Derek Sherinian is a keyboardist. It’s worth repeating, under your breath, as the forthcoming guitar-heavy ‘Oceana’ spins.

Joe Moss starts in an eyeball-deep groove on Drive Time: Live at Chans, hitting the same gravy-dripped chord for a full minute on the opening “Black Boots.” You May Also Like: Linda and Richard Thompson, “The Great Valerio” (1974): One Track Mind Brownout – Presents Brown Sabbath Vol. II (2016)

For a moment, all you hear is James Westfall, playing a plaintive shape on the piano. Then jazz singer Sasha Masakowski slips in behind him, performing in another tongue – sounding like a passing thought that brings you all the way out of a daydream. You May Also Like: FutureRead More

An album that starts with this sparks-flying slide, on a song called “Death Rattle,” isn’t fooling around. This, friends, will never be confused with fern-bar blues. That’s obvious, even before Cook opens his mouth to sing — in a voice that’s one part gravel, one part Jack Black and oneRead 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.

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

The best pop songs are about more than their surface allures — the hook, the voice, maybe the lyric. The best pop songs are bound up both in simplicity and mystery, bringing you over a ridge to these stunning emotional vistas, even as you are still trying to get theRead More