fusion Archive

30 Days Out, April 2025 #2: Ripe, Mystery Lights, Consider the Source, Rhiannon Giddens

You can’t keep a great city down. Big things are happening in Asheville. It was just six months ago that we sustained devastating and deadly damage from Tropical Storm Helene; […]

Wide Hive Records and Daggerboard: Sailing Against the Current

Out of the ashes of a groundbreaking Bay Area music collective comes another group. Musically different but built upon the same creative values, Daggerboard is forward-looking and rooted in tradition. […]

The Aristocrats: No Words to Describe Them

Like the boundary-pushing and scandalously vulgar joke for which they’re named, The Aristocrats aren’t for everyone. But their brand of genre-blurring music – combining jazz, hard rock, fusion, prog and […]

30 Days Out, Aug. 2024 #2: Joe Medwick, Soul Asylum, Lucky Strokes, Ghost-Note

A great locally-based artist, an overlooked indie-rock legend, and two widely-touring acts who love playing Asheville (and come here often).  Those are the highlights of music in the next 30 […]

Album Review: Jack Magnet Science – Future Forecast

Chances are good that when presented with the idea of combining jazz, funk and progressive rock, one’s reaction will be either a cringe at what seems a gruesome prospect, or […]

30 Days Out, Aug. 2024 #1: Jason Isbell, PAKT, Linda Lindas, Jlloyd MashUp

Yes, there’s a homegrown music festival this month that pretty much makes space for every local band. But you already know about that, so instead I present previews of four […]

30 Days Out, July 2024 #1: Ska City, Banned From Utopia, Brushfire Stankgrass, Steel Pulse

This time around, 30 Days Out features two touring acts — a legendary reggae outfit and a kind of alumni-tribute band – plus two wildly popular Asheville-based acts. Go see […]

Album Review: Soft Machine – Other Doors

A different set of “rules” apply to jazz than to rock. In rock – especially of the so-called classic variety – there’s endless contention as to what constitutes a “real” […]

Album Review: The New Mastersounds — The Deplar Effect

For more than two decades now, The New Mastersounds have been creating and refining their winning brand of fusion/funk/what-have-you. Right out of the gate, the result of their creative endeavors […]

Album Reviews: Rob Silverman — Drumology Vols. II and III

These two releases offer a fascinating array of musical styles. The unifying characteristic is the involvement of drummer Rob Silverman, but beyond that, it’s a dazzlingly varied collection. Wholly instrumental, […]