Early on, you never heard much piano from Duke Ellington, a grievous thing. It was only in the twilight of his career that this American jazz master regularly consented to taping some shows where his impish wit at the instrument could be heard front and center. You May Also Like:Read More

Their Ocean, ambient then soulful, is one of those amalgams that sounds instantly recognizable, yet completely new. The Chicago-based psychedelic R&B/indie rock group has described itself as “a cross between Hall and Oates and Arcade Fire, if they were friends with the Soulquarians.” As funny as that sounds, it’s aboutRead More

The Austin, Texas-based Hickoids, a shambling, couldn’t-give-a-sh–t group of cowpunk nutjobs, cover their share of oddball Anglophile items on the new Kicking It With the Twits, out on Saustex Media in San Antonio. There’s the Stones (“Have You Seen Your Mother …”). Eno (“Needles in the Camel’s Eye”). The MoveRead More

These two Paul McCartney albums show a willingness to strip down what had become a varnished sound. But they haven’t aged in the same way.

This remarkable lost classic was not released until 2000 — because the tapes were thought to have been destroyed … until they were found in a warehouse in 1999. Done just three weeks before Otis Spann’s death from liver cancer, Muddy Waters‘ most sympathetic pianist is featured primarily with hisRead More

Americana singer-songwriter Mike McGuire travels a land of heavy weather, echoing church bells, sad tales and long memories. But he never lets go of the one thing that binds us together: Faith, in ourselves, in our future paths, in our country. It’s something that adds a sustaining power to BeyondRead More

Like an aging boxer making an heroic late-round stand, James “Superharp” Cotton brilliantly tangles on a timeless favorite from his 1960s tenure with Vanguard, giving fellow harp master Billy Branch all he can handle. You May Also Like: James Cotton, Shemekia Copeland, Gary Clark Jr. + others – Muddy WatersRead More

“Midnight in Harlem” is the sweet-swaying centerpiece of an all-you-can-eat buffet of deep-fried delights called Revelator. You May Also Like: Tedeschi Trucks Band – Let Me Get By (2016) Susan Tedeschi’s Varied ‘Back to the River’ Set the Stage for Greatness Derek Trucks Band’s ‘Already Free’ Gave Us a Fine-Tuned,Read More

Here’s a new song and video from the forthcoming remastered special edition of Paul McCartney‘s 1980 solo project McCartney II. A never-before-released track, “Blue Sway” will be part of the set’s bonus audio disc You May Also Like: Paul McCartney – ‘Pipes of Peace’ (1983; 2015 reissue)

Find out which Headhunters track Bill Summers describes as “nasty,” then go inside the sessions as they completely reimagine a Herbie Hancock classic.