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Royce Campbell/Vosbein Magee Big Band: Vagabond
by Jack Bowers
Royce Campbell has an awesome and enviable worldwide reputation--as a jazz guitarist. Who knew he could also write this well, and for a big band, no less. All but one of the eleven engaging songs on Vagabond were composed by Campbell, and every one of the impressive charts was penned by his cousin and mentor, the late Carroll DeCamp, who had done the same for Stan Kenton and Larry Elgart, among others. Campbell, who was born in ...
Continue ReadingVarious artists: Alligator Records: 50 Years of Genuine Houserockin’ Music
by Jim Trageser
Maybe this half-century commemoration of the Chicago-based, blues-focused label should have been titled, “The Last of the Independents." Almost alone of the mid-major labels that formerly thrived in the 1980s and '90s by specializing in non-mainstream styles of music, Alligator has managed to navigate stunning changes in the music business--from the vinyl of LPs and 45s to cassettes and CDs, and then, most recently, the virtual collapse of the retail record business and wholesale pivot to online digital ...
Continue ReadingJames Cotton: It Was A Very Good Year
by Jim Santella
Singing traditional blues, James Cotton captures the original foundation as it was created centuries ago. How many times have you been working hard all day long at some particular task and just felt like singing “It's been a hard journey, baby, but I don't have to cry no more." Cotton's original, “One More Mile," moves slow and emotional. He manages to interpret a field holler mood that gave rise to the blues long before worldwide acceptance. Cotton was 32 when ...
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