by Pico Most everyone’s first exposure to jazz from about 1965 on has come from Vince Guaraldi’s kick butt soundtrack music to the Peanuts television specials. But rock? Well that depends on when you grew up and what was permeating the radio and tv (or at least children’s tv) atRead More

by Pico I think I can say this with high confidence that The Isley Brothers were among the best and underrated R&B bands of the 1970’s. It wasn’t just Ronald Isley’s creamy smooth falsetto or killer material like “Footsteps In The Dark”, these guys made more than a passing nodRead More

by S. Victor Aaron So you’re looking at the album cover just to the left and guessing that it’s a vintage children’s record intended to cash in on the hit mid-sixties series starring Adam West and you would be right. But there was no such band as “The Sensational GuitarsRead More

by Nick DeRiso Was grooving to a 2002 reissue of the titanic groovefest ‘Power of Soul’ tonight, and got to thinking about Idris Muhammad – a funk and jazz drummer of the first order, born in New Orleans as Leo Morris. He started out, of course, playing in soul bands,Read More

by Nick DeRiso A pair of early 1990s Rhino compilations, all punky guts and art-rock pretention – without being pretentious – showed how the Do It Yourself aesthetic was given great depth by the almighty hook. Taken together, they’re a nice overview of the British punk explosion and the lastRead More

by Nick DeRiso While the performances on “Johnny Shines and Robert Lockwood,” from Shreveport, Louisiana’s Paula Records, are first-rate, unfortunately the sound quality early on is spotty. Some of the source material was slightly damaged on the Shines sides, resulting in a couple of gurgly spots where the sound fallsRead More

by S. Victor Aaron My look at jazz guitar records that didn’t get their due. You May Also Like: How John McLaughlin’s First 4th Dimension Album Brought Things Back in Focus

We already did piano men, but they were all by underrecognized artists. Now, it’s time to look at albums by the big names that didn’t get the kudos of their better known companions, but should have: You May Also Like: Bill Evans – Time Remembered, The Life & Music ofRead More

Several years ago, Capitol Records released a terrific 3-CD box set called “Crazy Diamond,” by Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett. Included are “The Madcap Laughs” and “Barrett” — Syd’s only solo albums after getting the boot from Floyd. Also featured is a third disc of unreleased material and rarities, calledRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Some favorite jazz albums of mine that don’t come up at the top of anyone else’s top records list, but I thought were outstanding despite the lack of publicity about them. … You May Also Like: Jazz’s Best Last Records by John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy +Read More