Every week our staff of CD Reviewers bring you the best in Independent CD releases. Making a Scene is considered the number 1 resource for the independent musician and the fans that love them.
Tony Monaco The Definition of Insanity Chicken Coup Tony Monaco is a world class Hammond B3 player, mentioned in the same conversation with greats like Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff, and Shirley Scott. This is his eleventh album as a leader and it’s his most, as the title may suggest, wildly eclectic. Buoyed by a recent […]
Freshly Cut: jazz, blues and something extra in The Strands debut album. Patrick O’Heffernan Freshly Cut, the debut full length album by The Strands, will not only excite their local following, but introduce the wider world to Amanda Campbell’s languid pop/jazz and incisive love lyrics that manage to simultaneously chronicle ordinary life and higher principles. […]
Walter Trout Survivor Blues Provogue/Mascot Label Group After a residence in Los Angeles where guitarist Walter Trout found work with Big Mama Thornton, John Lee Hooker, and Joe Tex he became the lead guitarist in “Canned Heat”. He left them in 1985 only to join “John Mayall and his Bluesbreakers”. In 1989 he formed his […]
Ina Forsman Been Meaning To Tell You Ruf Records Nine years ago when vocalist Ina Forsman was only 17 she performed Etta James’ “All I Could Do Was Cry” on a Finnish TV talent show. Since then she began touring with Helsinki’s harp master Helge Tallqvist and Belgian guitarist Guy Verlinde, all the while honing […]
Santana In Search of Mona Lisa Concord Records Carlos Santana is a musical icon who has performed for three generations of listeners. To date he has sold 100 million records and won ten Grammy Awards. Among his other awards are being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; receiving the Billboard Latin Music […]
Ernie Watts Home Light Flying Dolphin Ernie Watts is one of our greatest living saxophonists. Certainly two-time Grammy winner. Watts has a uniquely versatile resume, having played with artists ranging from Cannonball Adderley to Frank Zappa with the Buddy Rich’s Big Band, Charlie Haden’s Quartet West, Oliver Nelson’s Orchestra, Gerald Wilson’s Orchestra, Doc Severinsen’s Tonight […]
DBUK Songs Nine Through Sixteen SCACUNINC DBUK is more formally known as Denver Broncos UK and is based out of Denver, CO. They are an offshoot of the experimental rock band Slim Cessna’s Auto Club (SCAC) in a slightly different configuration and a sound that some have described as Gothic Americana- a dark blend of […]
Vin Mott Rogue Hunter Independent While still a teen Vin Mott got bitten by the blues bug. It was the sound of the harmonica as played by Muddy Waters, Little Walter, and James Cotton. Mott studied at Boston’s Berklee College of Music and graduated with a degree in songwriting in 2011. He returned to NJ […]
Coyote Motel Ted Drozdowski Rock and roll is alive and well. To make my point I introduce you to Coyote Motel. This newest album from Ted Drozdowski has a real vintage feel to it. Ted Describes it as Evolutionary Cosmic Roots Music. It’s both sonic and soulful. It’s a good description. From the first needle […]
Paul Nelson Over Under Through Riverwide New Hampshire’s Paul Nelson emerges with an early entry for one of 2019’s best blues/roots releases. Yes, it’s only January but Nelson and his producer/multi-instrumentalist Tom Eaton (Vance Gilbert, Ellis Paul), have assembled top shelf New England players to generate a terrific sound – part roots, part blues – […]
Dave Rudolph Quintet Resonance Self-released Resonance is the recording debut for Tampa-based drummer Dave Rudolph as a bandleader. Rudolph leads a group of locally based musicians: tenor saxophonist Zach Bornheimer, guitarist LaRue Nickelson, pianist Pablo Arencibia, and bassist Alejandro Arenes, most of whom met at The University of South Florida where Rudolph earned two degrees […]
Beverley Church Hogan Can’t Get Out of This Mood Café Pacific The time-worn cliché of age is just a number seems more applicable recently as several artists in the jazz and blues genres are finding their way to recording studios as octogenarians. For vocalist Beverley Church Hogan, it’s for the first time. A sixty year […]
Chris O’Leary 7 Minutes Late American Showplace Music Soon after Chris O’Leary was honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps he joined Levon Helm and The Barnburners. As lead singer and front man he toured with Levon for six years. He eventually left the Barnburners to form his own band. He released his Chris O’Leary […]
Alice Wallace Into the Blue Into the Blue by Alice Wallace is burst of sunshine in your ears Patrick O’Heffernan (Los Angeles) Alice Wallace carries her own sunshine with her. Her radiant smile and cascading sun-gold hair on stage, the luminescence of her voice, both live and recorded – she just fills a room with […]
Amelia White Rhythm of the Rain Poets reach in and give voice to our greatest joys and darkest demons. Amelia White is one of Americana’s most gifted poets and songwriters and the album, Rhythm Of The Rain speaks to darkest of personal and political loss. The thirteen songs on this her seventh album, written while […]
Violet Days Made in My Head Patrick O’Heffernan Violet Days’ music has always been addictive. This Swedish collaborative project made up of singer-songwriter/artist Lina Hansson and renowned producer Kris Eriksson knows exactly how to create earworms that stay with you. Happily, Violet Days just released their debut EP, Made in My Head, produced by Eriksson. […]
Tomislav Goluban Chicago Rambler Spona Records Tomislav Goluban was inspired by harp masters Sonny Boy Williamson, Paul Butterfield, Gary Primich and others. The Croatian musician, whose surname translates to Pigeon in English, formed Little Pigeon’s Forhill Blues Band in 1997. His debut recording Pigeon’s Flight was released in 2005, and followed up in 2007 with […]
Truett Lies and Lightning Truett has just released his second EP, Lies and Lightning, and it may just be five songs but how happy your ears are going to be! It all starts with an irresistible drumbeat, provided by Paul Hammer, leading directly into a thicket of wild guitar riffs and somewhat distorted vocals for […]
Benny Turner & Cash McCall Going Back Home NOLA Blue The central question around many blues releases goes like this –“Is there anything new here?” Be careful. One quick view of these tracks from Benny Turner and Cash McCall such as “Spoonful,” ‘Built for Comfort” and “It Hurts Me Too” might cause many to quickly […]
Magela Herrera Explicaciones Brontosaurus Magela Herrera is a Cuban-born, Miami-based vocalist, composer and flute virtuoso making her debut as a bandleader with Explicaciones. Not since the days of those classic CTI Hubert Laws albums and those Atlantic LPs from Herbie Mann, has this writer heard such an expressive flutist. Yes, we could add Charles Lloyd’a […]
Brooks Mason Brooks Independent Brooks Mason has just put out his first solo EP., “brooks,” and you really should give it a listen. He’s only 22, but many of us around Atlanta have been hearing him play with his brother for years. The music he really loves is straight blues from the 50s and 60s, […]
Gaye Adegbalola The Griot Vizztone Label Group Gaye Adegbalola, born Gaye Todd, was given the name Adegbalola by a Yoruba (African) priest. She was a founding member of the group Saffire-The Uppity Blues Women and was with them for twenty-five years; they recorded nine albums before they ended their run in 2009. In 1990 Gaye […]
Seth Rosenbloom Keep On Turning HOLMZ Music Blues-rock guitar slingers are a dime a dozen these days, making it difficult to break through the clutter. Seth Rosenbloom has as good a chance as any though, with incendiary playing and superior songwriting. After all, it is mostly about the songs in the final analysis. Shredding can […]
Betty Bryant Project 88 Bry-Mar Music Few listens are more enjoyable than hearing an 88-year old pianist play and sing the music she loves, the music she was raised on, and the music that invigorates her. This writer can hardly comprehend how someone can play piano at that age; typing is hard enough now. This […]
The Boogie Kings Disturbing the Peace BluJazz/Spirit Bob Baldori and Arthur Migliazza bring four-handed boogie-woogie thunder on their collaborative and aptly named, Disturbing the Peace. Images of freight trains, highways, loud juke joints and boisterous road houses ring through this resounding set that often sounds like a full band. Yes, it’s generally loud and raucous […]
Music Maker Relief Foundation Blue Muse Big Legal Mess Records/Music Maker In 1989 Tim Duffy was a student at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill completing his master’s degree in Folklore. Duffy was documenting blues musicians including James “Guitar Slim” Stephens for the Southern Folklife Collection. Shortly before Stephen’s passing he urged Duffy […]
Doug MacDonald Trio with Harvie S and Steve Williams View of the City BluJazz This is guitarist/composer Doug MacDonald’s 13th solo release and fifth on the label. As one might glean from the cover art and album title, the transplanted West coaster is back in New York City for this straight-ahead date. MacDonald is a […]
Judy Night Quintet Sliding on Glass BluJazz/210 Live Sometimes second careers prove very rewarding and lead to some unexpected paths. Keyboardist and bandleader Judy Night spent most of her adult life as a practicing pediatrician but realized that she needed to fulfill her life-long passions for composition and playing, ultimately becoming a partner at and […]
Jorge Nila Tenor Time (tribute to the Tenor Masters) NinJazz This is an excellent introduction to some of the great jazz tenor saxophonists. Omaha, Oklahoma-based Jorge Nila has recovered from some health issues that sidelined him for the past three years and is back to pay tribute to some of his favorite inspirers. As Nila […]
Jack Mouse Group Intimate Adversary Tall Grass Drummer and composer Jack Mouse has returned to more classic jazz configuration and sound following his duo album Snakeheads and Ladybugs and the trio Three-Story Sandbox. Aboard are long-time cohorts Scott Robinson on tenor, Art Davis on trumpet and flugelhorn, along with John McLean on guitar and Bob […]
Dan Bonsanti & The 14 Jazz Orchestra The Future Ain’t What It Used to Be Dabon Music Arranger Dan Bonsanti is back with The 14 Jazz Orchestra following up the previously issued successful Nothing Hard Is Ever Easy. The big band is contemporary and creative with four reeds, three trumpets, two trombones, piano, guitar, bass, […]
The Kentucky Headhunters Live at the Ramblin’ Man Fair Alligator Records The Young brothers and their cousin Greg Martin were playing in bands together since 1968. They formed The Kentucky Headhunters with Doug Phelps in 1986 and released their debut recording “Pickin’ On Nashville” in 1989. The album sold over two million copies and garnered […]
Niecie Trouble With A Capital T Ride The Tiger Records Niecie was born in Detroit but prefers to tell people she was “born and raised in Motown”. During an early gig with a rock band in Lincoln Nebraska, vocalist Niecie was heard by Magic Slim who told her “Girl, you need to sing the […]
Eden Brent An Eden Brent Christmas with Bob Dowell Little Boogaloo Records/Yellow Dog Records Eden Brent is a three time Blues Music Award winner with ten nominations overall. She has won the Acoustic Artist of the Year, Acoustic Album of The Year and the coveted Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year Awards. Her last […]
Willa Vincitore Choices Self-release Willa Vincitore is the pride of the Hudson Valley region of New York, an area as steeped in the traditions of American music as much as any region. After all, it boasts Woodstock, Levon Helm’s Barn, and countless great musicians in roots, blues, and jazz. Even though Willa is relatively new […]
Lizanne Knott, Jesse Terry, Michael Logen Sunset Avenue Sessions Transoceanic Several Americana and folk artists have huge followings in the UK and remain a little lesser known here in the states. Lizanne Knott, Jesse Terry and Michael Logen are straddling that line, although their collaboration, Sunset Avenue Sessions, has already garnered heavy radio airplay and […]
Christmas Everywhere by Rodney Crowell New West Records 2018 Rodney Crowell’s Christmas Everywhere is the album that’ll restore your belief in the spirit of Christmas. December finds me kicking and dragging my feet as it pulls me towards Christmas. I’m not in the mood. No tree, no carols, and especially no malls! The last thing […]
Erin Harpe & The Delta Swingers The Christmas Swing Juicy Juju Records/Vizztone Label Group Erin Harpe & The Delta Swingers were formed in 2010. They won the Boston Blues Challenge twice to compete in the International Blues Challenge held annually in Memphis. In 2014 the band released their debut recording “Love Whip Blues”. Their follow […]
Mindi Abair & The Boneshakers All I Got For Christmas is The Blues Pretty Good For A Girl Records Mindi Abair and Randy Jacobs of The Boneshakers scored big with their album “The EastWest Sessions” and it finished #27 on the Roots Music Reports Top 200 Blues Album Chart for 2017. Abair has eight previous […]
Making a Scene Presents Viola Krouse’s Top 42 Americana CD’s for 2018! Viola is one of the newest writers to come on board to the Making a Scene Family. She is highly respected in the world of Americana artists. He CD reviews are insightful and has the ability to find great music that is on […]
Making a Scene Presents Richard Ludmerer’s Top 40 Indie Blues Recordings of 2018 (In no particular order) Richard Ludmerer was the first writer that believed in what we were doing here at Making a Scene! He has become a valuable partner and a big reason we have become successful! He is unarguably one of the most […]
Making a Scene presents Rhetta’s Top 15 Indie Blues CD’s of 2018! Rhetta Akamatsu is a highly respected journalist and published writer! Her books, available on Amazon.com, have run the gamut of subjects from Music, women in history to Ghosts and Haunted history (*see links below to get your own copies of her books)! We […]
Katie Henry High Road Independent Katie Henry, until now, has been one of New Jersey’s many musical treasures. This is her debut recording which will let others hear her vocal and instrumental talents. Henry plays several instruments including the locally made Vintage Vibe piano, acoustic piano, guitar, and clavinet. If that sounds “keyboard heavy,” she’s […]
Making a Scene presents Jim Hynes Top 25 CD picks of 2018! Jim Hynes is a highly respected music journalist, who we are proud to have as part of the Making a Scene Family of writers! In Addition Jim also writes for “Elmore Magazine“, “Glide” and “Country Standard Time“! He brings us his top 25 […]
Beth Hart Live at The Royal Albert Hall Provogue/Mascot Label Group DVD Beth Hart has a total of twelve studio albums including several collaborations with Joe Bonamassa. Her last solo studio album “Fire On The Floor” resulted in three Blues Music nominations and her winning the 2018 BMA for Best Instrumentalist – Vocals. Earlier this […]
Eric Bibb Global Griot Stony Plain Records Eric Bibb, the son of Leon Bibb a singer-songwriter popular during the folk music scene of the 1960’s, grew up surrounded by the folksingers of the time including Leadbelly, Odetta, Pete Seeger, Paul Robeson and Bob Dylan. Other influences include Joan Baez, Richie Havens and Taj Mahal. Bibb […]
James Maddock If It Ain’t Fixed Don’t Break It The newest album by James Maddock is a reflective American songbook James Maddock style. “If It Ain’t Fixed Don’t Break It” takes you back in time. It’s new music by a reflective rocker and a soulful crooner. These songs are a nod to music that shaped […]
Paul Sachs Full Detroit Paul Sachs releases his sixth independent release “Full Detroit”. The 2013 Kerrville “New Folk” winner introduces us to a host of characters familiar and honest. Paul Sachs sings with a phrasing that’s familiar but the story is all his own, and it tells your story too. Listening to this album is […]
Nicole Wagner And the Sky Caught Fire The ten songs on “And The Sky Caught Fire” are predominantly written or co written by Nicole Wagner. One song, “Reconsider Me” is a cover tune. These songs find Nicole soul-searching. A songwriter and avid baseball fan, Nicole weaves baseball and relationships seamlessly. There are a few gems […]
Ted Piltzecker Brindica Zoho Former trumpeter, now vibraphonist and bandleader Ted PIltzecker is making his debut for the Zoho label and delivering his fifth album. While his previous output featured standards, tangos, and African- flavored tunes his eclecticism has gone even further here on Brindica. Some may quickly notice how that term is an acronym […]
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