If someone played tunes from Ruark’s debut album When You Coming Home for you without telling you they’re an emerging indie trio from South Arkansas, your ears might think you’ve stumbled onto some cool Bob Dylan bootlegs or – considering their overall swampy rawness –...

Rising to prominence with a Bronze Medal in the 1st USA International Harp Competition in her teens and debuting as concerto soloist at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center not long after, harp virtuoso Kirsten Agresta Copely has just about done it all in her multi-faceted...

Reviewers aren’t generally supposed to inject themselves into their objective write-ups of shows they see, but, in as delightful a manner as possible, veteran actors turned compelling retro-hipster club performers Al Sapienza and Deborah Rennard delightfully left me no...

The serendipitous story behind Ellen Edwards’ dynamic breakthrough EP A New York Session begins with her songwriting teacher, legendary country artist Suzy Bogguss, loving the Atlanta based singer-songwriter’s jazz-based material and hooking up her student with her for...

Flamenco guitarist, composer, multi-instrumentalist and musical visionary Dave Soldier has been blazing fascinating, culturally transcendent boundaries his whole life – from founding a string quartet that fused punk, classical and R&B to playing punk Delta Blues and st...

Though Amber Weekes’ spirited bio includes mention that her paternal grandparents ran a famed Harlem luncheonette where Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Lena Horne and Harry Belafonte hung out, there’s no back story necessary to appreciate the heartfelt, expansive arti...

In a world that’ increasingly crazy and chaotic, sometimes it’s necessary to take a step back, put on some wild and trippy retro-minded yet fresh furious and contemporary jazz fusion and realize, as Chicago’s multi-faceted ensemble Bonzo Squad reminds us, that There’s...

A native of New Orleans and big star in his longtime adopted home of the Dominican Republic, pop, R&B and jazz influenced vocalist Anthony Jefferson is keeping it real by calling his latest album All I Am.

Drawing on a wide range of influences and elements of his fascin...

Had I heard it when it first came out last fall, saxophonist Brian Scanlon’s brilliant, rhythmically varied, continuously compelling debut album Brain Scan would not only have been a shoo-in for my Top 10 of 2019 – it may have made #1.

It’s the kind of fun and fiery cre...

A seminal force in and influential and enduring treasure of new age music, pianist/composer Scott Cossu - one of the first artists on Will Ackerman’s groundbreaking Windham Hill label - was a creative force and guiding light when the genre was in its infancy. During hi...

In 2018, The Persian Leaps, the raucous and quirky St. Paul based indie rock/power pop band with the playfully inscrutable name, unleashed the pleasurable collection Pop That Goes Crunch as a grand summary of their five popular, super brief EPs released annually like c...

“Invite Me Over,” the infectious, wildly synthy retro 60’s pop/folk meets 80’s new wave/light punk influenced new single from emerging indie singer-songwriter Neill Maclean, is that rare track that can make an ongoing lament about alienation and being shut out also see...