The Cummings Imperative

The first outstanding blues album of 2020 comes in the form of ALBERT CUMMINGS's BELIEVE, a tour de force of expressive, soulful vocalizing and guitar mastery of a higher order.
by David McGee
 

 
 

A New Opera for the 21st Century Canon, By Way of Willa Cather

WILLA CATHER'S short story 'Paul's Place' has been transformed into an opera event by GREGORY SPEARKS and KATHRYN WALAT. Our JOSPEH NEWSOME ranks it 'amongst the finest recorded opera performances of the 21st Century.'
by David McGee
 

 

 

The Deep Roots Elite Half-Hundred of 2019

Albums of the Year are not the only game in town. Here are 50 long players that made 2019 special for us.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Rise Above, Find More Peace, Make More Love

KEB' MO' delivers the finest Christmas album of the 2019 season in MOONLIGHT, MISTLETOE & YOU. Highlights include a duet with MELISSA MANCHESTER on 'I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm.'
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
 

 
 

The Cleansing Moment(s)

MARC COHN & BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA walk the road to salvation, and take us with them, on the JOHN LEVENTHAL-produced gem, WORK TO DO, one of 2019's finest albums
by David McGee
 

 

 

We’re Gonna Make It After All

MARTY BROWN emerges boldly and brilliantly on his first new studio album in 25 years, AMERICAN HIGHWAY, aided and abetted by the sure-handed production and musicality of JON TIVEN
by David McGee
 

 
 

‘A Smoking-Hot Sanctified-Meets-Steel Workout’

According to gospel editor BOB MAROVICH, the LEE BOYS' new album, LIVE ON THE EAST COAST, 'doesn't blur the line between sacred and secular--it erases it altogether.'
by David McGee
 

 

 

The Visible Invisible

Honoring LEONARDO DA VINCI on the 500th anniversary of his death, British music ensemble I FAGLIONI offers an eclectic recital evoking not so much the music of Leonardo's world but the emotional response to his work
by David McGee
 

 
 

The Anchor Weighs In

In That's Where it's At, MICHAEL JEROME BROWNE celebrates his long love of pre-war blues and country and blends it with his take on modern pop and soul music, connecting our past with our present in telling a very human story.
by David McGee
 

 

 

On a Higher Plane

With songs by Dylan, Chuck Berry, Arthur Alexander, Goffin-King, Ronnie Self, Allen Toussaint and others, THE DUKE ROBILLARD BAND's EAR WORMS seeks, and attains, transcendence.
by David McGee
 

 
 

A Gift of Transcendence

LOWLAND HUM returns with its fifth album, GLYPHONIC, and our JOSEPH MCSPADDEN finds it to be ;a song cycle that challenges the artist and listener alike to resist the gravitational pull of the material world and to choose to li...
by David McGee