by Derrick Lord This was just what Ike Turner fans had been waiting for. The Clarksdale, Mississippi native returned to his roots with a barrel-house style blues recording that brought him back as a force on the music scene, earning two W.C. Handy Awards from the Blues Foundation for bestRead More

by Nick DeRiso Forgive me if I thought this was going to be trumpeter Nicholas Payton’s further ruminations on the turbulent brilliance of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew. Instead, Payton really means it. You May Also Like: Nicholas Payton – ‘Smoke Sessions’ (2021)

by Nick DeRiso Maceo Parker — leader of the ferocious JB Horns, James Brown‘s band and musical backbone back in the day — once put it all in perspective, introducing a song from the stage: “We like to play two percent jazz … and 98 percent funky stuff.” You MayRead More

by Nick DeRiso Neo-soul singer Victor Nelson, in an aptly titled new disc, doesn’t try to hide his emotions on Transparent. In fact, across 10 songs (nine of them self-penned), the vocalist opens up completely. That raw, tender-hearted emotion finds a home in comfy musical surroundings, as Victor references manyRead More

With a voice that’s axiomatically compared with winged messengers from God, Aaron Neville’s gospel records ought to form the cornerstone of his resume, right? Instead, the New Orleans singing legend’s two previous attempts felt too forced, like being dragged into church. Not this one. Neville, paired with producer Joe HenryRead More

“Am I Blue” is a largely forgotten argument for Ray Charles’ striking ability to synthesize jazz, blues, country and gospel into music with a broader appeal. That’s saying something, considering that it appears on The Genius of Ray Charles, a half-big band/half-strings Atlantic release that became one of his mostRead More

Even today, there’s still no roadmap for Dr. John and the Meters’ crazy-eyed co-mingling of R&B, jazz, island beats, blues, boogie funk and hoodoo.

by Nick DeRiso Corinne Bailey Rae isn’t the same singer, maybe isn’t even the same person, that she was at the time of her celebrated 2007 debut. Three Grammy nominations, including one for best new artist, couldn’t shield her from this world’s knifing truths: Her husband, 31-year-old saxophonist Jason Rae,Read More

Photograph by Spencer Tweedy Over the course of a remarkable career, both with her family band the Staple Singers and as a solo artist, gospel-soul icon Mavis Staples has bravely explored the frustrations, sorrows and then joys of the African-American freedom fight. But, lest we forget, she can still rockRead More

We begin this series by covering the kind of music most music critics cover when making lists: the Great Mainstream.