Category Archives: Music

Jack DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane and Matthew Garrison’s In Movement

“We are on a journey and in movement at all times,” says Jack DeJohnette in the liner notes to this amazing album. It’s a statement of the drummer’s philosophy for sure, and it also applies to the musicians in this … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Jack DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane and Matthew Garrison’s In Movement

Bill Evans’ Some Other Time

The year is not half-over yet, but this could very well be the jazz release-from-the-vaults of 2016. The folks at Resonance, particularly musical sleuth Zev Feldman, have upped the ante with this beautifully produced and presented gem of a previously … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Bill Evans’ Some Other Time

Béla Bartók: Bartók’s Sonata for Solo Violin, Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano, Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet and Piano

If I seem to be enthusiastic about the music of Béla Bartók, it’s only because I am — you’d have to be, to sit and listen to more than five hours of his music for solo piano. Happily, he was … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Béla Bartók: Bartók’s Sonata for Solo Violin, Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano, Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet and Piano

James D. Houston and Eddie Kamae’s Hawaiian Son: the Life and Music of Eddie Kamae 

I think I’ve told the story here before, about how I met Eddie Kamae, in a music store in Honolulu. I was trying out a Rainsong guitar. He was carrying his oversized ukulele and testing out a microphone. I had … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Comments Off on James D. Houston and Eddie Kamae’s Hawaiian Son: the Life and Music of Eddie Kamae 

Jim Beloff’s The Ukulele: a Visual History 

Right off the bat let me tell you … it’s more fun to play the ukulele than to read this book. And it’s easy enough for just about anybody to strum a tune within five minutes of sitting down with … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Jim Beloff’s The Ukulele: a Visual History 

Bob Johnson and Pete Knight’s The King of Elfland’s Daughter

Long before there was J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, there were fantasy stories written by such writers as Walter de La Mare, John Masefield, and Hope Mirrlees. Of this coven of fantasists writing in the first half of the twentieth … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged , | Comments Off on Bob Johnson and Pete Knight’s The King of Elfland’s Daughter

Maddy Prior’s Collections and Maddy & Girls’ Under The Covers

You’d think it would be enough for anyone to be the lead singer of one of the most important English folk-rock bands for the majority of its existence, but Maddy Prior has always had a musical life outside Steeleye Span, … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Maddy Prior’s Collections and Maddy & Girls’ Under The Covers

Maddy Prior’s Memento: The Best of Maddy Prior

Naomi de Bruyn penned this review. Maddy Prior is a very familiar name and voice, mainly due to her many years of being ‘front man’ for Steeleye Span. This is her first ‘Best Of’ collection, and has been taken mainly from … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged , | Comments Off on Maddy Prior’s Memento: The Best of Maddy Prior

Maddy Prior’s Woman in the Wings

John O’Regan penned this review. Maddy Prior has become synonymous with the voice behind Steeleye Span. It was as much to escape the ghost of Steeleye as to make her own mark that she embarked on a solo career in 1978. … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Maddy Prior’s Woman in the Wings

Maddy Prior’s Ravenchild

An icon of English folk rock, Prior knows how to set her impressive vocal talents among supportive instrumental accompaniment. I won’t repeat the history of her career with Steeleye Span and Carnival, because Lahri Bond has already done that in his … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged , | Comments Off on Maddy Prior’s Ravenchild