Deep Roots Magazine

Deep Roots Magazine

Roots Music and Meaningful Matters

 
 

 

Expressing the Power and Beauty of Difference

A powerful commentary on migration, refugees and human rights, the multicultural RAFIKI JAZZ's third album, HAR DAM SAHARA, speaks eloquently to our time.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Message Delivered

Chicago blues man DAVE SPECTER is back with his first album in four years, MESSAGE IN BLUE, and it's a keeper in the blues, soul and R&B categories all. Soul singer OTIS CLAY makes his Delmark label debut in spectacular fashion...
by David McGee
 

 

 

Bluegrass Speaks to The Moment

A bluegrass trifecta: three new albums, by DALE ANN BRADLEY, THE DILLARDS and PHIL LEADBETTER AND THE ALL STARS OF BLUEGRASS (featuring Steve Gulley) all speak to the moment, addressing a variety of current hot-button issues in...
by David McGee
 

 
 
Carl Perkins featured

The Original Cat’s Missing Link

Recorded, and discarded, in 1990, the album titled Some Things Never Change, finally released in 2025, might well have changed CARL PERKINS's late-career trajectory, if anyone had ever heard it back then.
by David McGee
 

 

 

When Robert Mitchum Was Like So…

In 1957, while filming in Trinidad with director John Huston, ROBERT MITCHUM became obsessed with Calypso music, so much so that he made an entire album of it, for Capitol, with Johnny Mercer's blessing. It's good stuff. Let's ...
by David McGee
 

 
 

Tough Love? Tough Stuff.

Bluesman TINSLEY ELLIS's new CD, TOUGH LOVE, proves itself tough stuff indeed--10 original songs played and sung with conviction to burn.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Pure, Unrepeatable Magic

In 1938 SHAKESPEARE and RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS met in music, now restored to our ears.
by David McGee
 

 
 

My Summer Romance (2015 edition)

Four stories of seasonal love, with music provided by JOHNNY RIVERS, GARY LEWIS & THE PLAYBOYS, PERCY FAITH and words of love by SHAKESPEARE
by David McGee