New Life arrived amidst much anticipation of something in keeping with drummer Zigaboo Modeliste’s mythically groovetastic tenure with the Meters. And, bless him, I got it. But that wasn’t all. Take the title track. “New Life” doesn’t mimic the expected grease-fire funk of his old band, so much as forcablyRead More

Guitarist-composer Chris Taylor, at once, brings in familiar fusion influences like Weather Report, Pat Metheny and the Zawinul Syndicate, even while adding these fearless flashes of next-gen electronics — samples, voices, weird keyboard programming, chants, scronks, blips, scratches. It’s jam-packed with aural pokes, the kind of album where Taylor, frontingRead More

When ZZ Top, tearing through “Waiting for the Bus,” howls “have mercy!” in tandem, I’m right there with them. You May Also Like: ZZ Top’s “El Diablo,” “Thunderbird,” “Rough Boy” + Others: Gimme Five

From the first honking strains of Roger Lewis’ sax on “The Treme Song,” amidst a howling group of happy singers led by David Montana and Fred Johnson Jr., the intentions of Treme Traditions are clear: Party. This album is like a street parade crammed inside of a shiny disc, courtesyRead More

Annie Dressner’s voice has a twilight poignancy, this majestic loneliness, and nowhere on her forthcoming release Strangers Who Knew Each Others Names is that more true than on its title track. You May Also Like: No related posts.

Putting together a luxe coffee-table book honoring the city of his birth clearly got Irvin Mayfield in a nostalgic mood. You May Also Like: The Blind Boys of Alabama’s Down in New Orleans added a new musical wrinkle New Orleans at 300: In Search of Jazz

Royal Crescent Mob, a punk-funk quartet from Columbus, Ohio, seemed at the peak of the powers with this, its most cohesive, mature record. So, that was, of course, the end of that. You May Also Like: Royal Southern Brotherhood – The Royal Gospel (2016)

Better known for helping shape the Blue Note Records hard bop sound as a producer in the 1960s, pianist Duke Pearson also led his own big band before succumbing to the ravages of multiple sclerosis at age 47. You May Also Like: Glenn Zaleski – Fellowship (2017) Nick Finzer’s ThoughtfulRead More

Jeff Golub, a longtime sideman with Rod Stewart and Billy Squier, has compiled the expected all-star amalgam in this tribute to the blues stylings of The Three Kings — Albert, B.B. and Freddie. You May Also Like: No related posts.

With Happy Daze, singer/songwriter Steve Macfarlane whisks us back to the lushly sophisticated melodies of Burt Bacharach and Neil Sedaka, perhaps his clearest inspiration. It’s a tricky thing, since both so often risked sounding mushy or maudlin You May Also Like: The Rainy Daze, “That Acapulco Gold” (1967): One TrackRead More