Death Cab For Cutie – Kintsugi
A number one position for an album named after the Japanese art of using broken pottery shows nothing is broken for Death Cab. Kintsugi is as melodic and driving as anything the band has created, and puts the group solidly in the “here to stay” status. I first saw the band with my then-middle school daughter. DCFC was headlining with the Psychedelic Furs, and I walked away from the experience even more of a “Furs” Richard Butler fan, but also a new Death Cab acolyte as well. Hearing “The New Year” (Trasatlanticism, 2003) for the first time live in that concert back then created a respect I feel again with songs like “No Room In Frame” from Kintsugi.
Anthology – Steve Howe
The guitar wizard from Yes created as much solo work as he did with his legendary progressive rock band. Rhino Records has lovingly compiled a two-disc retrospective with the help of Howe and his son. In addition, Steve has remastered much of the work and included a song-by-song introspection in the liner notes which makes the release a great tribute to the guitarist’s virtuosity which is worth of discovery for any fan of Yes and prog rock in general.
Keith Jarrett – Creation
Even Miles Davis was befuddled at Keith Jarrett’s ability to sit down at a piano in front of a live audience and improvise for two hours, but Jarrett continues to do it as a septuagenerian. Creation was recorded at concerts he played in Europe, Canada and Japan in 2014, and the jazz master shows that he has lost little if any of his impromptu creativity. His famous trio has retired, but one hopes he’ll play solo as long as his fingers continue to move.
Mark Knopfler – Tracker
The sound of Dire Straits long behind him, Knopfler has compiled a body of solo work that stands on its own. When I hear him now, I have to remind myself that he is British and isn’t writing from experience as a boy from some Mississippi plantation. Tracker, as with all his solo work, is replete with images of rural, hard working men and woman with haunted pasts they cannot escape, characters from the road that roam the outskirts of dusty towns, and lovers with nothing but themselves from which to draw hope. It’s another in a long line of strong work in which Knopfler is creating his own genre.
Will Tucker – Worth The Gamble
This young Memphis bluesman has succeeded in transferring his energetic live act to disc, and Worth The Gamble is an apt title for his effort. Already a top draw on Beale Street, this guitarist is on the cusp of breaking out in much the fashion that Samantha Fish has this year, keeping the blues tradition not only alive but fresh. Tucker’s voice is strong and his playing is unapologetically Memphis-based. He is proud of his heritage and would make W.C. Handy proud of Tennessee’s newest and sassiest artist.
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