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The event was simply billed as "Willie Nelson Sings the Blues," but the historic two-night stand on January 12 and 13, 2007 at Jazz at Lincoln Center was far more than that. Call it a summit meeting between two American icons, Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis, two of the most significant figures in m...

How do you condense 15 years of music down to 76 minutes? In the case of this survey of the second phase of R.E.M.'s career, the answer is: Exceptionally well. The dangling carrot for diehards is two new songs; the rapid fire "Bad Day" hurtles along like the kissing cousin of "It's the End of the Wo...

Steve Cropper's guitar, production and songwriting embodied the sound and the spirit of Stax and the southern soul of the `60s. At the same time, in the Northeast, there was a band called The Rascals, whose sound was epitomized by the brilliant songs, B-3 organ and voice of Felix Cavaliere. Now the...

As Greatest Hits--and particularly the busking pavement jazz of "Lovecats"--reminds us, the best Cure singles were very often tangential exercises; they offered a goth-free playtime divergence from some of the weightier studiousness of those early albums. Or, as smudged frontman Robert Smith say...

After making his major mark on the music scene in 2004 via Southside the Top 20-placing love-struck anthem on which he collaborated with Ashanti, Lloyd released his debut disc of the same title. In the years that have followed, he’s proven himself as a legitimate industry player, generating hits l...

Soul deep Brit James Hunter - who possesses a "tight, slithery soul groove" and a "sweet growl" (NY Times) - will make his Hear Music debut with the release of 'The Hard Way.' The new album finds Hunter delving further into the realm of deep soul on a set of all-original material. 'The Hard Way' wa...

Montreal's Arcade Fire brings a theatricality, an intensity, an insanity, and a penchant for amazing hooks to their debut full-length. You've never heard such energy, beauty, and emotion from such a young band. Fans of Neutral Milk Hotel, Broken Social Scene, and Roxy Music's first two albums will h...

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Moving to Los Angeles after an unproductive stint in Nashville, Kentucky-born Dwight Yoakam made a name for himself by reviving the more robust honky-tonk traditions of the Bakersfield Sound--a bold contrast with Music City's assembly-line approach. In 1984, his independently released six-song EP, G...

Though Amos Lee's music is frequently described as a fusion of folk and soul, such an equation fails to reflect the singular artistry of this impressive debut. Like labelmate Norah Jones (who guests on two cuts), the Philadelphia singer-songwriter recognizes the power of simplicity, distilling an em...