The Curious Looming of Objects Between Earth and Sky

Minnesota six- and 12-string guitarist KYLE FOSBURGH new album, THE TRAVELER'S JOURNEY, 'is calculated to excite the perceptions and keep alive the imagination.' Add to this: powerful, evocative, spiritually resonant. And beaut...
by David McGee
 

 
 

Loud and Proud

Janis Martin had a brief moment in the sun in the mid--'50s as a pioneering female rock ''n' roll artist billed as 'The Female Elvis.' In 2006 Rosie Flores took Martin back into the studio and produced the terrific Blanco Sessi...
by David McGee
 

 

 

Shimmying Down the Chimney

Not wanting to be the only artist on the planet without a Christmas album, MARIA MULDAUR delivers a holiday evergreen in MIDNIGHT AT THE OASIS, recorded live in San Francisco.
by David McGee
 

 
 

A New Spin on the Old Chanson

On VINTAGE FRANCE, the classic French chanson is alive and hip in the hands of expert practitioners such as MADELEINE PEYROUX, JULIETTE GRECO and others.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Do You Believe in Magic?

A recently unveiled 45-year-old tape recorded in a tiny Milwaukee club in 1968 gives us a powerhouse live performance by MAGIC SAM in prime-time mode, both in voice and with his guitar, on LIVE AT THE AVANT GARDE.
by David McGee
 

 
 

No Goofy Exercise

TONY WRAY & TIM CROUCH are back, delightfully so, with A DREAM IS A WISH: A SPECIAL ACOUSTIC TRIBUTE TO THE MAGIC KINGDOM.
by David McGee
 

 

 

The Lost Gospel

Describing themselves as 'battered veterans of punk-rock-art damage,' the trio known as THE BOOK OF AMY retreat to the early 20th Century Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountain ranges.
by David McGee
 

 
 

One Humanist Touch

The second album from singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist Mike T. Lewis and his wife and musical partner MaryBeth Zamer–collectively known as the Twangtown Paramours–is a solid advance over the couple’s 2010 debut.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Where Day is A-Breakin’ in The Soul

The ST CHARLES SINGERS' AMERICAN REFLECTIONS imbues the listener with a sense of being on hallowed, holy ground, closer to the essence. Texts by RAINER MARIA RILKE, OCTAVIO PAZ, AARON COPLAND and others.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Somewhere Between Heartache and Redemption

Balancing personal misfortune with spiritual redemption, CRYSTAL SHAWANDA is making a major movie with CHURCH HOUSE BLUES, her fourth blues album.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Thoughts That Lie Too Deep for Tears

Two very different artists make two very different albums but still manage to cross paths. What do KENNY LAVENDER and his big band have in common with LAWRENCE BLATT and his guitar?
by David McGee
 

 
 

In Heavy Rotation: A Bucketful of Blues

A bucketful of new blues rounded up here: reviews of fine new CDs, from THE NIGHTHAWKS, JAY WILLIE &: JAMES MONTGOMERY, ANTHONY GERACI, SWINGADELIC and DAVE STRYKER & BOB MINTZER & THE WDR BIG BAND
by David McGee