by Mark Saleski Anybody out there who has been paying attention to my writings may have noticed that the name Marc Ribot has appeared almost as many times as Pat Metheny. Though the two guitar players are nothing alike, they do take up a considerable amount of my shelf space.Read More

by Tom Johnson In many ways, I am still no closer to being able to put words to my feelings for this album. Instead, I find myself forcing words upon it, all of which are rendered meaningless because they really don’t describe this album, only things that have come beforeRead More

Credit Uriah Heep as the co-inventors of hard rock, along with Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. It doesn’t mean they couldn’t craft a crunchy little hit single, too. You May Also Like: Uriah Heep – Outsider (2014); Live at Koko (2015) On Paul McCartney’s ‘Egypt Station,’ Uriah Heep’sRead More

by Tom Johnson I think there’s an annual requirement that Keith Jarrett must issue some kind of musical good. Going into this release, there had only been a handful of years in his career that have not resulted in some kind of album under his name — 1969, 1970, 1978,Read More

by Tom Johnson I have a bass. It’s sitting right over there in the corner and it’s gotten tucked further and further away from me as time has gone on. Other things move in front of it, or find themselves stored on top of the amp, and eventually it’s justRead More

The latest incarnation for bassist Tony Levin, best known for his work with King Crimson and Peter Gabriel, is as part of a fearless new trio album with guitarist David Torn and Yes drummer Alan White. Part prog, part free-form improvisational music, part noise rock, Levin Torn White brings inRead More

by Tom Johnson The sophomore album from the sister of Rufus, and daughter of Loudon III and Kate McGarrigle wasn’t a batch of wimpy Lilith Fair material. Martha may be blessed with the pipes of an angel, but she sings about real-world angst that leaves you white-knuckled and nervous. InRead More

It might be easy to go on and on about the themes of isolation that waft through Blank Planet‘s lyrics, but for me, it’s all about one thing: the music. Honestly, sometimes the lyrics are a little pedestrian and it’s not like this isn’t a topic that hasn’t been coveredRead More

by Tom Johnson Jazz has been in a kind of holding pattern since the mid-1970s, when even Miles Davis declared the genre dead. You May Also Like: Matthew Shipp Trio – Piano Song (2017) Matthew Shipp – Zero (2018) Matthew Shipp – Symbol Systems (1996, 2018 reissue)

by Tom Johnson It took the late Jay Bennett a few years, but in 2006 he finally released the kind of album that made listeners sit up and think “Maybe Jeff Tweedy should have kept him around in Wilco after all.” Full of heartfelt ballads and Stones-influenced rockers, The MagnificentRead More