Category Archives: Music

Stanley Turrentine’s Don’t Mess With Mister T

Don’t Mess With Mister T was Stanley Turrentine’s final disc as a member of Creed Taylor’s CTI stable, a run that started in 1970 with the highly regarded Sugar. He continued recording for numerous other jazz labels in a career … Continue reading

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Stanley Turrentine’s Salt Song

This is another of the Masterworks Jazz reissued discs in honor of the 40th anniversary of Creed Taylor’s CTI label. Turrentine, always a prolific tenor saxophonist, recorded seven discs for CTI between 1970 and 1973; Salt Song was recorded and … Continue reading

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Cass Meurig and Nial Cain’s Deuawd

A crwth is a very odd Welsh instrument indeed. Think of it as a fiddle that went seriously weird as you can see from this description: [T]he crwth is a medieval bowed lyre and ranks as one of Wales’ most … Continue reading

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The Decemberists’ Live At Bull Moose

Very early in their tour in support of the 2011 release The King Is Dead The Decemberists recorded this seven-track EP during a live in-store appearance at Bull Moose music store in Scarborough, Maine, a suburb of what frontman Colin … Continue reading

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The Decemberists’ The King Is Dead

One truism of the record-reviewing business is that the final track on an album often forecasts an artist’s next step. When The Decemberists released The King Is Dead in early 2011, it was immediately apparent that this album followed that … Continue reading

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Ruthie Dornfeld’s Duets Abroad & Nils Olof Söderbäck and Peter Michaelsen’s Kvarnresan, Journey to the Mill

These CDs taught me to listen before passing judgment. My initial impression of them when I got them for review was honestly less than enthusiastic. Both are acoustic, traditional, self-published, and packaged in very unassuming cardboard cases. On my first … Continue reading

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Colcannon: The Pooka and the Fiddler / Happy as Larry: Two Stories by Colcannon

Ahhh, there you are. I saw you sitting over in Falstaff’s Chair by the cheerfully cracklin’ fire on this cold, windy, and even rainy night. I see you’re enjoying your novel. . . . Me? I’m reading de Lint’s Moonheart … Continue reading

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Duhks’ Duhks

Lenora Rose wrote this review. Leonard Podolak first really broke out into the Winnipeg music scene as a key member of Scrüj MacDuhk, a Celtic band with a rock tinge. After Scrüj MacDuhk broke up, he helped to form a … Continue reading

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Skyedance’s Labyrinth

All of the members in Skyedance are consummate musicians, who have honed their craft to excellence. It is pure pleasure to hear these six phenomenal performers work together with such precision and craftsmanship. Alasdair Fraser brings crisp, accented fiddle lines, … Continue reading

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Hubert Laws’ In The Beginning

Hubert Laws’ In The Beginning is one of my favorite albums of all time, and has been since I first bought the double-LP set in 1976. I feel honored and a little intimidated to have the privilege of reviewing the … Continue reading

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