Alice Coltrane: “Kirtan: Turiya Sings.” (Impulse)    In the early 1980s, Alice Coltrane recorded a collection of devotional songs with just her voice and a Wurlitzer organ. Subsequently, her vision inspired her to adorn the piece with synthesizers, strings and even sound effects. She would ultimately make it available as a sort of inspirational gift:...Read More

    I’ve never been sure why new music is cyclical. Business, of course, has its seasons. Likewise the planet. Music happens in a state of spontaneity, like any  art form. Nevertheless, mid to late summer, like the New Year, invariable sees a lull in activity, nationally speaking. This week, more than any other in...Read More

  I will start this week with a confession: Brace yourself. I came to terms with this many years ago but admitting it, especially in print, may have me drummed out of music circles and would surely have my hippie citizenship from my native Berkeley revoked. I have never been a fan of The Grateful...Read More

    When the local label Shifting Paradigm was founded, it felt more like a consortium or movement  rather than a business enterprise. Founder and guitarist Zacc Harris was a pup by local establishment standards at the time. Most of his cohorts were too. Not to be dismissive, these were seriously innovative and bold young...Read More

    There’s no hip way to say this: High Note Records, the brainchild of the late impresario, Joe Fields is the tomato bisque and grilled cheese of record labels. You know? Comfort food. There’s absolutely no shame in that whatsoever. Sometimes you want Escargot, and sometimes a P. B. and J with the crusts...Read More

  If we lived in a perfectly just artistic world, the cult band of cult bands, The National Rhythm and Blues Quartet, (NRBQ) would have been one of the earliest additions to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And bands like The Go-Go’s would have had to wait for the umpteenth 80’s nostalgia wave...Read More

  If you missed KO’s interview with Twin Cities singer Leslie Vincent, here it is in it’s entirety. She’s at Crooners this Saturday June 5th, if there are still tickets.  Read More

What seems like decades ago but was only a few years, producer and pop craftsman Don Was, of Detroit, seized the reins at the House Of Blue Note records. For anybody who showed consternation at the time, and there were a few pundits, Was immediately showed himself to be both reverent steward and a bold...Read More

    “Transformation is the highest expression of change.” Apt words from composer, reed man and Jazz At Lincoln Center mainstay Ted Nash when he was asked to distill his new release for Tiger Turn records. Indeed, transformation has been the bye-word for the past year  for reasons I need not explain. As it applies...Read More

  Anoka-based singer/songwriter Betty Danger released her fist full length cd “Enigma” this week. Recorded completely at home, it’s self-produced and entirely original material. Betty describes herself as “Outlaw Folk.” She breaks it down better than I can, and she plays live as well.     Expect to hear Betty Danger and many other local...Read More