The Waterboys : Fisherman’s Blues [ purchase ] I’ve never understood why this Jewish New Yorker loves Celtic influenced rock music. It doesn’t make much sense, but it is true. It’s not like I was exposed to much of this style of music before I went to college, other than a little Jethro Tull and some Van Morrison, yet I remember falling in love with Horslips when I first heard them. And although I still think their soul inflected first album was better than their big hit, “Too-Rye-Ay,” I liked Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ version of Celtic infused pop ...

When CDs were new the music industry predicted for years that the end was nigh for vinyl. As the CD became the predominant format the gloomy prognosis seemed to be bang on the money and vinyl sales dropped and dropped. But as digital media now holds sway and CD sales are on the slide, the last year has seen a big uplift in vinyl. An endorsement surely for the view that what goes around comes around. Annual sales of vinyl had by October according to Official Chart Company figures, reached a six-year high in the UK, passing 240,000 units ...

Nearly four years after their demise following the tragic death of pianist and composer Esbjörn Svensson in a diving accident in June 2008 a new EST studio album, 301 , is set for release on 30 March on the ACT label. Formed in Sweden in the early-1990s EST grew to be the biggest and most influential new presence on the jazz scene during the millennium decade, releasing 12 acclaimed albums and reaching beyond the core jazz audience to hundreds of thousands of fans worldwide. Their extraordinary empathy, highly tuned melodic imagination, powerful improvisation, hunger for change and that all important “magic ...

Brazilian pianist-composer Antonio Adolfo puts a refined, jazz-infused spin on a collection of lively choros and baiaos by the highly respected but under-recognized Brazilian composers Chico Buarque and Guinga. Joined on the frontline by the fantastic guitarist Leo Amuedo and ably supported by the simmering rhythm section of bassist Jorge Helder, drummer Rafael Barata and percussionist Marcos Suzano, Adolfo reveals the influence of Bill Evans and Herbie Hancock in the context of this rich Brazilian fare. Amuedo exhibits a Toninho Horta/Pat Metheny influence on such tunes as Guinga’s “No Na Garganta” and his exhilarating choro “Di Menor,” as ...

Across a multi-decade career that has included work with Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Gary Burton, Pat Metheny, Phil Woods and Freddie Hubbard, pianist Mitchel Forman has also aligned himself with such top-tier vocalists as Mel Tormé, Astrud Gilberto, Janis Siegel and Diane Schuur. But for this duets project, Forman focuses primarily on lesser-known and emerging jazz singers. Among them, only Tierney Sutton, contributing an ethereal “Turning Into Blue” and a magnificent, roiling “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?,” is a marquee name. The remaining six are an eclectic bunch, extending from twentysomething Lizzy Loeb (daughter of singer ...

The biggest headlining gig to date so far in the UK by Robert Glasper and the first appearance of the brand new Pat Metheny Unity Band have just been confirmed for shows later in 2012 by London’s Barbican. The gigs mark the return of two of the most influential jazz musicians of our times, one a master who first made his mark in the 1970s, the other a new force to be reckoned with exerting wide influence over a generation as at ease with jazz as it is with hip hop and neo-soul. Metheny, who has 18 Grammys to ...

Wes Montgomery : Four On Six [ purchase ] Pat Martino : Impressions [ purchase ] Larry Carlton : Emotions Wound Us So [ purchase ] Hey, I didn't have to wait long at all before I could share Four On Six with you (2 days, to be exact). This is one of Wes Montgomery's best tunes. I introduced you to Pat Martino during Circuses and Carnivals week this summer. What an incredible and inspiring guitarist he is. Here is his 197 version of John Coltrane's Impressions . Finally is the most emo guitar song I think I know, one that is appropriately named: Emotions Wound Us ...

In the early '90s, "What were the skies like when you were young?" was the new, "Can you pass the acid test?" — the question that separated the turned-on from those left behind. Britain's 1988 Summer of Love and acid house's ascent as the soundtrack the English anti-mainstream updated hippie-spiritualist concepts for an increasingly digital generation. But the Orb's "Little Fluffy Clouds" took this druggy-cum-artsy utopian outlook, fed it through new technological methodology, and came out with a masterpiece. It not only framed it’s own epoch, but continues to successfully soundtrack everything from yoga classes and James ...

I’m one of those people who tend to not remember their dreams. Most mornings, I have a feeling that some dreams have come to pass, but couldn’t tell you about any of them in much detail. When I’m particularly tired it’s common for me to have a lot of dreams, with the fragments having a little more staying power — [...]

In Boston After experiencing the first two minutes of this Pat Metheny Group concert, there was no doubt that Boston-area fans just plain love the man. Pat walked out onto the stage (wearing what has become his trademark horizontally-striped shirt) and was greeted by a thunderous two-minute standing ovation. This was before a single note was played! So, being the [...]

A solo recording artist since 1986, Los Angeles-based guitarist Jeff Richman is nonetheless best known as L.A.’s top fusion cover artist for a decade’s worth of arrangements and playing on all-star guitar tributes on Mike Varney’s Tone Center label. Perhaps understandably, Richman has had more trouble finding his own sound as a composer and player—until now. The Line Up , by the guitarist and his band Chatterbox, may be the most cohesive statement he’s made among 16 solo CDs. A mid-tempo opening title track and the introspective ballad “Window to the Heart” start the disc ...

A song that shows up pretty high on a number of greatest songs of all time lists, I Can’t Make You Love Me was recorded in 1991 by Bonnie Raitt for the album Luck Of The Draw . HT fave Bruce Hornsby contributed piano work to the original and has covered the tune in concert. Many artists have added their own spin to I Can’t Make You Love Me over the years. I meant to cap this at ten, but somehow an eleventh snuck in. Enjoy. The Contestants : Artist : Adele Album : Live At The Royal Albert Hall The Skinny ...

The mid-1990s and early-2000s seem a long time ago now. Babes in arms back then mewling and puking, not yet ready to pick up their first instruments, were oblivious to most things beyond their mother’s milk. But for five years from 1996 the Brad Mehldau Trio were playing music together that few at the time could ignore and which with The Art Of The Trio – Recordings 1996-2001 still more will arrive at. Released just yesterday we can get a glimpse for the first time in the greatest depth possible so far exactly what pianist Brad Mehldau , double bassist Larry ...

It's going to be hard throwing a swanky awards bash in this economic climate. The temptation to be showy and flash must be avoided at all costs, while still keeping a sense of dignity. How are the Grammy organisers going with that? Oh, yes. That ugly wrist choker is the official Grammy "timepiece" (implying there's no Grammy cuckoo clock this year) and comes in at just $1,395. As ever, here's the full list of nominations; leap over to get to the chattery bit 1. Record Of The Year Rolling In The Deep Adele Paul Epworth, producer ...

A Q&A; with the master guitarist