Sun 21 Sep – Amos Lee, Mutlu

Despite Ike and all of the mess he left in his wake, Amos Lee's show in Houston this past weekend went on as scheduled. A much-needed break from the stress of being without electricity in a ravaged city, where a midnight-6am curfew was still in effect, it was so great to get out and see Amos.

First, I have to say, I never realized what a cute little geek he is! Super skinny, with glasses and a nerdy vest. Totally my kind of guy! His catalog isn't that extensive, so he was…

Fri 8 Aug – Sonny Landreth…

I'm a long-time fan of Sonny Landreth. I saw him live for the first time at a Jazz Fest several years back when I still lived in New Orleans, and remember thinking he was absolutely fantastic at the time. I was super-excited to see that he was coming to Houston, and so talked a friend into going to see him with me.

First of all, I will say: he was as excellent as remembered. The guy can jam. But the show was a total letdown. It was packed to the gills with…

it's been a while since i've done a "virtually unknown album review." i've been busy. or lazy. whatever.

so i discovered subrosa union when i saw them open up for fishbone a couple months back. talk about a kick-ass show, those fuckers can still rock. but yeah, back to subrosa union. they were one of three opening bands, and they really stood out to me as fun and different, enough so that i bought their album, looking forward, off of itunes the next day.

my rating? 4 out of 5 stars

this is a pretty good album for what…

i'm so amazed (and a little disappointed) that in all of the 8 years i lived in new orleans, i never once saw the n'awlins gumbo kings perform. i actually stumbled over one of their tracks (ufo saloon) at allaboutjazz.com, and i'm really glad i did.

album - ufo saloon
rating - 4.5 out of 5

i think a big part of the reason that i love this album so much is because it has such a new orleans flavor to it. there's a great mix here of traditional jazz, new orleans style brass, ragtime, and upbeat funk…

i found mark kleinhaut (of the mark kleinhaut trio) through the all about jazz website. contemporary jazz artists allow them to publish one track off a new release for download, so users can decide whether they're into an artist before springing for the cd. the track kleinhaut had up was sister cuba, and i immediately loved it.

album - holding the center
rating - 4 out of 5

it took a while for this album to grow on me, mainly because it's a different jazz sound from what i'm usually attracted to. sister cuba is a great introductory…

i thought i'd do something new. it occurred to me that there is little value in reviewing artists or albums which already have a wide fan base. typically, you're just saying what others have already said (or at least, thought). it seems to me that there is much more benefit in reviewing artists that few people have heard of or listened to, both because it can bring exposure to lesser known artists, and because it can help listeners decide if it's worth $10 to experiment with a new artist.

so yeah… who knows how good i'll be at this, but…

in my complete obliviousness, i was, until this weekend, utterly unaware that cat stevens was releasing a new album under his muslim name, yusuf islam. once i found out, of course, i had to run out and get it. i mean, it's cat, right?

wrong.

my initial impression of the album was, most of all, disappointed. gone were the addictive melodies and insightful lyrics of the cat stevens days. in their place, songs which featured a familiar voice performing repetitive choruses to slightly uncomfortable melodies.

that was my initial impression.

i'm not one to give up easily - i've…