Music Scene

The release of Patti Parks – Come Sing With Me marks the second release on the VizzTone label and features a Who’s Who of musicians, including a couple duets with Multi-Blues Music Award winner Johnny Rawls, who also plays guitar on three tracks. The release contains 10 refreshing new songs that sway from ballad poignant tracks, to blazing tracks, to down home Blues; Patti Parks – Come Sing With Me has it all.

The latest release from Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia (aka The Blood Brothers) is Blood Brothers – Live in Canada, which is a tour-de-force in live Blues and Rock & Roll. The release features many of their songs from the critically acclaimed release Mike Zito & Albert Castiglia – Blood Brothers that was released in March 2023. The Blues and Rock & Roll are in good hands, and voice, when performed by Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia.

As the VizzTone label group aptly noted to Mathias Lattin, "Welcome to the family," as they released Mathias Lattin – Up Next. All songs on the release were written by Mathias Lattin and coupled with his exceptional guitar work and vocals, the result is a release that crosses genres from Blues, Jazz, Rock, Funk, and Swing.

  Barcelona-born pianist, composer, and music director Olivia Pérez-Collellmir now makes her home in Boston, Massachusetts and is on the faculty at Berklee Music. Her self-titled debut release, Olivia, hit the streets on September 15, 2023, and if you love Latin jazz piano, you really need to give this album a listen. Joining Olivia Perez-Collellmir on piano is a multi-talented ensemble of international musicians that make it such an engaging and sensational release.

For those who like to jam and enjoy listening to "Road Trip" jamming music, the Popa Chubby and the Beast Band – Live at G. Bluey’s Juke Joint NYC double-CD set has to be added to the music collection. The double-CD set contains 19-tracks with 11 original tracks performed by Popa’s all-star "Beast Band," consisting of Popa Chubby on guitar, Mike Merrit on bass, Mike Dimeo on keyboards, and Stefano Giudici on drums. With 12 tracks running 6:30+ minutes or …

The latest release from Bluesman pianist Mitch Woods – Friends Along The Way, features a stellar cast of Blues friends that have been a part of his life "along the way" namely Van Morrison, Taj Mahal, Ruthie Foster, Charlie Musselwhite, Elvin Bishop, John Hammond, Joe Louis Walker, Maria Muldaur, Kenny Neal, Cyril Neville, Marcia Ball, John Lee Hooker, and James Cotton. With friends like that, I thought this release was going to be good before I even gave it a …

Neal Richardson’s latest release Neal Richardson – The Maximalist is a musical journey of life and love. The story is told through Neal’s deft melding of jazz classics, with his skillful interpretations, and five original tracks. A star-studded band with each lending their unique talent and perception to the tracks resulting in a must have release. Neal’s vocal prowess and piano playing has never been better, I am now looking forward to his next release.

Blues Rock guitarist, singer, songwriter Eric Johanson has a new album out that totally rocks entitled, The Deep And The Dirty. Joining Eric on this stellar release are Terrence Higgins on drums, Eric Vogel on bass, Jesse Dayton on shaker and tambourine, and Patrick Herzog on shaker and tambourine. The 12-track album was released on the Ruf Records label, hit the streets on July 28, 2023, and is well worth giving it many a listen.

Fans of live Blues will flock to the latest release from Backtrack Blues Band – A Day By The Bay, which was recorded live at the Tampa Bay Blues Festival. Backtrack Blues Band has been performing for over 40-years and have performed with a Who’s Who of artists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, BB King, Gregg Allman, and the list goes on. The nine-track live release will find its way on many a Blues fans play list and is the …

Instrumental jazz piano fans are in for a treat with the stunningly gorgeous new 15-track album from the Danny Fox Trio – Time Took Care of It released on the Adhyâropa Records label. Since 2008, the Danny Fox Trio comprised of Danny Fox on piano, Chris van Voorst van Beest on bass, and Max Goldman on drums, has been exciting audiences with their version of jazz that "cooks." For their fourth album, Time Took Care of It, Danny proves his …