Music
Beth McKee, Next to Nowhere (Swampgirl Records)
Beth McKee found her audience with 2010’s I’m That Way, a rich, jazz-flecked, soulful album of Bobby Charles tunes—a smart move, given Charles’ deep well of beloved and lesser-known material, […]
Will Bernard Trio, Outdoor Living (Dreck to Disk Records)
With summer officially under way, guitarist Will Bernard and his trio have selected an opportune time to provide a soundtrack that reflects Louisiana’s great funky outdoors with the release of […]
Euphoria Brass Band, Coast to Coast (Independent)
San Diego’s Euphoria Brass Band has a solid handle on modern brass band music in the Rebirth/Dirty Dozen mold. Maybe that’s because its founders, snare drummer Ron Bocian and guitarist/banjoist […]
Alabama Shakes, Boys & Girls (ATO Records)
The Alabama Shakes start with solid grounding, what the late great Lester Bangs called rudimentals. I’m struck especially by Heath Fogg’s guitar, with its liquid twang in lower registers and […]
The Sugarman Three, What the World Needs Now (Daptone Records)
It’s been a full decade since the last Sugarman Three album, and a lot’s happened in that time. Daptone has risen from an upstart label to spearhead an underground funk […]
Jerry Sartain, Louisiana’s Callin’ (CSP Records)
The world will probably end before swamp pop fades into the sunset. Performances like this can’t hurt either as Louisiana’s Callin’ will likely have a long shelf life. Though most […]
Anders Osborne, Black Eye Galaxy (Alligator Records)
Good artists can achieve greatness in their creations, arriving through a combination of luck and hard work at a place where they define themselves. Great artists are measured by the […]
Jon Cleary, Occapella (Fhq Records)
When interviewed, Allen Toussaint often mentions the jolt he felt at his first encounter with Professor Longhair’s music, the earth-shattering effects of a radical listening experience. One could argue that […]
Tab Benoit, Legacy: The Best Of (Telarc Records)
All best-of collections are subjective, leaving listeners to often say to themselves, “I wonder why they left these songs off and included these?” While Legacy is a splendid listen, what […]
Theresa Andersson, Street Parade (Basin Street Records)
Theresa Andersson’s Street Parade is not Galactic’s Carnivale Electricos. The latter is a high-energy, hot-blooded celebration of Carnival while Street Parade’s mood is complicated. The title track/album opener gives listeners […]
