Category Archives: Music

Eric Brace & Peter Cooper’s You Don’t Have to Like Them Both

Posted on 24th March 2009 by Gary Whitehouse

Eric Brace and Peter Cooper are a couple of the people who make music from the other side of Nashville. The part of Nashville that’s populated by the likes of Kris Kristofferson and Emmylou Harris and Todd Snider, folks like … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Eric Brace & Peter Cooper’s You Don’t Have to Like Them Both

Isaac Hayes’s Black Moses and Juicy Fruit (Disco Freak)

Posted on 24th March 2009 by David Kidney

Isaac Hayes passed away August 10, 2008. Many people only know him as the composer of the “Theme From Shaft” or as the guy on South Park, but to some of us he was a lot more. In the Shaft … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Isaac Hayes’s Black Moses and Juicy Fruit (Disco Freak)

Anatolia’s Folk Songs and Dance Music of Turkey and the Arab World, and Chicago Classical Oriental Ensemble’s Soul of a People: The Songs of Sheikh Sayyed Darweesh

Posted on 11th March 2009 by Gary Whitehouse

These two CDs have been sitting in my “to review” pile for quite a few weeks. They made it to the top this time because the characters in Birds of Amber, which I just reviewed, refer to Darweesh’s music with … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Anatolia’s Folk Songs and Dance Music of Turkey and the Arab World, and Chicago Classical Oriental Ensemble’s Soul of a People: The Songs of Sheikh Sayyed Darweesh

Charlie Louvin’s Sings Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs

Posted on 18th February 2009 by David Kidney

I waited a long time for this album. Not as long as Charlie Louvin did, though. The liner notes tell us that he’s been “singing about murder and disaster all his life.” And that’s 81 years. With his brother Ira, … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Charlie Louvin’s Sings Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs

Ljova and the Kontraband’s Mnemosyne

Posted on 15th February 2009 by Scott Gianelli

The violist Ljova first came to my attention when he joined the superb Brooklyn-based gypsy band Romashka a few years ago. Although I know him from folk circles, Ljova’s musical background is extremely diverse; the list of performers he’s worked … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Ljova and the Kontraband’s Mnemosyne

Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel’s Willie And The Wheel

Posted on 11th February 2009 by Gary Whitehouse

Boy, talk about your instant classics. For the past 30 years or more, Ray Benson’s ensemble Asleep at the Wheel has been the standard-bearer of western swing music; and of course for even longer than that, Willie Nelson has exemplified … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel’s Willie And The Wheel

Le Vent du Nord’s A Part du Feu

Posted on 18th January 2009 by Gary Whitehouse

Those prolific fellows in Le Vent du Nord are back again with another album, following on the heels of last year’s live set Mesdames et messieurs! On La Part de Feu they incorporate a few ideas from other avenues of … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Le Vent du Nord’s A Part du Feu

Fairport Convention’s Live At Cropredy ’08 and Fame And Glory

Posted on 12th December 2008 by Michael Hunter

It’s almost tempting to use the old “waiting for a bus” analogy — you wait a while for a new Fairport CD and then two come along at once. These discs are quite different from each other in many respects, … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Fairport Convention’s Live At Cropredy ’08 and Fame And Glory

Blackie and the Rodeo Kings’ Swinging From the Chains of Love

Posted on 30th November 2008 by David Kidney

Colin Linden. Tom Wilson. Stephen Fearing. Together these three solo artists become Blackie & the Rodeo Kings. Separately or together, they make some of the most exciting music coming out of the Great White North these days. Linden is recovering … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Blackie and the Rodeo Kings’ Swinging From the Chains of Love

Ilgi’s Ej Tu Dejot

Posted on 21st November 2008 by Gary Whitehouse

This CD is the latest offering from this energetic and imaginative Latvian folk-rock band. We got everything else they’ve recorded (see my reviews of Kaza Kapa Debesis and Isakas Nakts Dziesmas) and listen to them often and with great pleasure. … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Ilgi’s Ej Tu Dejot