Popular Music
There was little doubt that the singer owned every note with a pure sense of conviction — and community — that blew past rock-star trappings.
The musicians assembled here for the updated recordings of tunes from fifty years ago are first-rate, and Peggy Lee still convincingly inhabits a wide range of material.
By Matt Hanson There’s an enticingly primeval quality to the way bluesmen Ryan Lee Crosby and Jimmy “Duck” Holmes play off of one another. Willie Dixon once said that “the blues are the roots, the other musics are the fruits.” We all know by now how plenty of world-famous bands have harvested those influences. So…
The cross generational Do the Reggae Tour suggested that reggae’s creative trek was far from over.
MonoNeon is the most important musician to emerge from Memphis in recent memory.
I am grateful that Al Jardine (at 82, he’s showing signs of age) and Brian Wilson’s band are still bringing Wilson’s brilliant legacy to audiences.
Two very influential and brilliant Cuban musicians, Albita Rodríguez and Chucho Valdés, join together to make a fine album; Chilean guitarist/vocalist/composer Camila Meza serves up a potent mixture of jazz and lyrics concerned with social justice.
In his new album, Terry Kitchen moves effortlessly through lilting songs of happiness and sadness.
Jon Batiste’s performance resonated with what musician Zachary Richard calls the “holy trinity” of Louisiana music: Cajun, zydeco, and “old-fashioned” rock and roll.
Music Commentary: Analyzing the Greatness of Brian Wilson’s “God Only Knows”
I hope this close look makes clear the exquisite craftsmanship that went into “God Only Knows.” But for many of us, the song has a magic that goes beyond the mere exercise of compositional skill, even skill of a very high order.
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