Music
Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas, A New Road (Cha Cha Records)
It’s been seven years since Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas’ last album, Hang It High, Hang It Low, a startling fact that even surprises accordionist Nathan Williams. It’s also […]
Jan Luley, Blues Gumbo (Luley Music Records)
Forty years ago, inspired in part by New Orleans émigré Champion Jack Dupree, a whole school of German boogie-woogie piano players was birthed: Axel Zwingenberger, Vince Weber, Joja Wendt (a […]
The Rotten Cores, Sweet Fellowship in Shame (Independent)
The Rotten Cores bill themselves as a rockabilly band and they certainly have elements of that in their DNA but that tag doesn’t quite do them justice: the tales of […]
The Plum, Magnetic Terra Animata (Independent)
Somebody was bound to mate gentle folk (music, not denizens) with banjo, with tabla, with oscillating prog-rock structures traveling up and down through the chambers of the nautilus. The Plum […]
Dan Penn, A Road Leading Home (Ace Records)
Along with George Jackson, Dan Penn is one of the most prolific and acclaimed Southern rhythm-and-blues songwriters of the last five decades. This CD features 24 of Penn’s solo compositions […]
Walter Jr., Doorway to Heaven (Gatortone Music)
Without the cover art and photographs of religious icons in a country church, the spiritual overtones may not be immediately obvious on Walter Jr.’s latest concept album. It’s a happy […]
Buddy Guy, Rhythm and Blues (RCA Records)
Buddy Guy is probably, let’s face it, the greatest living electric guitar player besides B.B. King. Can you prove it with this double-disc set? About one-third of the time. Maybe […]
Missing Monuments, Self-Titled (Independent)
As Bo Diddley knew, you can’t always judge a book by its cover. With their flying V’s, Black Flag and Blue Oyster Cult shirts, and full beards, Missing Monuments look […]
Wynton Marsalis, The Spiritual Side of Wynton Marsalis (Columbia / Legacy)
Wynton Marsalis has fashioned one of the more intriguing careers in jazz history. The brightest product of one of the greatest of New Orleans’ fabled musical families, Marsalis became the […]
Nicholas Payton with the Sinfonieorchester Basel, Sketches of Spain (BMF Records)
When legendary trumpeter Miles Davis released Sketches of Spain in 1960, it created much controversy with complaints that it was neither jazz nor classical music. The work, which was arranged […]
