By Brian Arsenault So Kath and I had to go all the way to St. Martin and back in time to find a New York band of distinction, GLADSHOT. We were walking into the hotel and Debbie Andrews and Mike Blaxill, the band’s two principals, were walking out of their room. In that friendlier way… Read More Brian Arsenault Takes On GLADSHOT’s CD, “Maxwell’s Cool Demon”
By Don Heckman Northridge, CA. Memories galore resonated through the architecturally grand, acoustically captivating Valley Performing Arts Center on the campus of CalState Northridge Saturday night. Memories, that is, of an era dominated by the Beatles. The performance, by the Fab Faux, was yet another display of the Center’s growing presence as the creative center… Read More Live Music: The Fab Faux at the Valley Performing Arts Center
By Devon Wendell There have been countless films made about the blues and about B.B. King. A large percentage of these films merely focus on how King (Born Riley B. King on September 16th, 1925, between Itta Bena and Indianola Mississippi) inspired a plethora of overdriven, unoriginal rock guitarists from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Very… Read More Film Review: B.B. King “The Life Of Riley”
By Devon Wendell I was saddened when I learned that Hugh McCracken passed away of leukemia yesterday – March 28th, 2013 – in New York City. While working at Donald Fagen’s recording studio in New York in the 90s, I was constantly surrounded by the top session musicians of the world on a constant basis,… Read More An Appreciation: Hugh McCracken — A Fond Remembrance
Tempest (Columbia) By Devon Wendell Savage imagery of Hell on earth, twisted ultra violence, sinking ships, whores, and dying villains mixed with the language and rhythms of true American blues, country, Celtic traditions, and R&B make Bob Dylan’s Tempest a sinister yet melancholy masterpiece. In the rollicking jump blues of the opening track, “Duquesne Whistle,”… Read More CD Review: Bob Dylan’s “Tempest”
Jeff Beck Group Jeff Beck Group (Audio Fidelity in Vinyl) by Brian Arsenault Rod (“Where’s my next blond?”) Stewart was gone. Ronnie (“I’ll be a Face of the Stones someday”) Woods was gone. The bluesier Bob Tench was brought in to sing and the late Cozy Powell showed why he was maybe the best of… Read More Record Review: The Jeff Beck Group (Vinyl Reissue from 1972)
Mike Lang has been a busy member of the Los Angeles musicians’ community for most of his adult life. He’s been an accompanist for performers reaching from Ella Fitzgerald to John Lennon. He’s recorded more than 2000 film scores And he’s written songs for Stan Getz, Fourplay, Herb Alpert and numerous others. On many of… Read More An Appreciation: Jimmy Bond 1933 – 2012
By Mike Finkelstein Last weekend, Peter Case recorded his first-ever live album in the backroom at McCabe’s Guitar Shop. For an old school songwriter with as rich a talent as his, it somehow seemed fitting that this album was being recorded on actual reel-to-reel tape in the small McCabe’s sound booth. As is the case… Read More Live Music: Peter Case at McCabe’s Guitar Shop
Had he lived, Sam Cooke would be 80 on January 22, 2011. Though his tragic death, at the age of 33, deprived successive generations of new music from Cooke, known as ‘the man who invented soul,’ his legacy and influence endure. A feature film biography, based on Peter Guralnick’s critically acclaimed book Dream Boogie: The Triumph of… Read More News: Sam Cooke’s 80th — January 22, 2011
By Mike Finkelstein On Thursday night two of the better tribute bands rocked a Twilight Dance program at the Santa Monica Pier to a hugely enthusiastic crowd of thousands. On a day that reached 104 F in some places, it was a pleasant 40 degrees cooler on the pier when the show started. The Pier concerts… Read More Live Rock: Led Zepagain and Abbey Road at the Santa Monica Pier
The International Review of Music 