The career of drummer Joe Chambers stretches back to the early sixties, when his rhythm work was a staple of many a Blue Note LP. He logged time with Bobby Hutcherson, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Andrew Hill, Donald Byrd and more, plus gigged with Hugh Masekala, among others.

Mouse on Mars, heavily featuring an AI software, return with their most impactful narrative album bearing small traces of what hints to later be truly revolutionary.

Stark, confessional tunes plus Omnichord equal unsettling intimacy.

The San Francisco based outfit Strangers In A Strange Land release a cover of the Bee Gees “Ring My Bell” featuring a Bee Gee and Shel Talmy

Palmyra Delran returns with The Doppel Gang, and the music world is a better place.

A testimony to Rock And Roll, courtesy of the split single featuring Genya Ravan and The Shang Hi Los

Matthew Shaw delivers an album of tribute, nostalgia and advances, with the electric poetry of Nachtmusik.

Zamrock, the African nation of Zambia’s indelible contribution to the wide umbrella of rock & roll, had to start somewhere, and this is it.

Wallflower is a fantastic document of a state of mind that countless others have likely experienced in the preceding twelve months, and is definitely recommended for any fans of Lana Del Rey.

By the end of Get Big, the album is a truer descendent of Americana than the majority of slickly-produced odes to beer and women that masquerade under the title today.

A British pop great teams up with American producers to make timeless music.

Named for his children, Uma Elmo gives Bro new vistas to probe, expanding and refreshing his exploratory musical outlook.

Modern jazz supergroup R+R=NOW formed out of what was supposed to be a one-off, freely improvised show at South By Southwest in 2017.

Led by the inimitable vocalist Theresa Jeane and featuring Steven Tobi, *Javier Garza Jr. and Josh Perrone, The Nearly Deads are one of the hottest rock bands to come out of Nashville. Their amalgam of powerful pop vocals and aggressive alternative rock music combined with their love of all things geek mixed in with messages of positivity and empowerment creates a truly unique style. I sat down with TJ and Steven to find out more.

It is still early in the year, but Sea Area Forecast, out February 10th, has all the makings to be one of 2021’s strongest indie rock efforts.

L.A. based singer, musician and actress, London Thor’s latest single is both timely and timeless. It captures so much about current mental health and attitudes in the pandemic afflicted world but it also speaks for those who have always found social situations stressful.

An album like And the Triumph of Justice is, to put it simply, sheer fun, a breath of fresh air, and a reminder of this country’s potential just when it is needed the most.

Aeronautics is a great showcase for some strong jazz talent that’s relatively unknown – for now.

It’s not easy listening if you pay attention to the lyrics, but it rewards that attention with catharsis.

Part of the New York scene starting in the seventies and into the eighties, the axeman vacillated between mainstream soul/pop (including LPs for Island and RCA/Novus, the former produced by Nile Rodgers) and avant-garde jazz (work with Oliver Lake and Wadada Leo Smith, recording the landmark Clarity LP in 1977).

Between the absence of a rhythm section and a disinclination to go for the obvious raising of the roof, the pair relies on interplay and feel, showing a near-telepathic sense of how to move around each other, as well as a profound connection to the pieces they choose to include.

An underrated album from a Big Apple provocateur gets refurbished.

Magic Beans might very well be a perfect title for the album, because it is full of songs that start off unassuming before growing to unimaginable heights; making a record full of delightful surprises.

The Israeli native wields expansive playing and lyrical melodics for a session that fits in well with ECM’s “chamber jazz” aesthetic.

All New Information is a big step forward for the artist, finding Lord Sonny with a leaner, heavier sound, a clear sense of direction, and a newfound edge in his delivery and songwriting.

Although some of the Louvins’ material has aged better, what is still evident is the intensity and conviction in their voices, creating an irresistible energy that persists despite the changing times.

This Land brings together iconoclastic musical minds that intersect in the jazz world: vocalist Theo Bleckmann and brass quartet the Westerlies

Twenty Twenty perfectly captures the zeitgeist of our times; combining fear with tempered hope, grief with apocalyptic camaraderie.

Working with pianist Marilyn Crispell and drummer Carmen Castaldi, the horn man explored new, more atmospheric territory, with an emphasis on making interiority exterior.

At a time when the dominant African pop sounds were Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat, Ebenezer Obey’s miliki and King Sunny Adé’s jùjú, Ngozi’s roiling rock was less jazz and James Brown and more Jimi Hendrix.

Recorded in both New York and Norway, these nine songs deftly mix warm synthesizer textures with a lightly soulful rhythm section to showcase Darrah’s reserved romantic anguish.

James Osterberg through the years, profound and profane.

Together, “Mother” and “Tryin’ To Get To Heaven” complete each other and stand as new reminders of the incredible artist we lost five years ago. But more importantly, the songs renew our gratitude that he was here with us.

“There are eight tracks drenched in dream gaze and a post punk sensibility that will rock your corner of the world for a short time. While it may rain colder on your senses, there is always a warmth to be found at the core of these soundscapes.”

“I’d be hard pressed to give a hard and fast description of this release, as it’s a constantly shifting musical cape, colors swirling about as crystalline notes settle around you. The instrumental passages are exotic swatches of tropicalia meshed with dreamy psych folk.”

Gospel titans rock the house with spirit and soul, and everyone’s invited.

Earlier generations had journalists such as Hunter S. Thompson and Norman Mailer and poets like Charles Bukowski to help them voice their anger at the frustrations of life. At the end of a year like 2020, Iggy Pop’s cathartic wail of “Covid-19!” is the poetry we all needed to hear.

At the 20th anniversary of Elbow’s debut album, this vinyl reissue campaign treats the band’s early material with the loving touch its legacy warrants.

The Junk Ranchers were one of the many guitar-based rock bands on the American college scene in the mid-80s. On the basis of 86 , the quartet was also one of the better examples.

The Vince Guaraldi Trio’s score for the animated TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas continues to serve as a point of entry for new generations of fans to discover jazz music at any age.

In His Latest Mystery is a reminder that there’s way more to Haynes than jokes and sarcasm.

Jimi’s errant tangents yield fruit more than a half-century later.

Lia Ices returns in late January with an album that resonates with a divine splendor

Poetic wordsmith Lukasz Polowczyk and his top-notch ensemble unveil a mesmerizing, meditative, and metaphysical album.

Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and friends make beautiful, exotic noise.

Girl Band announce a new album, tour dates and release the single “Shoulderblades”

A great cry was heard throughout the land…well, the land populated by a certain kind of rock fan, anyway. And that cry was: Thelonious Monster is back.

With two excellent singles already being well-received both critically and commercially, Midnight Canyon unleash their debut eponymous e.p.

Interestingly, Pirog, who studied jazz guitar at Berklee and NYU, doesn’t play much actual jazz here. Instead, he explores folk and psychedelia, drawing on the sounds of the sixties, but reinterpreting them firmly for the twenty-first century.