Music Genres

The second release from the Americana-country-rock singer-songwriter is another layered, emotion-laden effort.

A new jazz palette for the nylon-string guitar is due, and on the strength of this album it's clear Nate Najar is an avatar for just that.

The trio’s rapport is congenial as they venture off into terrain outside of the perimeters of the originals that they retool.

These are in no particular order, except for this first one, my vote for song of 2016, at least for guitar. After listening to Joe Bonamassa's blistering, searing solo, you will not forget it anytime soon.

Sadly, through the cruelty of time and mortality, The Band itself ceased to be many years ago but Robbie Robertson himself is still telling stories and spinning guitar chords through his music.

As for the music of 2016, there was the usual amount of "meh" mixed in with a host of impressive releases. Certainly, there were no game-changers that I heard. (Sorry Kanye and Kendrick.)

Two new releases show the continuing vitality of music of centuries past.

Yoshiki has used emotional trauma as the raw material to build the rest of his life and art. It also serves as the centerpiece of his Classical Special show, which, like his concerts with X Japan, has a resonant energy that remains with one long after the program has ended.

In the wake of the singer's untimely death on December 25, 2016, critics, fans and the curious have delved back into George Michael's expansive catalog. Brash, fun and just a little bit rude, 'Freeek!' is one of George Michael's stickier urban-pop confections.

‘When The Earth Was Still Flat’ seems to have been written for a time when we believed in things that long have been disproved.