Like a piped-in soundtrack on a rattling railcar, Nick Lowe’s “Check Out Time” somehow sounds rooted in old-school convictions even as it dashes away from them. You May Also Like: East Axis [Matthew Shipp, Allen Lowe, Kevin Ray + Gerald Cleaver’ – ‘Cool With That’ (2021) Paul McCartney, “Check MyRead More

by Tom Johnson It may not quite seem like it’s possible, but it’s been 7 years since Real Gone, the last album of original new music from Waits. You May Also Like: How Tom Waits Got Focused But Stayed Blessedly Weird on ‘Bad As Me’ Of All the Tom WaitsRead More

Let’s hand the reins over to Henry McCullough, singer-songwriter and ex-sideman with Paul McCartney and Wings, Joe Cocker and Spooky Tooth, among others.

Spencer Bohren, a Wyoming native now based in New Orleans, has travelled all over, yet still possesses a strong sense of place. He mounted an almost never-ending tour throughout the 1980s, but did so in an Airstream trailer with his wife and kids. You May Also Like: Spencer Davis GroupRead More

Improperly named, the Average White Band was anything but. First off, one of the rhythm guys, at least by this point, wasn’t white. Second, and this is far more important, they funked it up with a vigor and style that would never be confused with average. You May Also Like:Read More

A talented musician with a roving muse, Henry McCullough took part in signature moments with Paul McCartney, Joe Cocker and Pink Floyd.

Finally. After more than four years of noting on this space his key contributions to other people’s records, including list-topping performances led by David Torn, Chris Potter and Michael Formanek, we get to talk about a record actually led by one of the very top keyboardists working in downtown NewRead More

by Tom Johnson Some music feels overwhelming. When Battles hit their stride with Mirrored, the first feeling was that, as tight as they were, they felt like the wheels were just moments from being flung off. Or they were strapping you into a tilt-a-whirl that would quickly go out ofRead More

Why wasn’t Roland Hanna, a first-rate piano improviser and brilliant accompanist, more famous? Newly unearthed sessions for the IPO Recordings release Colors From a Giant’s Kit, again first-rate, again brilliant, don’t do anything to solve the riddle. You May Also Like: No related posts.

You’ll have little difficulty in finding jazz recordings that seek to transform popular songs into standards. That’s been part and parcel of the tradition from the very beginning. More unusual, however, is someone like saxophonist Miguel Zenon, who so personalizes the shopworn idea on Alama Adentro. Each of the tunesRead More