Bob Dylan’s ‘John Wesley Harding’ Was No Friend to the Poor
Bob Dylan’s 1967 album John Wesley Harding is more about what it is not than what it is. Does that hold true for the mythology of John Wesley Hardin himself?
blues
Trombone Shorty and Jon Batiste: New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Fest
Trombone Shorty and Jon Batiste bring the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Fest to a rousing conclusion.
Taj Mahal Takes Us to Harlem on ‘Savoy’
Taj Mahal’s latest album, Savoy, reconstructs the music of his youth in its original style for a contemporary audience. It’s good time music for most times.
Kimi Djabaté’s African Pop Moves Hearts and Hips on ‘Dindin’
Kimi Djabaté’s Dindin is an invitation to fellowship for Africans and beyond and a call to take care of unfinished business with kindness and compassion.
Director Ana Sofia Fonseca on Her Tribute to Cape Verdean Singer Cesária Évora
Singing the Cape Verde blues known as “morna”, the world-renowned Cesária Évora sang in local Creole to a slow tempo reflecting a melancholy state of mind. Her gentle, lulling timbre recounts some of the darkest moments of the volcanic island.
North Mississippi Allstars Sail Onward for Peace & Harmony in San Francisco
North Mississippi Allstars have been on a roll with their past three albums, blending vintage blues, modern psychedelia, and socially conscious vibes with dance party jams.
Tom Waits’ ‘Closing Time’ and the Myth of the Eponymous Debut Album
Tom Waits’ Closing Time serves as the “Swim at Your Own Risk” sign hanging above his musical swimming pool. There’s a whole world waiting beneath that water.
New Ali Farka Touré Music Surfaces on Star-Studded ‘Voyageur’
Voyageur is as complete and wondrous an album as anything Ali Farka Touré put out during his lifetime, in no small part due to the work of his son, Vieux.
Fleetwood Mac’s First LP Shows a Hungry, Irreverent Approach to Chicago Blues
Surprisingly, Fleetwood Mac began life as a blues-rock band before morphing into the pop/rock juggernaut that ruled the charts in the late 1970s.
Fantastic Negrito Reimagines His 2022 Album with ‘Grandfather Courage’
Fantastic Negrito’s Grandfather Courage is a compelling, affecting work of acoustic blues and roots music, speaking to the deep currents of blues as an American art form.
Barbara Blue Sings the Blues for These Times on ‘From the Shoals’
Barbara Blue’s From the Shoals is your basic gutbucket, spill my heart on your sleeve blues, recreating Memphis blues with a cosmopolitan sensibility.
Rock ‘n’ Stroll: Robert Cray’s Blues Stormer ‘Midnight Stroll’
Robert Cray plays subtly with basic blues convention on Midnight Stroll, turning it into a brand-new face for listeners who have heard it all before.