And Here’s To The Life

In a long overdue tribute. pop-jazz vocalist Connie Evingson does wonderful things in honoring the lyrics of Norman Gimbel on SWEET HAPPY LIFE, this week's ALBUM OF THE WEEK. Talk about killing us softly with his songs...
by David McGee
 

 
 

Ever Fresh: A Half-Century of ‘Green Onions’

In honor of the 50th anniversary of ‘Green Onions,’ we salute BOOKER T. & THE M.G.s’ reissued debut album of the same name, along with the group’s reissued-remastered 1970 Beatles tribute, McLemore Avenue, all-instrumen...
by David McGee
 

 

 

The Perfect ‘Storm’

One of our great contemporary gospel singers has returned from a four-year recording hiatus with her strongest album yet. 'Til The Storm Passes By captures the versatile Lynda Randle at her testifying best on a powerhouse colle...
by David McGee
 

 
 

Going Mobile

Marty Raybon might well want to consider re-titling his album Southern Routes & Branches, given how many roads he travels in its dozen songs. To be clear, some of these roads he’s traveled before—nine of the songs are c...
by David McGee
 

 

 

(Much) More To Come…

One of the finest contemporary bluegrass bands around is cementing its reputation as same during this, its 30th anniversary year, with the second of three overviews of each decade of its productive existence. Like Volume One, V...
by David McGee
 

 
 

Little Richard, Ascending

‘It’s Just Like An Unfinished Diamond’  Richard Penniman has at various times, often without prompting, referred to himself as “the originator, the instigator, the facilitator” of rock ‘n’ roll. To varying degree...
by David McGee
 

 

 

The Wounded Wanderer, Restored

U.S. Route 50 lives in the shadow of Route 66 in the lore of legendary American highways, but it’s no less awesome as either myth or fact. Built in 1926 as part of the original U.S. Highway system, Route 50 runs east and west...
by David McGee
 

 
 

That Swingin’ Little Guitar Man

Carl Perkins recalled a show he played in Atlanta in 1958 at which he was visited backstage by a young fellow who came with guitar in hand and introduced himself as Jerry Hubbard. The two pickers engaged each other in a couple ...
by David McGee
 

 

 

The Cowboy Rides Away

It is the misfortune of Lloyd Estel Copas to be better remembered for how and with whom he died than for the wonderful music he made as Cowboy Copas, in which guise he was a dominant presence on the country charts from 1946 to ...
by David McGee
 

 
 

A Hoot For The Age

The hootenanny lives! Banjo master/educator Bill Evans’s In Good Company has that feel of an informal gathering of musicians playing exactly what they want to play, complementing each other to a T and having a great time doin...
by David McGee
 

 

 

Jammin’ On the High Seas

Originally given away free as a collectible to patrons of the annual Rhythm & Blues Cruise , Robert Mugge’s hour-and-a-half documentary offers an in-depth look at the fabled after-hours jams sessions aboard ship, when...
by David McGee
 

 
 

Here Comes the Sun

“As fast as we roll, we’re always catching up/as much as we have, it’ll never be enough/as hard/as hard as we work, we just work our fingers to the bone/what do we have to show?” Listening to this catchy chorus of the f...
by David McGee