Houston has been a major center for urban jazz ever since native Houstonians the Jazz Crusaders started going electric in the late ’60s. You May Also Like: Stephen Haynes – Pomegranate (2015) Richard Turgeon, “Wanna Make Love” (2020): One Track Mind Richard Elliot – ‘Authentic Life’ (2021)

Jazz has long drawn from show tunes, Tin Pan Alley, and a handful of great composers like Ellington, Strayhorn and Monk for material. Gospel? Not so much. You May Also Like: The Blind Boys of Alabama’s Down in New Orleans added a new musical wrinkle Al Green’s Secular Comeback WasRead More

Stationed in Houston, Texas, the independent label International Artists Records parented a plethora of prized platters between the years 1965 and 1970. Much of the imprint’s success can be credited to Lelan Rogers (brother of country crooner Kenny), who for a while there, held the dual role of promotion manRead More

Just when you think the well has run dry and all the great power pop records from the past have been uncovered and pressed on compact disc, along comes True Hearts, a band from Houston, Texas. Founded in 1979 and initially called the Flirts, the group cut an EP onRead More

Last year’s Opening made me a believer in the trumpet wizardry of one Carol Morgan, who blazed through a set of originals and standards in a small combo without a piano. Her brand new follow-up Blue Glass Music follows the same formula, with perhaps a bit more emphasis on theRead More