review Archive
20 Apr 2023
Album Review: Shirley Scott – Queen Talk
One of the fascinating and often defining characteristics of jazz is the manner in which artists draw upon the work of others, bending it to their own purposes. The recasting […]
19 Apr 2023
Album Review: Sonny Stitt – Boppin’ in Baltimore
Zev Feldman and Cory Weeds truly are jazz detectives. Together or on their own, these two men are responsible for bringing treasure troves of previously unheard jazz recordings to the […]
09 Apr 2023
Album Review: Ana Popović — Power
Artists change; their artistry evolves over time. Some chart a path that’s consistent; others follow a progression that’s better described as linear. Others bounce around from style to style, with […]
08 Apr 2023
Album Review: Leon Alvarado — Charging the Electric Dream
I’ve covered at least two previous releases from Leon Alvarado. 2014’s Music from an Expanded Universe was a kind of ambient chillwave set; The Future Left Behind (2016) leaned in […]
03 Apr 2023
Book Review: Lend Me Your Ears
There are many ways to approach the history of a beloved musical artist. When expertly implemented, one method, the oral history, can provide a unique and valuable perspective. And that’s […]
25 Mar 2023
Album Review: Peggy Lee — Norma Deloris Egstrom from Jamestown North Dakota
If you were a rock fan in 1972, chances are good that you had no use for so-called “easy listening” music. That was the stuff your parents and their uncool […]
24 Mar 2023
Album Review: Rick Wakeman — A Gallery of the Imagination
Rick Wakeman is staggeringly prolific. I defy anyone to absorb his entire body of work; hell, even coming up with an accurate count on the number of albums he’s released […]
05 Mar 2023
Album Review: Johnny Rawls – Going Back to Mississippi
Johnny Rawls has deep Mississippi roots. Born and raised in small towns in the state, he developed proficiency on a number of instruments, and by his twenties Rawls had joined […]
26 Feb 2023
Album Review: Martin Lang & Rusty Zinn – Mr. Blues, Mr. Blues
Martin Lang has been releasing albums for two decades on his own Random Chance label. An amplified blues harp player, he’s immersed in the Chicago blues tradition. He has worked […]
25 Feb 2023
Album Review: Ruthie Foster – Healing Time
It’s the rare artist capable of creating a body of work that transcends genre. True, Ruthie Foster has been recipient of many, many awards in the blues idiom. Foster has […]