News - Page 247

If you’re a fan of 1960s and 1970s pop music, you’ve heard the work of a group of studio musicians often known as “The Wrecking Crew”. They were musical ringers, called in to back up (or sometimes play for) top artists, kind of like Motown’s famed Funk Brothers. The Funk Brothers were profiled in the eye-opening 2002 documentary Standing in...

Phish played some of its most experimental live music during shows in Amsterdam back in 1997. Now three complete shows, played there between February and early July, 1997, are available on an 8-CD set called simply Amsterdam. The band, featuring bassist Mike Gordon, played all the shows at the 1,500-capacity Paradiso, a former church transformed into a rock venue/cultural center....

Swedish melodic death metal outfit Soilwork has announced a changing of the guard in the low end. Longtime bassist Ola Flink has amicably parted ways with the group 17 years after he first joined. The bassist, who appeared on all of Soilwork’s releases since 1998’s Steelbath Suicide, will be taking time to focus on other endeavors, a press release stated....

Pianist Robert Glasper has reunited with his trio, which includes bassist Vicente Archer (Terence Blanchard, Kenny Garrett, Wynton Marsalis, Stanley Jordan, Amos Lee) for the acoustic jazz record Covered (The Robert Glasper Trio Recorded Live at Capitol Studios). The trio, with drummer Damion Reid, is the same one that recorded Canvas in 2005 and In My Element in 2007. The...

The late Michael Hedges’ landmark 1984 acoustic guitar album, Aerial Boundaries, has been reissued on 180-gram vinyl. The album, considered groundbreaking for acoustic guitar, also featured a bass heavyweight — bassist/composer Michael Manring, who was not only Hedges’ regular bassist, but also house bassist for Windham Hill Records, for which Hedges recorded. Manring, who has played with a wide variety...

It’s not often you encounter sci-fi Middle Eastern fusion music, but when you do, it’s probably being played by Consider the Source. The band has released parts two and three of its crowdfunded World War Trio as a double album that clocks in at more than two hours long. (Part One of the trio was released in October 2014.) The...

Master of the acoustic bass and Brazilian jazz Nilson Matta has achieved a unique groove on his latest album, East Side Rio Drive. The album from Matta, also a well-known bass teacher, has drawn accolades from The Wall Street Journal, and joins players from both North and South America to interpret jazz classics like “Blue in Green” and “Boogie Stop...

So, what happens when two very distinct bands with their hands in the pop, electronic, dance and rock spheres decide to start recording together? They release an album like the eponymous FFS, which abbreviates the names of each of the bands involved: Glasgow-based Franz Ferdinand (formed in the early 2000s) and the American sibling duo Sparks (formed in 1971). With...

Blues-rock-funk supergroup Royal Southern Brotherhood visited the almost-magical environment of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to produce Don’t Look Back: The Muscle Shoals Sessions. The band, featuring stalwart Louisiana player Charlie Wooton (ZABADODAT) on bass, is a powerhouse of blues/funk players, including Cyril Neville (The Meters, The Neville Brothers) on percussion and vocals; Yonrico Scott (Derek Trucks Band, Yonrico Scott Band) on...

The Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers is an iconic album, from its Andy Warhol-designed cover featuring a fly that really zipped open, to its songs, like “Brown Sugar,” “Wild Horses,” “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking,” and “Bitch.” Now, the 1971 record has been reissued in all its glory, to coincide with the Stones’ North American “Zip Code” Tour, in a vinyl...

Progressive music fans take note: bassist Lorenzo Feliciati has released Koi, a 12-song concept album based on the life the river carp fish. Blending progressive rock and ambient soundscapes, the record features a host of guest musicians including Japan drummer Steve Jansen and King Crimson drummer Pat Mastelotto. “Traditional Chinese folktales tell the story of Koi fish that swam up...

Legendary blues rock duo Hot Tuna is hitting the road again this summer with a string of tour dates in Hawaii and the Northeast. Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen will be performing mainly in their acoustic setting to start the tour, which begins on June 19th in Honolulu. Their tour wraps up with four electric shows ending at the Capitol...