Author Archive
09 Dec 2025
John McLaughlin: The Shakti Sage (Part Two of Two)
Continued from Part One… The following is an edited and expanded version of a feature that was originally published in The Tonearm. And this developed to the ultimate point when […]
08 Dec 2025
John McLaughlin: The Shakti Sage (Part One of Two)
The following is an edited and expanded version of a feature that was originally published in The Tonearm. Busy and vital as ever at age 83, John McLaughlin is currently […]
05 Dec 2025
Take Five: Early Al Stewart Classics
Al Stewart came to worldwide fame with the release of 1976’s Year of the Cat. That lush album skillfully combined the Scottish singer-songwriter’s vivid, cinematic storytelling lyrics and superbly catchy […]
04 Dec 2025
Mann Underground: Geoff Mann Pays Brilliant Tribute to His Father (Part 3 of 3)
Continued from Part Two… (NOTE: A portion of this feature appeared previously on The Tonearm.) What were some of the guiding aesthetics that you brought to the project? I’ve been […]
03 Dec 2025
Mann Underground: Geoff Mann Pays Brilliant Tribute to His Father (Part 2 of 3)
Continued from Part One… (NOTE: A portion of this feature appeared previously on The Tonearm.) Why drums and not some other instrument? Geoff Mann: When I was a kid, I […]
02 Dec 2025
Mann Underground: Geoff Mann Pays Brilliant Tribute to His Father (Part 1 of 3)
A portion of this feature appeared previously on The Tonearm. Over the course of his career, flautist Herbie Mann released nearly 90 albums of original material. Nominally a jazz artist, […]
01 Dec 2025
30 Days Out, December 2025 #1: Min Xiao-Fen and River Guerguerian, Dillon Fence, Thievery Corporation, Squawk
Two superb locally-based acts, and two touring groups who don’t often make it the mountains of WNC. Those are the highlights of live music in Asheville for the next 30 […]
28 Nov 2025
Album Review: Frank Sinatra – Christmas on the Air
Frank Sinatra released A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra in 1957, and the LP reached No. 23 on the Billboard 200 chart. But Christmas albums predate the 12” LP format, […]
27 Nov 2025
McLuhan: An Amazing Musical ‘Anomaly’ in 1971 and Today (Part Two of Two)
Continued from Part One… The following is the second part of an edited and expanded version of a feature that was originally published in The Tonearm. How much of the […]
26 Nov 2025
McLuhan: An Amazing Musical ‘Anomaly” in 1971 and Today (Part One of Two)
The following is an edited and expanded version of a feature that was originally published in The Tonearm. One of the strangest albums of the early 1970s is also one […]