New Albums - Page 197

Duff McKagan‘s side project, Loaded, has just released their latest album, The Taking, the group’s third studio effort and the follow up to the 2009 release, Sick. The album was recorded in August, 2010 with veteran producer Terry Date (Pantera, Slipknot and others), and features newcomer Isaac Carpenter on drums. The former Guns ‘N Roses bassist/cofounder had a busy 2010,...

Bassist/composer Ben Allison has released his tenth album as a bandleader, entitled Action-Refraction. The disc features Allison’s takes on songs by his favorite artists, including PJ Harvey, Donny Hathaway, Thelonious Monk, Neil Young, Samuel Barber and Roger Nichols. This is a new approach for the composer as only one of the tracks, Broken, is an original. The idea for the...

Jazz bassist Rufus Reid has teamed up once again with pianist Steve Allee and drummer Duduka Da Fonseca for Hues of a Different Blue, a 14-track album that also features the talents of saxophonists JD Allen and Bobby Watson, trumpeter Freddie Hendrix, and Brazilian guitarist Toninho Horta. The songs are a nice combination of Reid’s originals with standards mixed in,...

Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band has released their fifth album, That’s How We Roll, on Telarc International. The collection has the 18-piece band showcasing 9 new original tracks from band leader Goodwin, as well as his arrangement of the classic Gershwin tune, “Rhapsody in Blue.” Bassist Rick Shaw holds down the low end throughout the album with the exception of...

A new album, entitled Jazz for Japan, has been released on iTunes, with proceeds going to the International Red Cross in Japan in an effort to benefit Japan’s earthquake and tsunami victims. The project, which was recorded in merely two days last week, features a who’s who of the jazz community, especially jazz bassists. Low-end contributors include Marcus Miller, Christian...

Hot Tuna, the group formed in 1969 by Jefferson Airplane bassist Jack Casady and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, have released their first studio album in 20 years. Steady As She Goes represents over 50 years of the duo playing together, and as such, the 12 tracks are reflective of their lives thus far. Though there is an acoustic vibe, this is...

Bryan Beller has just released his first solo live album, Wednesday Night Live, recorded during his band’s September 15, 2010 performance at the Baked Potato in Los Angeles. Beller’s band included guitarists Rick Musallam and Griff Peters, Mike Keneally on keyboard and guitar and Joe Travers on drums. In prepping for the recording, Beller wanted to make sure the song...

For 40 years, Mark Clarke has been asked to make his own solo album by friends and fans. The veteran bassist, who performed with Colosseum, Uriah Heep, Natural Gas and others has finally listened. Moving To The Moon is 10 tracks of “new classic rock”, blended together by a bassist able to draw from decades of experience. Clarke was born...

Gerald Veasley has a new album out, one he calls a “re-imagination” of well-known tunes written by acclaimed jazz composer and bassist Charles Mingus. Electric Mingus Project features songs ranging from “Haitian Fight Song” to “Boogie Stop Shuffle”, and performed using instruments such as the EVI (Electronic Valve Instrument) and EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument). Veasley says the album isn’t just...

Former Stray Cats bassist Lee Rocker has just released The Cover Sessions, a six track EP of songs he grew up listening to ranging from the Beatles’ “Come Together” to the Allman Brothers hit, “Ramblin’ Man.” In an interview with OC Weekly, Rocker explained how the project came about. “The story behind [the] EP is that over the past few...

After reuniting with Return to Forever in 2008, Al Di Meola turned his attention back to his World Sinfonia band, who support the guitarist on his latest effort, Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody. Bassist Victor Miranda backs most of the album, which features Di Meola switching from acoustic to electric and back, with some MIDI guitar thrown in. Charlie Haden makes...

Mastodon has released Live At The Aragon, a CD/DVD set that marks the band’s first live performance package. The record captures the band’s October 2009 show at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago and includes them playing the entirety of their Crack the Skye album as well as earlier fan favorite songs and a cover of the “The Bit” by The...