Category: Album Reviews

May 31, 2018 / Album Reviews - Archive

BLUEPRINTS & VIGNETTES (Earshift) 8/10 Music has a way of smoothing its own path. Given the chance, our brains readily accommodate complexity that comes via the ears, so the unfolding of even quite convoluted material can swiftly assume an air of inevitability. Of course relentless complexity may ultimately test powers…

May 29, 2018 / Album Reviews - Archive

IN PARIS (Resonance/Birdland) 8/10 Wes Montgomery always stood out from the welter of jazz guitarists who emerged in Charlie Christian’s wake. Using his thumb (rather than a plectrum) he developed the warmest sound: a bronze tone that was equally effective on tender ballads or for lighting sudden spot-fires amidst his…

May 13, 2018 / Album Reviews - Archive

MOTHER (ABC) 8.5/10 In concert George Xylouris and Jim White conjure up a mighty sound for just a duo, given that the former plays lute or lyra and the latter (of Dirty Three fame) a drum-kit. Here that sheer mass often seems like a wall of water: a vast wave…