“You know, I used to be pissed off at Bobby Darin because he changed styles so much. Now I look at him and I think he was a fucking genius.” – Neil Young, 1988 Neil Young took his fans on a wild ride in the 1980s, dabbling in synth-pop, rockabilly, country and finally, blues rock […]

“We all have these abilities. What I’m saying is, ‘Use them! Get into it deeper! Go for it even more!’” — Les McCann At the piano, Les McCann is a dominating soul jazz force, but unbeknownst to many, he lived a double life behind the camera. He shot thousands of photos throughout his long career, […]

Tradition runs rampant around Thanksgiving: generations of old recipes, football, Alice’s Restaurant, The Last Waltz, and, of course, a parade of balloons shutting down NYC. What else do you need? If you thought you were covered in the Thanksgiving tradition department, we did too…until a few years ago, when someone blew the dust off a […]

The first thing you hear as you set the needle down on “Faith and Grace” is the spectral sound of Roebuck “Pops” Staples’ guitar, and then the voices of his children, Mavis, Cleotha, Pervis, and Yvonne. These are the first sounds the Staple Singers put to tape, huddled around a microphone in 1953, recording for […]

Our weekly two hour show on SIRIUS/XMU, channel 35, can now be heard twice, every Friday – Noon EST with an encore broadcast at Midnight EST. SIRIUS 412: Jean Michel Bernard – Générique Stephane ++ Jimmie Sphreeris ++ David Behrman – Interspecies Smalltalk (Part 1 Excerpt) ++ Sao Paulo – Utanfor ++ Grannens Forflutna – […]

New Bowie. There is only one. Via Blackstar, out January 2016.

In 1999 American bluesman Taj Mahal teamed up with Malian kora master Toumani Diabate — together they recorded the transformative and meditative beauty that is Kulanjan. Named after a track from the 1970 album of kora music, Ancient Strings, by Toumani Diabaté’s father Sidiki Diabate, the two bridge their geographical distance and musical styles by seamlessly […]