by Tom Johnson Every genre seems to get reinvented every so often. Jazz had its renewal a few years back, and now the blues seems to be burbling under again, beginning into the early 2000s with the success of the White Stripes. But the White Stripes got nuthin’ on thisRead More

by Tom Johnson A definitive entry in the Talking Heads’ catalog this was somehow out of print at one point for, what, nearly two full decades? I was lucky enough to stumble upon a bootleg copy of the vinyl a while back but the sound quality was pretty rough; thereRead More

Vacation Part 2. Oh my, it feels so good to downshift. With no daily work regimen to get the stress train moving (beyond making sure that there’s enough coffee for the next day), the relaxation response takes over. You May Also Like: Chad Bradford, “Friday Morning Rain” (2015): One TrackRead More

by Mark Saleski Every true music fan has in their pocket a short list: the artists who hold special meaning. Our relationships to those artists are different from the rest. Each release means something. They’re not just records, they’re events You May Also Like: Bruce Springsteen – ‘The Ghost ofRead More

by Tom Johnson Three-part harmonies, a verified guitar-god genius, and some of the lowest, thickest, sludgiest bass around — King’s X is like the Beatles of metal, but they go year-after-year depressingly ignored. They scored a few minor hits in the early 1990s and then pretty much sunk off theRead More

by Tom Johnson The great Grant Lee Buffalo may have been long gone, but the heart was always just the voice and guitar of Phillips anyway, wasn’t it? In between takes as Gilmore Girls’ resident town troubador, Phillips found a few free moments to record this stripped down tribute toRead 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

by Mark Saleski Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette. Piano, bass, drums. A rational person might ask, “Do we really need another live record from these people?” You May Also Like: Noah Haidu – ‘Slowly: Song For Keith Jarrett’ (2021) Keith Jarrett + Charlie Haden and Paul Motian – ‘HamburgRead More

My favorite period of Genesis’ history — the years just after the iconic Peter Gabriel had left the group, when the band shouldn’t have been able to be a success, but drummer Phil Collins stepped up the mic and brought his own brand of iconic, if short, stature to theRead More

by Mark Saleski Sometimes, curiosity will get the best of me. A strange attraction to something new — a particular (and often peculiar) food, drink, author, musician — will emerge and the craving will not be denied. Mostly, this works out You May Also Like: Ornette Coleman, an inscrutable genius,Read More