It’s rare that I get a chance to see an artist more than once in a calendar year. It happened last night. I drove down to New London to see The Derek Trucks Band at the Garde Arts Center, a theater built in the ’20s, saved by the townspeople in the ’80s from becoming an open … Continue reading Derek Trucks at the Garde
It’s not often I get to see an act twice in a calendar year. Last year, The Derek Trucks Band; this year Grace Potter & The Nocturnals. We saw Potter at the Infinity Music Hall in January, when I knew virtually nothing about them, and this past Sunday at the Ridgefield Playhouse, knowing a little … Continue reading Potter & Nocturnals ignite a slow burn at Ridgefield
Last year I picked five albums I considered the best of the year. This time I’m upping it to 10 with a few bubbling under and some added tidbits. 1. Already Free, The Derek Trucks Band: Traditional blues with modern sensibilities and influences from jazz, roots and world music, all played by an array of accomplished … Continue reading The 10 best for ’09
There’s so much good new music out there. The best music of 2012: 1. Radio Music Society, Esperanza Spalding: Invigorating blend of R&B, funk and jazz infused with top-shelf musicianship and an enticing lyrical quality. This is perhaps her best yet. Spalding sports a fluid, proficient and pleasing voice that delivers her poignant lyricism over the engaging … Continue reading Best of 2012
Here’s my Top 10 for the past year along with a few bonus selections and various related categories: 1. The Union, Elton John & Leon Russell: A collaboration made in heaven and one wonders why it took so long for these two to get together. The record brings out their similarities, differences and a wonderful melding … Continue reading The Best of 2010
I’ve always been a big fan of Bob Dylan, but not a fanatic. His work and the changes he went through during the 1960s and most of the ’70s were extraordinary. But since, some projects have left me cold. His latest, the strong-selling Together Through Life, a further exploration of roots-rock calling on all his musical … Continue reading Something new and something old
I went over to the refurbished Waterbury Palace Sunday to see the Derek Trucks Band. The concert had a vibe that can only be described as straight from the ’60s. That’s what I said to my son, Matthew, who is 11, in between one of the songs of the approximately one-hour, 45-minute set. I told him if he … Continue reading Concert from another time
Susan Tedeschi’s Back To The River, released late last year, quickly moved to the top of the Billboard Blues chart and remains near the top after nine weeks. But it appears to have been virtually ignored by most of the major rock magazines. That’s too bad because as much as this is a blues outing, … Continue reading Back to the blues