Harvest of Highlights

  • Loudon Wainwright III – Lifetime Achievement

    Much like the man he was compared to early in his career, Bob Dylan, Loudon Wainwright III composes new music these days in full awareness of his age. He even opens this fine album with that classic acoustic guitar and harmonica combination but, where Dylan is more abstract in his musings, Loudon cannot help but… Read more

  • Andrew Bird – Inside Problems

    Having initially played in the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Kevin O’Donnell’s Quality Six then his own Bowl Of Fire, Andrew Bird continued in the 2000’s to gain solo attention as the guy with an act based around technical wizardry. He played multiple instruments, building up loops and layering them in a way that was impressive in… Read more

  • Van Morrison – What’s It Gonna Take?

    Van Morrison is on fire at the moment, there is something in the urgency that his recordings possess that suggest an artist both in tune with the sounds that feed his soul and assured at his own strengths as a performer. A legend who flips a middle finger to categorization, his sound has always been… Read more

  • Kokoroko – Could We Be More

    Like many others, for me it was the 2018 album ‘We Out Here’ that alerted me to the delights of Kokoroko. That album was a collaborative effort recorded over three days by the various groups and collectives who, at the time, were being lauded as the exciting new heartbeat of jazz music to be found… Read more

  • Erin Rae – Lighten Up

    I have heard many albums over the years that reach for that golden Laurel Canyon sound of the late sixties. It evokes such specific imagery, so many wide chasms of warm open aired relaxed vibes, good time feelings that stir your soul and retrieve by proxy memories of sun-drenched harmonious times. What defines that sound… Read more

  • Black Flower – Magma

    Sometimes albums just stand out from the crowd immediately and for me, ‘Magma’ was one of those. I knew nothing of Black Flower when I chanced upon this earlier in 2022 but have since learned that the band were formed in 2014 as another branch of many projects that explore the realms of Jazz and… Read more