Shane Endsley might not be a familiar name to you, but the Grammy-nominated funk-rock-jazz group he cofounded Kneebody might be. Even if it isn’t, this trumpeter who’d gigged with Charlie Hunter, Ben Allison and Chris Speed became more noticeable with the debut of his own Music Band. Then The OtherRead More

A long-awaited advance single hails the return of that odd conundrum called Death Cab for Cutie, whose spit-take name can’t begin to hint at the deep musical complexities tucked away inside. You May Also Like: Death Cab for Cutie, “Summer Skin” from ‘Plans’ (2005): One Track Mind

This is a different kind of blues record, one with a joltingly modern menace. The Third International’s Beautiful Accident brilliantly updates a time-weathered genre by focusing on texture as much as lyrical content. You May Also Like: Michael McDonald – Wide Open (2017) Michael McDonald, “Find It In Your Heart”Read More

In the twisted, sound-bending world of Garage Á Trois, it’s well beyond finding that rare groove, it’s about finding sounds that are even more fundamentally rare. You May Also Like: Garage A Trois – ‘Calm Down Cologne’ (2021) Nolatet – No Revenge Necessary (2018)

“Mississippi Mile,” a country-inflected blues, finds John Oates right up close, even as his band sets about making this rafter-rattling ruckus.

Netherlands-based Black And Tan Records has been doing its part to keep the blues alive since 1998, signing up artists from America and Europe like Boo Boo Davis, Big George Jackson, Billy Jones, Byther Smith, You May Also Like: ElectroBluesSociety featuring Boo Boo Davis, “What’s Going On” (2021): One TrackRead More

We find no uncluttered answers on Tom Levin’s sumptuous, vaguely fatalistic Tooth and Claw. In fact, oftentimes the questions themselves for this former New Music Weekly Awards AC male artist of the year are almost unbearable. You May Also Like: No related posts.

Going from unknown two years ago to co-leading a duet record with Matthew Shipp is a meteoric rise in the avant jazz world, much less any world, but that’s just what alto saxophonist has accomplished in this short time frame. You May Also Like: Matthew Shipp – Zero (2018) MatthewRead More

Paul Simon’s new record, his first since 2006’s dense Brian Eno-collaboration Surprise, is a career-spanning, sometimes duskily ruminative, quirk-splashed triumph — simultaneously bold in its constructions and timeless in its themes. You May Also Like: How ‘Paul Simon’ Set the Template for a Career of Dizzying Musical Exploration

by Mark Saleski Volume 8 in the Smithsonian Folkways series on the music of Central Asia paired the Kronos Quartent with Afghan rubâb virtuoso Homayun Sakhi and Azerbaijani father-daughter singing duo Alim and Fargana Qasimov. You May Also Like: The Lickerish Quartet, “Snollygoster Goon,” from ‘Threesome Vol. 2’ (2020): SomethingRead More