Checking in with our thoughts on a few of tonight’s winners from the 2011 Grammy Awards, including the Black Keys — the top-rated Something Else! Reviews record from last year — as well as Buddy Guy, Neil Young, Stanley Clarke, Paul McCartney and Mavis Staples, among others. Click through theRead More

Larry and Tak’s new record is taking Japan by storm; can it do the same in the U.S.? The five new albums below were chosen for a Quickies together mainly because they’re fusion-type records. Beyond that, they are also by artists who I’ve followed for a while or used toRead More

by Pico Last October 20, the up-and-coming violin wizard from Copenhagen Mads Tolling put forth his second CD The Playmaker, a celebration of the kindrid spirit shared by musicians and athletes. Yes, that’s right, the connection between people who make music and people who make plays. As Tolling correctly pointsRead More

“Live at Montreux,” which focuses on tunes from Wayne Shorter’s then-new album “High Life,” might have been just another night in a lifetime of concert dates — if not for the former Miles Davis sideman’s still prodigious, almost hypnotic ability on the sax. That, and some bonus cuts from MontreuxRead More

After a quarter of a century away as he delved into lightweight urban contemporary, soundtracks and side gigs, I’m becoming a Stanley Clarke fan again.