Richard Gehr on February 25, 2021
“We are stardust, billion-year-old carbon,” Saint Joni once sang. It’s a notion that Rob Mazurek and his Exploding Star Orchestra expand upon on Dimensional Stardust (International Anthem/Nonesuch). Mazurek has Sun “Stardust From Tomorrow” Ra much in mind as well: The 13-piece Exploding Star includes Damon Locks’ dry intergalactic narration, a percussion trio’s orbiting rhythms, and […]
Jeff Tamarkin on February 22, 2021
Cory Henry has plenty to say on Something to Say, but he saves his weightiest statements for the latter half of the album, starting with “Rise,” one of four tracks featuring the keyboardist’s regular Funk Apostles. “It looks as though all hope is lost in the world today/ We’re all trying to find the light, […]
Jeff Tamarkin on February 19, 2021
The recent film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which is now streaming on Netflix, is not so much a biopic of the renowned “Mother of the Blues” as the fictionalized tale of the musicians who accompany her in a Chicago recording studio. More pointedly, it focuses on the travails of African-Americans who chose to make their […]
