Bentley’s Bandstand: November 2023 By Bill Bentley Luther Dickinson, Magic Music for Family Folk. It’s widely known in modern music circles, especially the crowd that zeroes in on the roots persuasion of the music, that Luther Dickinson is a High Priest of so many styles in that crowd. Being the son of Memphis maven Jim […]
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A Philly Special Christmas Special Jason and Travis Kelce pretty much took over the world in 2023. The Philadelphia Eagles center and the Kansas City Chiefs tight end host a highly rated podcast, played against each other in the Super Bowl, and even helped land their mom Donna a soup commercial. Rumor also has it […]
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Van Duren & Good Question – Cartwheeling: Live In Memphis This impeccably recorded set was recorded live in Memphis in 1992. Though there is a ‘90s current that runs through the production it’s not retro to any degree. The pop-configuration sprouts from the melodic seedlings of the late Dwight Twilley, with legitimate big production dalliances […]
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Paul Reed Smith – Eightlock – Lions Roaring In Quicksand This musical stack is an effort produced by internationally-known guitar maker Paul Reed Smith (guitars). His team Eightlock, (“eight musicians locked together”) ignites a fresh groove of roots in Baltimore funk, DC go-go & New Orleans swing. It’s a heady brew of blues, soul, rock, […]
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Zach Russell – Where the Flowers Meet the Dew We music writer types like to get our annual “best of” lists finished up by late November because, quite honestly, not much fresh music hits our inboxes after that (also – it allows us to dip into the spiked eggnog a little sooner). However, during the […]
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Bobby Vega – What Cha Got Some musician names don’t set off alarms but have had interesting careers. San Francisco Bay area artist Bobby Vega (shark & Ribbecke basses/guitar/ukelele) could probably say he hit the ground running in his career. His first major project (1975) was recording with Sly Stone (Sly & the Family Stone). […]
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A 50th-Anniversary Edition of Frank Zappa’s ‘Over-nite Sensation’ Over-nite Sensation, which first appeared in 1973, ranks among Frank Zappa’s most significant and accessible releases up to that point. The record wasn’t quite what its title suggested, but it did give Zappa his first gold record and one of the biggest chart successes of his […]
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Bill Jackson – 1965 So, this will be an interesting prospect since it’ll step back into a more glorified & exciting era. When dungarees became blue jeans, white sneakers replaced two-toned saddle shoes, plain white t-shirts went tie-dyed & jugs of red table wine became quarts of Ripple & Night Train until the availability of […]
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Grooves & Cuts – October 2023 Too many reviews accumulated through the month — so I postponed this month’s article to next month. Featured Reviews:Randall Kromm – Late SeptemberSteve Cropper – With A Little Help From My FriendsChest Fever – Music From Big PinkZach Berkman – The Heart Of Zach BerkmanBen Gage – Two Singing […]
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Catbells – Partly Cloudy This endeavor leans into a dream-pop semblance. That’s to say it isn’t heavily roots-folk or traditionally oriented. Yet, the effort by alter-ego Catbells (multi-instrumentalist) is an interesting offering. The young lady is almost like a female supplement to the wonderful Scottish band Blue Nile with its tranquil showcase. Soft, dreamy, misty […]
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