off of the electricRead More

by Pico OK, I’ll say it up front: I’ve never been a fan of The Grateful Dead. Don’t know for sure why; after all, I love extended improvisations and the confluence of different styles. And it’s not that I don’t like jam bands; I can listen to the Allman BrothersRead More

by Pico This selection goes back a ways with me; I’ve saved only a handful of vinyls from my once somewhat-vast collection and this vintage ABC-Blue Thumb double LP was spared from that dreaded garage sale. It’s also one of the few expensive import CD’s I was begrudgingly willing toRead More

For me, Dave Holland is one of those guys who has stood for excellence in almost four decades of recording, dating back to the In A Silent Way recordings and before. Yup, it’s time to devote space giving him mad props. Put on your raincoat and rain boots, ‘cos I’mRead More