An astonishing thing to witness when viewing Fred Anderson’s live performance on DVD, 21st Century Chase, was the sight of a guy celebrating his 80th birthday splaying notes from his saxophone with abandon, power and purpose. And then, when he finished his solo, witnessing a dude only six years hisRead More

If there is any musician today who embodies the musical spirit of Robert Fripp, it must be his former King Crimson bandmate, Warr Guitarist Trey Gunn. You May Also Like: No related posts.

Taj Mahal, recording as part of the 30th annual John Lennon Tribute at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, finds the chest-bursting peril, the nakedly emotional plea, inside “Come Together” You May Also Like: Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ – Tajmo (2017)

Once again, the Colorado-based Gear Fab label pays a visit to the rock ‘n’ roll graveyard, and in the process unearths an album so ghastly obscure that even the members of the band behind the project have apparently vanished from the face of the planet. But what is known aboutRead More

This album is credited to Anthony Wilson and rightfully so, as this master guitarist/composer/arranger wrote the four-part “Seasons” suite and led a quartet of virtuosic plectrists to perform it before a live audience. You May Also Like: Anthony Wilson – ‘Collodion’ (2023) Jan Hammer – Seasons Pt. 1 (2018)

Erik Friedlander and Tom Cora are two legends of jazz cello, true pioneers and standouts as there are so few cellists with such an improvisational jazz bent and fewer still who regularly have gone for the jugular as those two. You May Also Like: George Crotty Trio – ‘Chronotope’ (2022)Read More

The Black Forest, perhaps unsurprisingly, features a walk through twilit, spooky woodlands. Thankfully, however, Swedish prog-rockers Agents of Mercy manage to sidestep the typical genre nemesis like, say, a dragon. You May Also Like: Hal Galper, feat. John Scofield – ‘Ivory Forest Redux’ (1979; 2022 reissue) Why Black Sabbath’s TonyRead More

As the poignant, expressive piano voice behind both of Adele’s albums, Neil Cowley has a sound that seems immediately familiar. Yet he doesn’t simply rely on that famous association to push along Radio Silence. You May Also Like: No related posts.

Rory Gallagher could have been blues music’s long-lost savior, so vibrant, complex and original was his personality — both as a guitar player and (importantly) as a composer. Listen to BBC Sessions, which principally focuses on his work in the 1970s, and its easy to imagine Gallagher reanimating the musicRead More

The Le Boeuf Brothers, like many of the younger jazz musicians today, crave bashing up jazz of their formal training with the Bjork, Radiohead and Sufjan Stevens of their iPod playlists. And as I’ve come to realize, this often has great results. But these identical twins, Romy (reeds) and PascalRead More