Meet the Ripe, a Texas band, whose debut album Into Your Ears affirms they are a serious force to be reckoned with. The band’s music reminds me of a stew pot. You May Also Like: Peter Brotzmann + Heather Leigh – Ears Are Filled With Wonder (2016)

“Green Flower Street” always reminds me of the similarly titled “Green Dolphin Street,” a song from the 1947 Lana Turner movie of the same name that Miles Davis turned in into a jazz standard when he first recorded it in the late 50s. You May Also Like: Donald Fagen, “TheRead More

Perhaps best known as the leader of the now-defunct band Squirrel Nut Zippers, Jimbo Mathus is returns with a raw, ambitious six-song EP. Moving from stomping Southern rock (“Blue Light”) to dirt-road garage rock (“Haunted John”) to Stones-y white blues (“Fucked Up World”), then back again to a gospel-soaked countryRead More

Fallon Cush takes a darker, more contemplative turn with April, after the fizzy power pop of its self-titled 2011 debut. That difference in tone is readily apparent from the first, as the opener “It’s a Line” jangles out with a classically Lennon-ish whine You May Also Like: The Largely ForgottenRead More

One of the characteristics shared by most of my favorite jazz musicians is versatility. They have “big ears” in their musical interests as well as in their playing environments. You May Also Like: Dave Douglas, Uri Caine + Andrew Cyrille – ‘Devotion’ (2019)

Saxophone sage Matt Garrison (not to be confused with bassist Matthew Garrison) recently made his second album, Blood Songs, and for truly talented musicians on an upward trajectory, that sophomore effort is often where the big growth occurs. You May Also Like: Jack DeJohnette, with Ravi Coltrane and Matthew GarrisonRead More

Have you ever listened to a record and then sat there thinking, “OK …. so what the hell was that?!” I’m not talking about individual songs that might stick out, but the whole thing. You May Also Like: Why I Actually Didn’t Like Some of Those Huge ’70s Records

The news that there could be as many as two more albums from Amy Winehouse, a year after her passing, got us to thinking about posthumous releases. You May Also Like: The Favorite Beatle: Taking an Eternal Question to the Next Level John Lennon – ‘Gimme Some Truth’ and ‘Imagine’Read More

They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression, and that seemed to be the case when I first heard the Beastie Boys: Michael “Mike D” Diamond, Adam “MCA” Yauch, and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz. You May Also Like: Tom Petty, Johnny Cash + Beastie Boys: RickRead More

The name “Grant Geissman” comes up and my mind’s radio instantly tunes to Chuck Mangione’s 1978 hit “Feels So Good,” the highlight of which is Geissman’s flashy guitar solo You May Also Like: David Garfield, “Sir Charles” from ‘Stretchin’ Outside the Box’ (2020): One Track Mind