The early Warner Bros.-focused ‘In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003’ does a great job of exploring a period I refer to as the band’s Adult Years.

by S. Victor Aaron Kingston, Jamaica’s own Monty Alexander looms as large a figure in Jamaica’s jazz world as Bob Marley does for its homegrown reggae. A virtuosic pianist in the Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson tradition, Alexander often melds Tatum and Peterson with the dancehall, calypso and reggae idiomsRead More

by Nick DeRiso There are songs you listen to with one elbow jutting out a car window, the gas pedal cutting into the floor mat. Then there are the things that open up different vistas, albums that bring you around to quieter places — sounds that force you to stopRead More

by S. Victor Aaron It’s become a late winter tradition for three years running: covering a new release by the most successful electric blues artist of late, Joe Bonamassa. In ’09 it was The Ballad Of John Henry, then ’10 brought us Black Rock. The short story on the reviewsRead More

You expected the Cars, reformed without the late bass-playing vocalist Benjamin Orr, to come out with a sad song. Not a track called “Sad Song” that sounds anything but. You May Also Like: Todd Rundgren jumpstarted the New Cars’ surprisingly fun It’s Alive The Cars’ Often-Overlooked ‘Candy-O’ Still Revs WithRead More

  by S. Victor Aaron For a lot of us, our first exposure to jazz was those Charlie Brown TV specials featuring the piano trio music of Vince Guaraldi. Then again, some Disney films like 101 Dalmations, Lady And The Tramp and especially The Aristocats contained jazz or jazz-y tunes.Read More

by Nick DeRiso First off, this doesn’t start off with any piano, but also not the churchy wistfulness of the Cowboy Junkies’ 1987 breakthrough The Trinity Session. Instead, there is a gnarled electric guitar from Michael Timmins, a mashed-down organ and an updated worldliness in Margo Timmons’ familiar alto. They’reRead More

Photo by Dino Perrucci by S. Victor Aaron This isn’t the type of site that covers Kenny G records, but it’s not because we’re G haters. It’s just that there’s music out there we prefer to write about. Maybe 99.8 or 99.9% of the music out there falls in thatRead More

Photo by Raj Naik by S. Victor Aaron Tomorrow, a jazz band that’s been around for 30 years will release their 21st album. Founded in the aftermath of Robben Ford’s The Inside Story (1979), Ford’s backing band has been making records since their self-titled album from 1981. Through several line-up changes,Read More

By Nick DeRiso It’s tempting to get too comfy, as Kimball Gallagher dots Orange with a series of spare, acoustic guitar-driven ruminations. It’s never long, however, before this New York City-based Boston native has amped up his dark themes of life and loss into a gritty outburst of power-pop. ThatRead More