How is it that of nearly all the progressive rock combos of the 1970s, King Crimson sounds today the least dated and most relevant (aside from the fact it’s still around off and on these days, albeit with a different lineup)? Unlike, say, the Moody Blues or Genesis, Crimson —…

Jazz drummer Steve Reid (not to be confused with same-named New Age percussionist/composer) has a résumé that would make most musicians wince with envy. How many can lay claim to having played on Martha & the Vandellas’ “Dancing in the Street” and having performed or recorded with Ornette Coleman, Miles…

In the early ’80s, before Sting rose to international superstar status (musician/actor/activist), he was but one-third of new wave combo the Police. Back then, few British artists bridged the worlds of reggae and mainstream rock/pop like the Police, with their blend of Jamaican rhythms and urgent, polished melodic flair. Call…

From the blues to hip-hop, from Yiddish-rooted pop to salsa, the Harlem Experiment draws into focus assorted elements contributing to Harlem’s music legend. The “Experiment” started in 2001 exploring various sounds and talents in other cities such as Philadelphia and Detroit. On Harlem’s version, the swing era meets the Latin…

Apart from being an original/longtime Grateful Dead drummer, Mickey Hart was exploring multicultural cross-pollinations long before the term world music got so popular. Tabla drum master Zakir Hussain, a frequent collaborator with Hart, has a lengthy résumé in jazz, Indian raga, and world fusion. With fellow percussionists Sikiru Adepoju and…

This release commemorates the 25th year of a jazz supergroup — pianist Keith Jarrett, bassist Gary Peacock, and drummer Jack DeJohnette — one of the longest-running bands in jazz history. They are frequently referred to as Jarrett’s “standards trio,” as their repertoire consists of jazz and (pre-rock-‘n’-roll-era) pop perennials such…

One reason some Americans claim they’re not into “world music” — aside from crummy mainstream radio — is that folks either feel put off by non-English singing or think one would have to be an ethnomusicologist to appreciate it. As to the first concern, there are plenty of songs sung…

1977 was pivotal: Disco was becoming a major cultural force (impacting even the Rolling Stones with Some Girls) and there were strange rumblings in the U.S., the U.K., and Jamaica all based around new music. Brit punk rock and roots reggae were inextricably intertwined. Disenfranchised youths were attracted to the…

Say what you will about the 1970s; some of the most defiantly original albums ever — John Cale’s Fear, Brian Eno’s Taking Tiger Mountain, and Sly & the Family Stone’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On — were released then on major labels. As the music biz teeters on the precipice…

Before Dylan and that crucial British invasion (circa 1964), instrumental rock ‘n’ roll was not a specific subgenre. Its executors, however, actually topped the charts — the Ventures, Dick Dale, and Link Wray sold millions of records, influencing dozens of 1960s and ’70s guitarists. Although instrumental bands still exist, many…

Just ask A.J. Croce (son of Jim), Louise Goffin (Carole King’s daughter), or Frank Sinatra Jr. — being compared to a famous parent will haunt you, maybe forever. Take Femi Kuti — his late father, Fela, virtually invented Afrobeat but the younger Kuti is categorically not riding on his dad’s…

When the great roll of American jazz composers is called, the late Charles Mingus (1922-79) will be near the tip-top. Mingus was and remains unique in that he drew on the entire jazz tradition for inspiration along with European classical music and the speaking-in-tongues zeal of the Holiness Church. The…

This is not a disc by Harry Connick Jr. the suave, Frank Sinatra-like crooner or even the jazz pianist (who studied with Ellis Marsalis, father of Wynton and Branford). Instead, audiences are reintroduced to Connick the arranger/bandleader conferring a tribute to his native New Orleans on his latest disc, Chanson…

When drawn from an oeuvre as iconic as Motown, the remodels included on this new disc, Motown Remixed 2, are to be unavoidably compared/contrasted with the original source material. To older folk who danced and fell in love to these songs in their heyday, remixes of classics might seem like…

Four Tet fans may get excited when they learn that one-third of Fridge is Kieran Hebden, the man behind Four Tet, but buyer be advised: The Sun is nothing like his brand of agitated electronica that some listeners might expect. Composed of Hebden, Adem Ilhan (Adem), and Sam Jeffers, Fridge…

Listen to the track “Anti Love Song” by Betty Davis here. Music history is packed with people on the periphery of fame, amazingly talented, and/or ahead of their time that never quite ¨make it,¨ defined by achieving stardom and riches. Eccentric model and singer Betty Davis, a former Mrs. Miles…