“Surprise” is right: Sounding more like a spiritual and sonic brother to 1990’s fantastic Wrong Way Up, by Brian Eno and John Cale, Surprise hardly sounds like a Simon album at all. And that’s what seemed to have long-time fans scratching their heads — the odd instrumentation and textures, notRead More

by Tom Johnson Leaving aside the goofy name, Pugwash was that weird bastard child we music writers like to talk about — you know, the “this meets that”: They sounded like latter day XTC meets Jellyfish. In one album, in addition to Pugwash’s own Thomas Walsh, we find friends fromRead More

John Zorn’s Masada is an interesting group. The way I’ve come to describe them is “Ornette Coleman-listens-to-klezmer.” While that’s not the only way to get there, it’ll do. You May Also Like: How ‘Wish’ Scuffed Up Joshua Redman’s Initial Melodicism Why You Should Give Pat Metheny’s ‘Rejoicing’ Another Listen OrnetteRead More

by Mark Saleski There are a handful of female voices out there that’ll cause me to stop, listen, and be amazed: Bjork, Diamanda Galas, Rickie Lee Jones, The Roches. Those women rule the landscape with oddball cadences, insane textures, and emotional tones ranging from delicate sensuality to raw violence. ButRead More

by Mark Saleski As the era of Classic Rock shrinks into the musical and cultural rear view mirror, it’s been enlightening to see how the stars have dealt with aging. You May Also Like: Joe Perry on the Yardbirds’ twin-guitar attack: ‘That was proto-Aerosmith’ Why ‘Draw the Line’ Signaled theRead More

by Mark Saleski This is a certified jazz/funk/power trio bomb. With Vernon Reid on guitar, Jamaaladeen Tecuma on bass, and G. Calvin Weston on drums, there is not a flabby moment on this record. Many people know Reid from his fire-spitting days with Living Colour. If you weren’t paying attentionRead More

by Mark Saleski Listeners come to jazz from many directions. They may have a natural attraction to it. Jazz may have been the predominant music playing on their parents’ home stereo You May Also Like: Bill Lloyd – Feeling the Elephant (1987): Forgotten Series Richard Lloyd Giddens Jr. – MimosasRead More

by Tom Johnson X equals 10 and V equals 5. So that’s 10 to the tenth power times 5 … carry the 1 … whatever. It’s higher math, but this was, believe it or not, the group’s 15th album. I’m going out on a limb here — I can’t imagineRead More

by Mark Saleski Artists deserving wider recognition. You see this kind of thing all the time in music polls. And do they ever gain wider recognition? Not usually. You May Also Like: Vertical Horizon – ‘The Lost Mile’ (2018) The Bangles, Dream Syndicate + Others – ‘3 X 4’ (2019)

by Mark Saleski Call me easily amused, by I’m a sucker for a girl who accompanies herself at the piano by whackin’ a chair with a drumstick. That was how Regina Spektor sang the sassy “Poor Little Rich Boy.” One hand for piano chords, the other for abusing a woodenRead More