THE DEEP ROOTS ELITE HALF-HUNDRED of 2022

The Best of the Rest for 2022...winners all!
by David McGee
 

 
 

In Heavy Rotation: Roots & Blues

Rounding up a quartet of must-hear recent releases: NORMAN BLAKE, Day by Day; MARK O'CONNOR, Markology II; MIKE ZITO, Resurrection; and TIFFANY POLLACK, Bayou Liberty.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Blues, Classical & Corky Siegel Ascendant

Blues harmonica master and skilled composer CORKY SIEGEL returns with his CHAMBER BLUES string quartet for a blues-classical romp on DIFFERENT VOICES..
by David McGee
 

 
 

You Can Go Home Again

MARK O'CONNOR. predictably unpredictable, returns as a member of a splendid roots band featuring his wife MAGGIE, his son FORREST and his son's fiancee, KATE LEE. It's a loving family affair.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Out of Nowhere, Making a Joyful, and Most Memorable, Noise

Out of St. Louis and in the spirit of The Goat Rodeo Sessions, The Punch Brothers and Mark O'Connor, The 442s have made a joyful, and most memorable, noise on their debut album.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Spring in Verse

Spring cannot arrive too soon, and we anticipate its arrival in verse from SHAKESPEARE, EMILY DICKINSON, WILLIAM WORDSWORTH and other, and in song from MARK O'CONNOR, VIVALDI et al.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Contemporary Music

During a four-month concert tour of America in 1928, composer MAURICE RAVEL delivered a then-controversial lecture urging American classical musicians to incorporate African-American music into their compositions. Ahead of his ...
by David McGee
 

 
 

Remembering ‘The Undefeated Champion,’ Herman Johnson

In a Deep Roots exclusive, MARK O'CONNOR offers a warm reminiscence of one of his fiddling mentors, HERMAN JOHNSON, who passed away on Jan. 20 at age 94.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Bach by Thile (Not Thile Does Bach)

It was inevitable: after flirting with Bach for his entire professional career, CHRIS THILE has released a solo album of the Baroque giant's Sonatas & Partitas. Reviewer CHRSITINE N. LAYTON hails it as a big winner.
by David McGee