The newly released debut album from Andy Jobe and Neeley Bridges seems, at first, to be like an easy peg: Heartfelt, kind of country-ish? Got it: 1970s singer-songwriter. You May Also Like: Richard Thompson, “Beatnik Walking” from Still (2015): One Track Mind With Reggatta de Blanc, the Police kept itRead More

2 Taks Back, an Indianapolis, Indiana-based foursome, offers no-frills rock on their new project Coming Home Again, music that’s unadorned in the very best old-school way. You May Also Like: Tomi Malm – ‘Coming Home’ (2020) Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ gritty Mojo was more than just the blues Mudcrutch’sRead More

Emily Herndon, in her forthcoming full-length debut as May Stands Still, refuses to play to the hushed fragility that’s become the folkie-ingenue stereotype — forcing us to hear her songs in a whole new way. You May Also Like: Rob Mazurek Quintet’s hypnotic, diverse Sound Is rewarded close listens DavidRead More

Amazon.com Widgets Joe Blessett offers that rarest of things – a jazz recording with as much risk as it has enterprise. Changing Everything reveals itself as by turn challenging and approachable, two things that so rarely share the same stage anymore. You May Also Like: Transitional ‘Sorcerer’ changed Miles Davis,Read More

The temptation, with a child prodigy, is to cut him some slack. Lost in the wonder of miniature virtuosity, we tend to forgive the small slip up, the easy cliche. No such accommodations are needed for Esteban Castro You May Also Like: Chick Corea – ‘The Montreux Years’ (2022) AvishaiRead More

Kat Parsons sounds sort of like a geekier, over-caffeinated Carole King, singing with humor, joy and these occasional flashes of revealing introspection over a series of pop confections on the perfectly named Oh! You May Also Like: Alan Parsons Project somehow remains faceless, despite hitting big with Eye in theRead More

Those with a taste for meat-and-potatoes rock and roll, served with a generous helping of slick licks, will appreciate Randy Massey’s new album.

Mike McCarthy, a Phoenixville, Pennsyvania-based pianist, isn’t what he at first seems. He begins here with a series of contemplative runs, punctuated ever so briefly by these twinkling asides, recalling nothing so much as the nostalgic sweep of Vince Guaraldi You May Also Like: Matthew Shipp Trio – Piano SongRead More