This holiday update illustrates a point: Chicago is like pizza. Even when it’s not great, it’s still really good.

Long overlooked, the Spencer Davis Group’s ‘Gluggo’ stands as a fun and energetic collection of meat-and-potatoes rock and roll.

The Pearcy / Gratzmiller Jazz Quintet created an album that has energy, soul and a slight sense of the unpredictable.

Released 10 years ago, Walter “Wolfman” Washington’s ‘Doin the Funky Thing’ embraced blues modernity, while keeping one scuffed-up toe in the past.

Nick Finzer’s Hear and Now celebrates the 50th anniversary of Chick Corea’s classic ‘Now He Sings, Now He Sobs,’ issued in December 1968.

With the unusual structure of the electro-acoustic trio Hearts & MInds come opportunities to implement ideas you couldn’t really pull off in a ‘normal’ trio setting. ‘Electroradiance’ adroitly exploits those opportunities.

Founding keyboardist Steve Porcaro discusses a hard-to-find instrumental that has never been released domestically on a proper Toto album.

Released 10 years ago today, ‘Sugar Mountain’ showed that the inner beauty of Neil Young’s early songs shine, even when completely unadorned.

Ivo Perelman and Jason Stein’s ‘Spiritual Prayers’ provides a symbiotic, seemingly effortless demonstration of free improvisational playing.

Issued 25 years ago, Lisa Germano’s darkly intriguing debut made it clear that she had always been more than simply an accompanist.