Before 2017 becomes a distant image in the rear view mirror, I would like to share my ten favorite recordings from last year. Although 2018 is brand new, I am beginning to receive CDs and files — the first one … Continue reading →
One of the most remarkable recordings that crossed my threshold in recent months is Pat Wictor’s This Is Absolutely Real: Visions and Versions of Phil Ochs. Keeping himself busy as a member of Brother Sun, it has been eight years … Continue reading →
You can trace the start of Bev Grant’s socially conscious songwriting to the turbulent era of the late 1960s. The anti-war and civil rights movements helped galvanize her as an activist and artist. Her involvement in the burgeoning women’s liberation … Continue reading →
ROBIN GREENSTEIN Tears and Laughter Windy 221-2 www.robingreenstein.com Robin Greenstein notes Tears and Laughter is her first album of original music after a decade in which she made several themed CDs. She also confirms the … Continue reading →
FRANK SOLIVAN Family, Friends and Heroes Compass Records www.compassrecords.com People used to make albums, you know, with a beginning and a middle and an end. Given the way we buy music these days, it … Continue reading →
MAARJA NUUT Une Meeles (In the Hold of a Dream) Maarja Nuut www.maarjanuut.com Estonia is a Baltic nation that isn’t Scandinavian, but has been controlled by Danes and Swedes (as well as Russia). At … Continue reading →
Darrell Scott Couchville Sessions Thirty Tigers www.thirtytigers.com Save a pair of duo albums with Tim O’Brien Couchville Sessions is Darrell Scott’s first album in four years. Most peculiar is that is not exactly entirely new … Continue reading →
JEFF BUCKLEY You and I Columbia/Legacy www.legacyrecordings.com That there is still quality unreleased material 19 years after Jeff Buckley’s tragic death is remarkable. Even more so that it is as compelling as what is … Continue reading →
TWO OF A KIND We’re All In This Together Magillacutty www.twoofakind.com Vibrant, hook-laden arrangements featuring members of the Fractals, Huffamoose and Acoustic Blender, Dave Posmontier (keyboards), Stan Slotter (trumpet. flute), and Paul Butler (clarinet), … Continue reading →
On the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorists attacks, my guest on WFDU-FM’s TRADITIONS was singer-songwriter Judy Kass who shared songs from her new CD Beyond the Ash and Steel. In 2001, Judy worked in the Employee Relations department for … Continue reading →
