blues
The irrepressible musical gift of Huddie Ledbetter
Before his genius was widely recognised, the blues singer known as Lead Belly survived not only America’s most brutal prisons but cruel betrayal by his racist ‘manager’
Tenderness and menace: Bob Dylan, at the London Palladium, reviewed
Bob Dylan has always toyed with audiences. He plays what he wants, how he wants, letting his mood dictate tempo…
How I fell in love with the blues
I was never into the blues that much. I listened to a bit of Roy Buchanan and Rory Gallagher but…
Banal and profound, bent and beautiful: Nick Cave & Warren Ellis at Edinburgh Playhouse reviewed
Nick Cave has always been drawn to parable and fable, but more than ever these days he is engaged in…
Could she be the new Sade? Celeste at Union Chapel reviewed
Some years ago, when I was the music editor of a newspaper, I called a number of historians of black…
Jason Ricci is my mentor, guru and anointed one
A second week recovering in bed in this pleasant south-facing bedroom. If I sit up, my back resting against whitewashed…
The dazzling, devious, doomed sound of James Booker
Dr John called James Booker ‘the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced’. Booker died…
Ranges from the slight to the first-rate: Neil Young’s Homegrown reviewed
Grade: B+ Neil Young has been mining his own past very profitably for a long time now, disinterring a seemingly…
Contains the loveliest new song I've heard in decades: Bob Dylan's new album reviewed
Grade: A ‘Rough’ in terms of the mostly spoken vocals, but only ‘rowdy’ if you’re approaching your 80th birthday, which…
Rap that feels like a sociology lecture: Loyle Carner at Alexandra Palace reviewed
A few years ago, I asked the young American soul singer Leon Bridges — a latter-day Sam Cooke, with the…
Magnificently incoherent: Royal Trux’s White Stuff reviewed
Grade:A Royal Trux are back — kind of. Singer (if that’s what you want to call what she does) Jennifer…
The BBC admit they’re not ready to switch off analogue radio
As Bob Shennan, the BBC’s director of radio and music admitted this week, there are almost two million podcast-only listeners…
Low life
Five and the Red One are a German covers band. It’s probably the most uninspiring name for a rock band…
Is there anything a gospel choir can't cheer up?
‘I’m starting to think that all of the world’s major problems can be solved with either oyster sauce or backing…
Chris Barber should let someone meaner tell his story
Chris Barber, still going strong with his big band, was born in 1930. He heard jazz as a schoolboy on…
