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Recent Posts
- What’s New for the 16th of August: Deborah Grabien’s music criticism essays; new Americana and jazz, and some music for the Dog Days of Summer
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Midsomer Strangeness
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Contradances
- What’s New for the 26th of July: Witches in fiction, both books and film; an Americana reissue and some music on a smoky theme
- A Kinrowan Estate story: chicken pot pieces
- What’s New for the 19th of July: Charles de Lint’s Ottawa novels with a quote from Drink Down the Moon, Gary’s review of Nordic fiddle music, It’s Michele Walther and Irina Behrendt playing Aaron Copland’s ‘Hoe Down’ from his Rodeo album
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Midsomer Odd Things
- A Kinrowan Estate story: A Library and Its Librarian
- What’s New for the Fifth of July: Remembering Jane Yolen; some new Americana and jazz music; Fishing Blues
- A Kinrowan Estate Story: Recursive Loops
- What’s New for June 21: Jennifer Stevenson’s ‘Solstice’
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Turkish Coffee
- What’s New for the 7th of June: Foxes in literature, live Balkan music, comforting jazz, Americana jazz, and wonderfully weird fusion jazz; and John Fogerty live
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Bloodied Kings
- What’s New for the 24th of May: Gary’s Review of Elizabeth Bear’s White Space novels, iain’s review of the Lonely Signal Burns novellas by her, she reading her own story, ‘The Chains That You Refuse’, and I see Gary has some tasty music reviews fir us as well
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Our Greensward
- What’s New for the 10th of May: books reviewed by Jennifer Stevenson, music by Teddy Thompson, Americana music from all over, and some live music from John Fogerty
- A Kinrowan Estate story: A Walk
- What’s New for the 26th of April: the nature of Stories; some new and newish SF, plus new world, jazz, folk and Americana music
- A Kinrowan Estate story: A Spring Day
- What’s New for the 12th of April: Some new and recent SF; new Americana, Norwegian folk rock and jazz; and thoughts on War For The Oaks
- A Kinrowan Estate story: A Unified Theory of Libraries (A Letter to Anna)
- What’s New for the 29th of March: Beer and spirits, in song and text, some new Scandinavian fiddle music and jazz flute music, and more
- A Kinrowan Estate story: A Ghostly Librarian
- What’s New for the 15th of March: some DeLint stories for early spring; lots of polskas, Serbian folk rock, progressive jazz, and Nordic music from the archives
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Hedge Witches
- What’s New for the 1st of March: Emma Bull’s War for The Oaks, Rosanne Cash’s ‘Runaway Train’, Johnny Cash at San Quentin, plus new Americana and jazz music
- A Kinrorwan Estate story: Cranachanh
- What’s New for the 15th of February: Some Seanan McGuire fantasy, Alison Bechdel’s latest, Pamela Dean’s Tam Lin; Nordic sounds, old time, Americana and Tex-Mex music
- What’s New for the 1st of February: Kage Baker retrospective; new Americana, Buddhist chants and Finnish songs, new and reissued jazz, and more
Category Archives: Music
The Klezmatics’ Woody Guthrie’s Happy Joyous Hanukkah
Who knew? Woody Guthrie, the American folk singer and agitator of the Dust Bowl and the Depression, the writer of “This Land is Your Land” and “Roll On Columbia,” also wrote Hanukkah songs! And now, adding to his posthumous collaborations … Continue reading
Posted in Music
Tagged folk music, hanukkah music, holiday music, Klezmer music, Woody Guthrie
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Russian World Music Chart’s top 10 Russian world music albums for 2025
The Russian World Music Chart (RWMC), Russia’s first world/ethno music chart, has revealed the top 10 Russian world music albums of 2025. Topping the list is’s Nostalgia by ODUCHU, a duo from the Siberian Tuva Republic, released by the China-based … Continue reading
Posted in Music
Tagged #rwmc, #rwmc25, russian world music chart, world music
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Brìghde Chaimbeul’s Sunwise
Along with a lot of other reviewers and critics, I was very favorably impressed with Brìghde Chaimbeul’s previous album, her second, Carry Them With Us but this one didn’t immediately click with me. Now that the days are shorter, darker, … Continue reading
Posted in Music
Tagged Bagpipes, Celtic music, Scottish smallpipes
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Pierre Dørge’s Songs For Mbizo: Johnny Lives Forever
The late South African bassist Johnny “Mbizo” Dyani, who died nearly 40 years ago in 1986, remains influential on the international jazz scene. Growing up in apartheid South Africa, Dyani was a member of The Blue Notes, South Africa’s first … Continue reading
Posted in Music
Tagged Jazz music
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John Scofield & Dave Holland’s Memories of Home
I had the pleasure of attending a concert by John Scofield’s Combo 73 this month (November 2025), and the quartet opened with a stirring rendition of Scofield’s “Icons At The Fair” from their 2019 Combo 66 album. Probably not coincidentally, … Continue reading
Alan Light’s The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley & the Unlikely Ascent of ‘Hallelujah’
Do you feel a personal connection to the song “Hallelujah”? I certainly do, and to judge from Alan Light’s book The Holy or the Broken, so do millions of people all over the world. Light is a longtime music journalist, … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Music
Tagged "Hallelujah", folk music, Leonard Cohen, music lore
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Dragonship’s The Rhymer and the Ravens
I wanted to like this 19 track cassette. Really I did. Why? First, it’s a rock opera, and I’ve always been a sucker for rock operas. Second, it’s based on (and named after) the first of a series of books … Continue reading
Posted in Music
Tagged fantasy, progressive rock
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Patricia Brennan’s Of The Near And Far
The origin story, many of the technical details and some of the music on this album flummox me. But that doesn’t stop me from recognizing Patricia Brennan’s Of The Near And Far as an astonishing work of art, and indeed … Continue reading
Chris Byars Sextet’s The Dark Forest
Chris Byars’ sextet combines the best of two jazz worlds, the sophisticated sonic palette of the big band and the nimble nature of the smaller bop combo that leaves more room for soloists to shine. Leader and composer Byars, who … Continue reading
Steve Tibbetts’s Close
Minnesota guitarist Steve Tibbets has been recording music since the late 1970s. He has recorded extensively but not exclusively on ECM since about 1980, exploring soundscapes on that quintessential “western” instrument the guitar, in conjunction with the music and instruments … Continue reading
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