Category Archives: Music

Various artists’ The Magic & The Mystery Of The Piano Trio, Ballads & Lullabies

The piano jazz trio is alive and well in northern Europe, as this compilation from the German label Ozella demonstrates. The promotional material describes this music as perfect for “… contemplative moments of the wintertime,” and that it is. I’ve … Continue reading

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The Meltdown’s Better Days

I’ve never reviewed a single before, but this little three-song release is a sweet slice of country soul (or is that soul country?) from Australia. Of course it’s on Australia’s premier indie soul label Hope Street, home of my favorite … Continue reading

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Cassie & Maggie MacDonald’s Sterling Road

Cassie and Maggie MacDonald are sisters from Nova Scotia. They were reared in the seaside town of Antigonish (“antee-GO-nish”), just a stone’s throw from Cape Breton Island, and they grew up with Cape Breton music. Sterling Road is their second … Continue reading

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The Decemberists’ What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World

The Decemberists have emerged from a more than three-year hiatus with a strong set of indie-rock songs for adults, What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World. Even with a January release, it’s sure to be on a lot of … Continue reading

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The DeSoto Caucus’s The DeSoto Caucus

The DeSoto Caucus is a Danish band with roots in the desert of southern Arizona. How’s that, you say? The band’s members spend much of their time as musical collaborators of Tucson’s Howe Gelb, mostly in his longtime band Giant … Continue reading

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Up in The Air’s Moonshine & Gavin Marwick’s The Long Road and the Far Horizon

Gavin Marwick is a talented and prolific Scottish composer and fiddle player. He’s in or has been in bands including Cantrip, Bellevue Rendezvous, Journeyman, Iron Horse, Ceilidh Minogue and Up in the Air. I’ve seen him perform (with Cantrip) and … Continue reading

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Laurie Lewis & Kathy Kallick’s Laurie & Kathy Sing the Songs of Vern & Ray

Laurie Lewis has been leaning more toward contemporary folk music lately, as witnessed in her 2013 live recording One Night in May. So I was probably expecting something along those lines when I hit “play” on this new disc. Imagine … Continue reading

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Arun Ramamurthy Trio’s Jazz Carnatica

I love jazz violin and I love Carnatic music – classical music from the south of India. So I figured I would love this album by Indian jazz violinist Arun Ramamurthy, and I was right. It’s been on heavy rotation … Continue reading

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Bill Evans’s The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961 (vinyl box set)

It’s funny how sometimes the most obscure circumstances can make history. That certainly was the case when the little-known pianist Bill Evans and his trio played these afternoon and evening sets at the Village Vanguard. They were opening for the … Continue reading

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The Miles Davis Quintet featuring John Coltrane’s All of You – The Last Tour 1960

For the completists among fans of Miles Davis and John Coltrane – either or both – this weighty four-CD set of found recordings is mighty interesting. Not any Holy Grail, exactly, but a set that fills in some blanks in … Continue reading

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