vinyl Archive
16 May 2019
200-word Reviews: Five Vinyl Records
Few people are mas pleased as myself to witness (up close and personal) the vinyl revival. I’m not getting into the warmth-versus-digital argument; all I know is that as an old-school type who began purchasing LPs at age eight, I will always prefer the vinyl LP format. Plus, the artwork and liner notes are better
14 May 2019
Hundred-worders for May 2019: Vinyl
A subtle hint to any press agents or label reps who might happen to read this: a near surefire way to get your client’s album reviewed on Musoscribe is to send me a vinyl record. Unless I wholly detest it – and that’s not likely to happen if you check in before sending to make
23 Apr 2019
My Favorite Year: ‘Coltrane ‘58: The Prestige Recordings’
1958 was a landmark year for saxophonist John Coltrane, and by extension for jazz as a whole as well. Coltrane had made his first recordings (in Hawaii with fellow Navy servicemen) some 12 years earlier, and played as a sideman with Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk in the middle 1950s. and didn’t begin recording under
03 Apr 2019
Purple Image: Funk-Psych Lost and Found, Part Two
Continued from Part One… First setting up in Adams’s basement, the new group began work. To insulate the sound and avoid annoying the neighbors, Adams says, “I put out an edict that each member bring a mattress. We had eight mattresses on the walls and windows.” They worked collaboratively to develop a full arrangement of
02 Apr 2019
Purple Image: Funk-Psych Lost and Found, Part One
The late 1960s and early ‘70s provided inspiration for young musicians around the globe. In the wake of the success of bands like the Beatles and Rolling Stones – and literally hundreds of others – the idea that one could make one’s own original music and bring it to a receptive audience took hold nearly
01 Apr 2019
EP Reviews: Two from the Koko Mojo Label
Larry Williams – Short Fat Fanny EP Today, the name Larry Williams is largely known once removed, as the American rhythm and blues artist who wrote and recorded songs that would be revived by the Beatles, the Who and others. Their covers are now more well-known than Williams’ originals, but it’s worth going back to
11 Mar 2019
They Showed Us: ‘The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands’ at 40
By the beginning of 1968, the concept album was very much in vogue; the form was in its ascendancy, with high-profile releases like the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds (released May 1966), the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (released May 1967), The Who Sell Out (December ‘67) and the Moody Blues’ Days of Future
08 Mar 2019
Way Out West with Sonny Rollins, Part Four
Continued from Part Three… You were 26 years old when you made Way Out West, but you had recorded nearly a dozen albums by that time. In those days, did you view recording sessions as a means of documenting a live performance, or was working in the studio different from playing live? I started recording
07 Mar 2019
Way Out West with Sonny Rollins, Part Three
Continued from Part Two… Lester Koenig’s original liner note essay on the back of the Way Out West record sleeve explains that you had never played or recorded with Shelly Manne or Ray Brown before the session. How did you come to know of each of them and choose them for the Way Out West
06 Mar 2019
Way Out West with Sonny Rollins, Part Two
Continued from Part One… Subsequent CD-era reissues of Way Out West have included various previously-unreleased outtakes from the late-night recording sessions, but for the 2018 vinyl reissue, another unheard recording of “There is No Greater Love” has been added to the second LP. This alternate take gives the number a slightly more subtle reading, but