The blues world was much disturbed when they heard of last year’s passing of Atlanta guitarist extraordinaire Sean Costello, who, a day shy of his 29th birthday, was clearly one of the young lions of the genre. But like Magic Sam, Hollywood Fats, and to a lesser extent, Stevie Ray Vaughan, we are left to [...]
Tag Archives: guitar
Betty Davis, Is It Love or Desire (Light in the Attic)
November 1, 2009 – 12:01 am
It’s desire. On the album Betty Davis recorded in 1976 at Studio in the Woods in Bogalusa, the title may ask if it’s love or desire, but she makes it clear. The only time love appears is “When Romance Says Goodbye,” and the song is the end of all softness and tenderness. Here as on [...]
Cliff Hines Quintet, Like Mystics of Old (Independent)
November 1, 2009 – 12:01 am
The simple phrase, “This album is dedicated to all of my teachers: past, present, and future,” lines the inside cover of the Cliff Hines Quintet’s debut album, Like Mystics of Old. It’s a rather bold statement considering Hines has yet to reach 21. But after one listen, it’s clear that the young student (Hines studies [...]
Christian Serpas and Ghost Town, Hoot and Holler: Live in New Orleans (Independent)
November 1, 2008 – 12:01 am
Christian Serpas writes the sort of clever, classic country songs that invite parody, but he does them well. “Bad Side of Goodbye” is the most obvious example, but “Miss Maybe” and “Read ’em and Weep” are from the same school of wordplay. Unlike many Americana/alt.country singers, he sings them without a hint of condescension or [...]
Astral Project, Blue Streak (Astral Project)
August 1, 2008 – 12:01 am
Like much of New Orleans, Astral Project has the blues. Blue Streak is its first studio album since Katrina, and the compositions are their reactions to the storm and life after it. In Steve Masakowski’s case, that means pieces that are fairly directly triggered by events and frustrations; in Tony Dagradi’s, it means a suite [...]
