Beautiful Restraint

POESIA by JOYCE MORENO & KENNY WERNER, and MÉLANGE by KARIN & MIKE KELLEHER are cross-cultural explorations that demonstrate the power of the less-is-more approach
by David McGee
 

 
 

In Heavy Rotation

Reviews of new CDs by IAN & SYLVIA, GLENNA BELL, ANDY STATMAN, EBONY HILLBILLIES, MARLEY'S GHOST, BLUE HIGHWAY, REBECCA DUMAINE and the DAVE MILLER COMBO and the VILLALOBOS BROTHERS
by David McGee
 

 

 

James Cotton, Fully Present

Cancer has robbed him of his singing voice but not his spirit or his ability to play blues harp like no else around. At age 77, JAMES COTTON is going strong, as his new album attests. Review by BILL DAHL.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Sing to Me, Sing to Me…

Having made so many memorable statements in her career, 84-year-old ANNIE ROSS delivers one of her finest on TO LADY WITH LOVE, in memory of her mentor-friend BILLIE HOLIDAY, with Pizzarellis Bucky and John on guitars.
by David McGee
 

 

 

The Mystery Endures

MELODY GARDOT's brilliant CURRENCY OF MAN, finds this unique artist on intimate terms with 'chaos at any moment.' Dark, but empathetic, the new CD is all that, and more.
by David McGee
 

 
 

We Need to Talk

A fine new long player by one of the best bluegrass bands extant, THE MOUNTAINS ARE CALLING ME HOME finds JUNIOR SISK & RAMBLERS CHOICE chronicling betrayals, regrets and loss. We need to talk.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Fashioning a More Thoughtful World

Scottish classical guitarist SEAN SHIBE, playing with lovely clarity and thoughtfulness, adds his own innate sense of the elegant to a trio of BACH lute compositions he has seamlessly transposed to his own instrument.
by David McGee
 

 
 

And Magic Slim Says ‘Well Done’

JOHN PRIMER is on fire in paying tribute to hid former boss, Magic Slim, with the surviving Teardrops and Slim's son, SHAWN HOLT, on the blues giant's latest outing.
by David McGee
 

 

 

By Any Other Name…

Singer-songwriter-stellar guitarist Quintus McCormick doesn't look to re-invent the wheel, but rather reminds listeners that the fraught territory of human interactions--especially the gulf between the sexes--is where his music...
by David McGee
 

 
 

Of Doo-Wop and a Full Grown Man

AARON NEVILLE has a unique definition of doo-wop that includes 'Be My Baby' in the genre, and he's done the music of his youth justice on his fine new album, MY TRUE STORY.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Into the Heaven-Sent Light

Between grieving for her deceased son and celebrating the birth of a new daughter, REBECCA FRAZIER wrote a batch of meaningful songs and walked into the light with WHEN WE FALL.
by David McGee
 

 
 

EPs of the Year 2013

Our first-ever citations of the Best EPs we received in 2013--an Elite Four, you might say.
by David McGee