Year: 2017

Totally amazing new album from Living Colour, Shade, just out. I'm a huge fan and this sounds like, in some ways, the follow-up to Vivid. The band is rocking harder than I've heard in quite a while, with Corey Glover sounding like he's 25 again. Three strong covers including songs from Robert Johnson, Biggie and Marvin Gaye. The BRC is very much still relevant and still necessary. Strong and important messages, huge drums and aggressive guitars make these songs as powerful as any band coming out of New York could be. Their use of sound bites and interview segments is better than ever. Check out "Preachin' Blues", "Program", "Who Shot Ya", "Blak Out", "Who's That" with horns. Actually the entire record hangs together and flows as an album should, with…

For her thirteenth studio recording, the woman named by NPR “The Empress of the Unexpected” has created yet another unique concept album. This time, it’s An American In Havana, a collection of original songs written during Susan Werner’s recent travels to Cuba. Featuring performances and arrangements by legendary Cuban percussionist Mayra Casales (Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente), the record blends the pulsing rhythms of Cuban music with Werner’s trademark wry, poetic lyrics. Werner’s songs have been covered by Tom Jones and Michael Feinstein among others, and she is composer/ lyricist of the forthcoming Broadway production “Bull Durham, The Musical.” With An American In Havana, she confirms her reputation as, in the words of the Chicago Tribune, “one of the most innovative songwriters working today.” “Werner, a clever songwriter and engaging performer,…

Angels Bend Closer is the first new album in the USA from Jane Siberry in over five years.  Siberry crafts her storytelling while genre skipping through Folk, Gospel, Jazz, R&B, Rock, Electronic, Pop and at times a bit of Celtic.  Her voice is charismatic, vulnerable, soulful, sultry, intimate and powerful, often with an evocative quality that only great singers posses.  http://www.janesiberry.com When Siberry began crafting Angels Bend Closer, she set a clear goal: connecting with the “wider world.” Instead of going for original and esoteric, Siberry sought renewed mainstream accessibility. To achieve it, she went in the exact opposite direction: off the grid. Siberry, it turns out, spends most non-winter months living without running water or electricity at her remote North Ontario log cabin. “It’s so quiet,” she says, “it can actually…