by Something Else Reviews Over the last few weeks, this merry band of music lovers has offered its varied take on the Year That Was. Now, we winnow it all down. First to go were the personal obsessions (Mark: Mary Halvorson; Pico: Greg Ward’s Fitted Shards), and other worthy entriesRead More

by Mark Saleski Sometimes, a writer can feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of releases that come along during the year. Look at those piles of CDs! It’s a fraction of what shows up on my desk over a 12-month timespan. As I said in my list of Jazz FavoritesRead More

Nobody plays it like Buddy, as his Living Proof testifies. by Pico This part of the Year End series is typically the shortest, and not because there’s less excellent blues and roots records than other kinds of music, but because I regrettably have little time leftover to delve into theseRead More

by Mark Saleski Sometimes, the history of music is full of surprises. Another way of looking at it: I’m surprised by my own ignorance. When I think of the South and old-time music, the blues, whites, and blacks, I tend to think of the musics as being mostly separated, withRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Here’s a trio of African-Americans playing bluegrass, vintage country, jug and other hillbilly styled music, played the old-fashioned way. But just listen to the music and you’ll realize the appeal isn’t at all in the novelty of this setup. No, it’s because they play it soRead More