Album Review: Laurence Juber’s ‘The Fab 4th’ Is Full of Beatles Magic
LJ’s takes on The Beatles never get old
Album Review: James Taylor Takes a Nostalgic Turn with ‘American Standard’
In turbulent times, the mellow tones of James Taylor are a soothing balm. On American Standard, the popular singer, songwriter, and guitarist teams up with ace jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli to explore the Great American Songbook, including the rich repertoire found in such vintage musical theater hits as the Broadway…
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Album Review: Peppino D’Agostino Has Much to Say on Instrumental Tour de Force, ‘Connexion’
The ten tracks vary considerably from tune to tune in terms of style, but are unified by his wondrous playing
Solas’ Seamus Egan Casts a Wide Stylistic Net on ‘Early Bright’
On his second solo album Egan adds classical, pop and progressive rock influences.
Album Review: More Exploration on Stephane Wrembel’s ‘The Django Experiment V’
Before beginning live-on-the floor sessions for The Django Experiment V, Stephane Wrembel recorded Django L’Impressionniste, an album-length interpretation of 17 little-known Django Reinhardt solo pieces.
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Dave Simonett’s ‘Red Tail’ is Full of Revealing, Plainspoken Honesty
The lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of Trampled by Turtles has finally released an album under his own name.
Jeff Gunn’s ‘Sonic Tales’ is Full of Mystery and Imagination
Gunn draws on jazz, flamenco, and Travis-style fingerpicking to tell a series of impressionist stories
Ruminative Originals Highlight Bill Scorzari’s ‘Now I’m Free’
The New York-based singer-songwriter transcends titles like songwriter or poet.
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Album Review: The Milk Carton Kids Return to Spare Acoustic Sound on ‘The Only Ones’
The quietness of the production makes these songs feel especially brittle and heart-worn, as if there’s nothing left for Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan to hide.
Album Review: Billy Strings’ ‘Home’ Moves Beyond Bluegrass
Billy StringsHome(Rounder) Home begins with 30 seconds of down-tempo guitar arpeggio and fiddle birdsong. It ends with the full quartet—Billy Strings (guitar), Billy Failing (banjo), Royal Massat (upright bass), and Jarrod Walker (mandolin)—crashing through a cover of Bill Monroe’s “Big Sandy River.” In between, there’s an hour of bluegrass played…
Album Review: Hot Club of Cowtown’s ‘Wild Kingdom’ Goes Beyond Django, Wills
To say Hot Club of Cowtown—guitarist Whit Smith, fiddler and vocalist Elana James, and upright bassist Jake Erwin—explores the past on their new album, Wild Kingdom (Gold Strike) is an understatement: one of the CD’s 11 originals, “Caveman,” imagines a prehistoric character who becomes famous for his cave paintings.
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Album Review: Mary Flower Brings Jaw-dropping Technique to Vernacular Styles
If Livin’ with the Blues Again had been released in 1969 instead of 2019, Mary Flower might have been mentioned in the same breath as Stefan Grossman, Duck Baker, and other fingerstyle players of approximately her generation.
Ace Fingerpicker Charlie Parr Revisits His Catalog on Self-Titled Album
Parr returns to some songs he’d written years earlier, determined to “live through them again, and take them apart, and put them together.”
Album Review: Scorching Guitar-Dobro Combo of Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley Live In a ‘World Full of Blues’
Ickes and Hensley are clearly made for each other, and over time they’ve learned how to bring out their one-upping best.
Peruvian Flavors Dominate on Ciro Hurtado’s ‘Altiplano’
Altiplano takes a relatively minimalist approach to revisiting and reinventing the Andean music of his homeland
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David Pritchard’s Kaleidoscopic, Multi-Layered ‘Evanescent’ Brings Trancelike, Energetic Instrumentals
Melodic Moments flit through multitracked acoustics in meditative grooves
‘Adam Palma Meets Chopin’ Brings an Insistent Groove to the Classical Master’s Pieces
Who knew Frédéric Chopin could be so funky
Abigail Dowd’s ‘Not What I Seem’ is Full of Personal Reflections and Compelling Stories
The guitar-driven introspective folk of the 1970s is a touchstone, but so are blues and roots rock ’n’ roll
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Terry Robb’s ‘Confessin’ My Dues’ is Full of Rough-Hewn Roots Music and Down-Home Barn-Burners
Blues is never far away from this fingerpicker
François Vola’s ‘Back to Bluegrass’ is a Testament to the French Guitarist’s Love for the Genre
If it seems that the French Riviera is too far from the hollers of the Smoky Mountains to be authentic, think again
Album Review: Simba Baumgartner’s Gypsy Jazz ‘Les yeux noir’
On his debut album, Les yeux noirs (Water is Life Records), Django Reinhardt’s great-grandson Simba Baumgartner stretches the boundaries of Gypsy jazz, injecting experimentation and youthful energy into the genre.
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Catfish Keith Plays Some Smokin’ Guitar on ‘Reefer Hound: Viper Songs Revisited’
At 21, Keith Kozacik recorded his first song about smoking dope, and three decades later, he’s still going strong
‘Sunset Avenue Sessions’ is a Charming Set of Country-Flavored Covers and Originals
This trio is made up of the three clearly capable country-oriented singer-songwriters Lizanne Knott, Jesse Terry, and Michael Logen
The Andrew Collins Trio Spreads Its Wings Wide on Double Album ‘Tongue & Groove’
This double set of 11 vocal songs (Tongue) and 11 instrumentals (Groove) is the best of both worlds
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Album Review: History Springs from John Smith’s Picking and Singing on ‘Hummingbird’
Smith comes home to the progressive folk guitar that inspired him
