“Am I Blue” is a largely forgotten argument for Ray Charles‘ striking ability to synthesize jazz, blues, country and gospel into music with a broader appeal. That’s saying something, considering that it appears on The Genius of Ray Charles, a half-big band/half-strings Atlantic release that became one of his most celebrated efforts. Charles effortlessly melds both the secular and sacred [...]

by Something Else Reviews Gary Moore, former guitarist with Thin Lizzy and Skid Row, has died at age 58. The Belfast-born Moore, perhaps most famous for his 1979 hit “Parisienne Walkways” with the late Phil Lynott, was found dead in a hotel room Sunday while vacationing at the Costa del Sol, Spain. The cause of death was not immediately known. [...]

by Nick DeRiso A massive reissue project from Apple Records had me digging back through the old Billy Preston sides. None is more titanically funky, and lastingly influential, than “Outa-Space,” with its greasefire groove and afro-shaking new clavinet sound. “Outa-Space” is not to be confused with his similarly named No. 4 hit of a year later, “Space Race.” (Dick Clark [...]

Paul McCartney’s “Band on the Run” still represents the creative highpoint of his career away from the Beatles, nearly four decades later. So, to paraphrase a tune here, what’s the use in repackaging the thing again? Well, a brilliant remaster of the original tapes, which have always been a little muddy, additional never-before-seen home movies from the exotic recording sessions, [...]

Note: To commemorate the 70th birthday of John Lennon, we’re revisiting this single from early in his post-Beatles career. One of the things I find most fascinating about the man was how he was able to impart blunt, timeless wisdom about our lives while struggling to make sense of his. “Karma” was one of those ‘message’ songs that he so [...]

by Nick DeRiso That George Harrison kept recording until just two months before his death at age 58 in November of 2001 was its own blessing. After all, he hadn’t put out a new album of solo material since 1987. But you wondered what would become of Harrison’s final works, since producer Jeff Lynne had decided to finish the project [...]

by Nick DeRiso You hear Beatles songs remade by jazz musicians with notable frequency, some more successful (Jaco Pastorius‘ glorious reading of the oft-covered “Blackbird” from “Word of Mouth”; a just-right “All My Loving” on “Basie’s Beatles Bag”; Ramsey Lewis‘ underrated “Hard Day’s Night” from “Finest Hour”) than others (almost all of the rest of that un-Fab 1966 Count Basie [...]

by Nick DeRiso On “Y Not,” his 16th album, Ringo Starr offers a Beatles collaboration that closes the circle started with his solo career-making turn on George Harrison‘s “It Don’t Come Easy” from 1971. “Walk With You,” a duet with fellow bandmate Paul McCartney, finds the friendly bravado of Ringo’s best early records melting into a sadly appropriate melancholy — [...]

by Nick DeRiso What does Paul McCartney, after five decades in music and an astonishing seven previous concert recordings, still have to tell us in yet another multi-disc live offering? Turns out, more than I thought. “Good Evening New York City” (Hear Music/Concord Music Group), out today, commemorates McCartney’s three-night concert event to open New York’s new Citi Field, played [...]

by Nick DeRiso More musical journey than greatest hits, per se, “Let It Roll” is a primer on George Harrison for those who never got past his time with Beatles — and yet a still-intriguing way to reexperience some of his best solo cuts for those who followed along after the Fabs went pphhft. It didn’t have to meet that [...]