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Recent Posts
- What’s New for the 16th of August: Deborah Grabien’s music criticism essays; new Americana and jazz, and some music for the Dog Days of Summer
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Midsomer Strangeness
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Contradances
- What’s New for the 26th of July: Witches in fiction, both books and film; an Americana reissue and some music on a smoky theme
- A Kinrowan Estate story: chicken pot pieces
- What’s New for the 19th of July: Charles de Lint’s Ottawa novels with a quote from Drink Down the Moon, Gary’s review of Nordic fiddle music, It’s Michele Walther and Irina Behrendt playing Aaron Copland’s ‘Hoe Down’ from his Rodeo album
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Midsomer Odd Things
- A Kinrowan Estate story: A Library and Its Librarian
- What’s New for the Fifth of July: Remembering Jane Yolen; some new Americana and jazz music; Fishing Blues
- A Kinrowan Estate Story: Recursive Loops
- What’s New for June 21: Jennifer Stevenson’s ‘Solstice’
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Turkish Coffee
- What’s New for the 7th of June: Foxes in literature, live Balkan music, comforting jazz, Americana jazz, and wonderfully weird fusion jazz; and John Fogerty live
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Bloodied Kings
- What’s New for the 24th of May: Gary’s Review of Elizabeth Bear’s White Space novels, iain’s review of the Lonely Signal Burns novellas by her, she reading her own story, ‘The Chains That You Refuse’, and I see Gary has some tasty music reviews fir us as well
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Our Greensward
- What’s New for the 10th of May: books reviewed by Jennifer Stevenson, music by Teddy Thompson, Americana music from all over, and some live music from John Fogerty
- A Kinrowan Estate story: A Walk
- What’s New for the 26th of April: the nature of Stories; some new and newish SF, plus new world, jazz, folk and Americana music
- A Kinrowan Estate story: A Spring Day
- What’s New for the 12th of April: Some new and recent SF; new Americana, Norwegian folk rock and jazz; and thoughts on War For The Oaks
- A Kinrowan Estate story: A Unified Theory of Libraries (A Letter to Anna)
- What’s New for the 29th of March: Beer and spirits, in song and text, some new Scandinavian fiddle music and jazz flute music, and more
- A Kinrowan Estate story: A Ghostly Librarian
- What’s New for the 15th of March: some DeLint stories for early spring; lots of polskas, Serbian folk rock, progressive jazz, and Nordic music from the archives
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Hedge Witches
- What’s New for the 1st of March: Emma Bull’s War for The Oaks, Rosanne Cash’s ‘Runaway Train’, Johnny Cash at San Quentin, plus new Americana and jazz music
- A Kinrorwan Estate story: Cranachanh
- What’s New for the 15th of February: Some Seanan McGuire fantasy, Alison Bechdel’s latest, Pamela Dean’s Tam Lin; Nordic sounds, old time, Americana and Tex-Mex music
- What’s New for the 1st of February: Kage Baker retrospective; new Americana, Buddhist chants and Finnish songs, new and reissued jazz, and more
Category Archives: Music
Elan Mehler’s Renee Said
I’m getting a lot of enjoyment from this striking album from a somewhat unusual jazz ensemble. To the standard trio of piano, bass and drums, composer and pianist Elan Mehler has added a couple of saxophones and a guitarist, as … Continue reading
Sad Daddy’s Ozark Shine
Sad Daddy is a road-weathered acoustic Americana outfit that’s been making music together for more than a decade and a half now. The worn-in feeling of their fourth studio album Ozark Shine is a testament to their ongoing spirit of … Continue reading
The Handsome Family’s Singing Bones (deluxe reissue)
It’s such a cliché to say “I can’t believe it’s been x years since y happened,” but seriously, sometimes that’s all you can say. Witness this reissue of The Handsome Family’s Singing Bones, an expanded edition of their sixth album … Continue reading
Posted in Music
Tagged Americana music
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Jane Yolen’s Ring Out!, Tam Lin, Mother Goose Songbook, The Sleeping Beauty, and Touch Magic
Used bookstores are great places to find those books that you never expected to locate. A recent trip down a street near where we live yielded three books by Jane Yolen, a writer who has been called the American Hans … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Music
Tagged fairy tales, Jane Yolen
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Benny Bleu’s When I Am A Fossil
New York native Benny Bleu is something of a Renaissance man and also something of a Luddite, two states of being that don’t generally mix. But he’s been a geologist and is now a full time singer songwriter and banjo … Continue reading
Andrew Sa’s American Rough
Andrew Sa grew up listening to ’90s country music in Fremont, California, learned to sing in front of a crowd at a young age for his mom’s karaoke business, got a taste of queer performance and presence through the music … Continue reading
Helga Myhr’s Slåttespel
Helga Myhr has had a remarkable recording career considering she’s just barely in her early 30s. Remarkable in terms of both volume and variety. The Norwegian Hardanger fiddle player and singer has been a part of many projects across the … Continue reading
Posted in Music
Tagged folk music, Nordic music, world music
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Kenny Barron’s So Many Lovely Things: Live in Brecon
I welcome any new release featuring pianist Kenny Barron, be it new or old. This generous live set from 1995 is no exception. Here Barron plays with his go-to trio of the era, bassist Ray Drummond and drummer Ben Riley, … Continue reading
Posted in Music
Tagged Jazz music
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Joe Lovano’s Paramount Quartet
This inaugural self-titled record by saxophonist Joe Lovano’s Paramount Quartet would get a high rating just on the strength of its two covers, both of them warm slow ballads: Charlie Haden’s “First Song” which appropriately opens here, and Wayne Shorter’s … Continue reading
Trio Tsuica, Rose City Book Pub, Portland, Oregon, May 31, 2026
I was a member of a trio that trekked to North Portland on the last night in May 2026 to enjoy the ambience of the Rose City Book Pub and the music of Trio Tsuica, which bills itself as Portland’s … Continue reading
Posted in Music
Tagged Balkan music
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