Category Archives: Music

April Verch’s Bright Like Gold

April Verch, from Canada’s Ottawa Valley, is a champion fiddler and step-dancer, versed in the vocal, instrumental and terpsichorean traditions of Canada and Appalachia. Here she heads the April Verch band, rounded out by Cody Walters on clawhammer banjo and … Continue reading →

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Norman Blake’s Wood, Wire & Words

Any time Norman Blake puts out a record is an occasion for joy. The release of Wood, Wire & Words is especially notable, being his first album of all-original songs and tunes in 30 years. And what songs they are! … Continue reading →

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Kenny Wheeler’s Songs for Quintet

This quintet album represents the last ensemble sessions the American expat flugelhornist Kenny Wheeler played, and it’s a quietly powerful date. I was unfamiliar with Wheeler before hearing this elegiac ECM release, and it’s my loss. I hope to go … Continue reading →

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Vijay Iyer Trio’s Break Stuff

I’ve been aware of the towering presence of jazz pianist Vijay Iyer for some time now but hadn’t felt quite ready to take on his music. I finally took the plunge with his 2015 trio release Break Stuff and find … Continue reading →

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Kathy Kallick’s Cut to the Chase

Kathy Kallick put out a very nice album with her old friend Laurie Lewis in which they interpret the songs of the bluegrass duo Vern Williams and Ray Park in 2014. Also that year she released a solo record called … Continue reading →

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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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