In a way, Christian McBride has been working on this big-band project all along. The talented jazz bassist’s interest in this format began almost 20 years ago You May Also Like: Christian Marien Quartett – ‘How Long Is Now’ (2024)
‘All We Are Saying’ feels so connective because of guitarist Bill Frisell’s willingness to simply let things happen – to accept life as it goes.
I initially dismissed this, almost out of hand: There’s a reason people haven’t been rocking Robert Frost all this time. You May Also Like: How Brian Eno Made a Triumphant Return to Rock With ‘Nerve Net’
Rufus Thomas, R&B scamp and known ass-shaker about town, was the ripe old age of 53 when this single was released. He hadn’t lost one bit of arm-flapping gusto. Yet, “Do The Funky Chicken” still came out of nowhere. Thomas’s label, Memphis-based Stax, had recently severed ties with Atlantic Records,Read More
Credit Uriah Heep as the co-inventors of hard rock, along with Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. It doesn’t mean they couldn’t craft a crunchy little hit single, too. You May Also Like: On Paul McCartney’s ‘Egypt Station,’ Uriah Heep’s ‘Living the Dream’ + other new releases Doobie BrothersRead More
A sharper direction on this new release, not to mention an all-star backing cast, helps Stanley Jordon overcome many of the stereotypes that have dogged him since rising to fame in the early 1980s. Back then, Jordan was riding a wave of attention over his use of a eye-poppingly fastRead More
In a few short years after these sides were put to tape, Buck Owens would be hailed as the architect of the Bakersfield sound, notching memorable hits for Capitol including “Tiger by the Tail” and “Act Naturally.” He was, really, still gathering his tools, and picking out building materials. Yet,Read More
The lyrics have changed over these many years, but the mythical journey of Stagger Lee — “that bad man, oh, cru-el Stagolee” who shot a card-playing companion over a five-dollar Stetson hat — remains this talismanic tale. You May Also Like: Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ – Tajmo (2017)
Some songs are so personal, so specific, that you wonder if anyone else could ever do them justice. Rufus Wainwright’s “Dinner at Eight,” originally about a confrontation with his often-absent father, was one of them. Until now You May Also Like: Billy Porter, “For What It’s Worth” (2020): One TrackRead More
Freddie Mercury, talking about his band Queen, once compared them to the sweeping Hollywood auteur Cecil B. DeMille, and he wasn’t that far off. The group, which also included guitarist Brian May, bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor, was a heady mixture of heavy metal, prog, power pop, discoRead More
