Category Archives: Music

Damani Baker and Alex Vlack’s Still Bill

Bill Withers. I haven’t heard that name in a while, although I have regularly heard the songs — “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lean On Me,” “Grandma’s Hands,” and “Just the Two of Us.” They still are played on AM radio. Probably … Continue reading

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Emilio Solla & La Inestable de Brooklyn’s Handmade

If you’re hungry for some Latin jazz, you won’t find any better than the tango inflected big band sound of Handmade from the Grammy winning Emilio Solla & La Inestable de Brooklyn. Solla is a pianist and composer born in … Continue reading

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Fenya Rai!’s 10 anys de fenya!

The Catalán folk rockers Fenya Rai! bring the spirit of Pogues, Waterboys, Gogol Bordello and Dropkick Murphys to the music of the Barcelona region, with perhaps a bit more humor and self-deprecation than you’ll typically find in those groups. But … Continue reading

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Garrett Boys’ It Runs Deep

I was surprised, perhaps even shocked, to learn that It Runs Deep is the Garrett Boys’ debut album. This collection of deeply rooted and deeply personal songs is one of the best old time Americana records I’ve heard in some … Continue reading

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Gangar’s Dreng

My favorite head-banging Norwegian metal prog folk rock band is back! Gangar’s second full-length Dreng continues in their established vein of playing knock-em-dead versions of Scandinavian folk songs and dance tunes on Hardanger fiddle plus rock instruments. The Oslo based … Continue reading

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The Montvales’ Path of Totality

Sally Buice and Molly Rochelson came up together busking in Knoxville, Tennessee. Now based in Cincinnati (a straight shot 250 miles north on I-75) they make country flavored folk music as The Montvales, the twang of Tennessee still deeply imprinted … Continue reading

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Triple Blind’s Cold Walk

After recording their first album from within the claustrophic confines of pandemic enforced digital collaboration, the American jazz quarter Triple Blind’s second effort is all about reconnecting. They recorded together live in the well known Dreamland Recording Studios in an … Continue reading

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Mark Turner’s Patternmaster

A tight yet flexible boundary between improvisation and control is one of the central features of this amazing, sophisticated, and engaging album from Mark Turner’s quartet. Every one of Turner’s six compositions on Patternmaster walks that line between tightly composed chamber … Continue reading

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Henriette Eilertsen Trio’s Moder

Some of my favorite jazz music is made by jazz flutists. Or flautists. I’m pretty sure the first jazz record I bought with my own money was Hubert Laws’s In The Beginning, and pretty soon after that I procured Milt … Continue reading

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David Hughes’s Fifty Yards Of David Hughes, and The Fairport Tour (book+CD)

Chris Woods wrote this for Folk Tales. 50 yards is the latest studio album from British singer songwriter David Hughes, helped out here by Jacqui McShee, Gerry Conway, Matt and Dave Pegg. It’s great for once that I can use … Continue reading

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