Rant ‘N’ Roll: Not Yet Buried
I’d rather listen to dead guys. Although you can’t go to see them in-concert (except for Michael Jackson and Elvis), being dead gives an artist’s music a much more profound sheen. Alice In Chains...
View ArticleRant ‘N’ Roll: Eight Eccentric Records to Discover
Kosmos, from Italy, redefine the age-old piano-bass-drums jazz trio wherein the piano is the key component. On their new Averno, equal emphasis is key to their unique sound which melds Euro classical...
View ArticleRant ‘N’ Roll: Lucky Seven (Records for You)
For his seventh album, Oregon pianist-composer Gordon Lee asks How Can It Be? (PJCE Records). Recorded during the darkest days of the pandemic, the nine tracks in a concise 48 minutes by his...
View ArticleRant ‘N’ Roll: Blues to the Bone
Why has it taken sixties Earth Mother Icon Tracy Nelson, 78, almost 11 years to make a new record? Her big, expansive, emotional plea of a voice is an American treasure, and on Life Don’t Miss Nobody...
View ArticleRant ‘N’ Roll: October Finds
Ain’t nothin’ Lowdown Brown can’t do on his debut. Cat’s 70, kickin’ ass, playing the blues, struttin’ some soul, and with the help of producer/drummer Ardie Dean, guitarist Microwave Galaher, bassist...
View ArticleRant ‘N’ Roll: Funky, Jazzy, Bluesy Magic
Drummer-Composer Gregory Hutchinson steps away from his usual jazz purview to bring Da Bang to alarming life on his solo debut after playing with greats like trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and vocalist...
View ArticleRant ‘N’ Roll: Blues, Jazz, & a Book
Although he’s long left Texas in his rear-view mirror, Willie J Laws Jr. has always been known as the “Prophet of the Funky Texas Blues,” maybe because he continues to stuff his guitar-gunslinger...
View ArticleRant ‘N’ Roll: Five Satisfying Listens
Pianist-vocalist Les McCann passed away on December 29, 2023 in Los Angeles at age 88. Just prior to that, on December 1, a new collection of his was released: Never A Dull Moment: Live From Coast To...
View ArticleOne More Look At 2023: The Best of the Rest
The second album of the incredible Taiwanese vibraphonist Chien Chien Lu – Built In System (Live From New York) – is the latest in a series from Giant Step Arts called “Modern Masters and New...
View ArticleRant ‘N’ Roll: Come Alive Again
Tidal Currents: East Meets West (Chronograph Records), the seventh album by the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, is a beautiful, adventurous, meandering suite with many colors. It’s a kinetic, action-packed...
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