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Results for "Something Else!"
Bob Marley and the Wailers, Live Forever (2011)
By Nick DeRiso The aptly titled Live Forever, a newly released concert set by Bob Marley and the Wailers, doesn't sound anything like a man just moments away from the end. Instead, it underscores the indominable spirit of the singer and his song. Marley had collapsed while jogging in New York just two days before, on ...
Fred Hersch - Alone at the Vanguard (2011)
By S. Victor Aaron When reviewing Vijay Iyer's sublime piano-only disc Solo last year, I tossed out my personal maxim that “when a great, small combo jazz pianist makes a solo record, it usually doesn't signal that pianist's arrival, it means he's solidifying his legacy." Well, Alone at the Vanguard is Fred Hersch's fourth solo piano ...
Rush, Synesthesia, and Musical Resonance
By Mark Saleski Several years ago, I had an email exchange with a couple of my fellow music obsessives about a certain rock group. We never got to the details of the music, instead focusing on “love 'em" / “don't." Actually, “don't love 'em" isn't quite right. It was more like “don't understand the attraction." Being ...
The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger - Acoustic Sessions (2010)
By Nick DeRiso Featuring this dreamtime folk whimsy and a fabulist band name, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger sound at times like Syd Barrett, or maybe Simon and Garfunkel. Or, like an ornate, late-night 1960s French pop singer, after perhaps one too many tokes. What they don't sound like, not really, is John Lennon. ...
Big Head Blues Club - 100 Years of Robert Johnson (2011)
By Nick DeRiso You could argue that Robert Johnson, the doomed 1920s-era Mississippi bluesman, was the first rock 'n' roll star. Johnson certainly played the role, with his flair for the dramatic, questionable lifestyle choices and early death. More particularly, he sounded the part: Tough and honest, full of vibrancy, danger and rhythm. Whether you've actually ...
Robben Ford - The Inside Story (1979)
By S. Victor Aaron Two weeks from today the Yellowjackets are set to release their 20th or so proper album, Timeline, and we'll gonna give you the lowdown on it soon. But as the 'Jackets celebrate thirty years of making records, it might be a good time to cast a gaze back on the record where ...
Something Else! Featured Artist: Grover Washington Jr.
By Something Else Reviews Credit, or discredit, the late Grover Washington Jr. with setting the template for the whole smooth jazz thing. There was always more to him than that. Really. For all of the knocks he's taken, dig deeper into Washington and you'll see why retains the title of Mister Magic for us: “SAUSALITO" (LIVE ...
Deep Cuts: Ray Charles, "Am I Blue" (1959)
By Nick DeRiso “Am I Blue" is a largely forgotten argument for Ray Charles' striking ability to synthesize jazz, blues, country and gospel into music with a broader appeal. That's saying something, considering that it appears on The Genius of Ray Charles, a half-big band/half-strings Atlantic release that became one of his most celebrated efforts. Charles ...
Listen up Preview: Paul Simon, "The Afterlife" (2011)
By Nick DeRiso “The Afterlife," featured on Paul Simon's forthcoming album So Beautiful or So What, is pulsing and sinewy—almost like a lost track from Graceland. Not that there's anything wrong with that. See, Simon has said the premise of this new recording was to get away from the rhythmic focus he'd had since that late ...
Gary Sellers - Soul Apparatus (2011)
Photo from Gary Sellers' websiteBy Nick DeRiso Blues guitarist Gary Sellers has a depth of passion, and a delicate touch at melding styles, that belies his youth. Whatever grade he's in, though, Sellers has done his homework. Listening to his new recording Soul Apparatus, you hear Gregg Allman in Sellers' vocal delivery, and a playing style ...
