Tuesday, April 06, 2021

Music Reviews - February-March 2021

Here are some short reviews of some of the more notable music I listened to recently.

  • Dead and Company, October 31, 2019, Madison Square Gardens, New York, NY. I am not a big fan of Dead and Company, but this show was special. All the songs, but for the encore, were written by the late Robert Hunter, who had died not long before the concert. It's a solid and entertaining show, and John Mayer has reined in his tendency to noodle aimlessly on jams. 
  • Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul: Soulfire Live. I wish I'd seen this tour live. It's some of the best soul- and R&B-influenced rock music I've ever heard and an absolute joy to listen to. 
  • The Band: Stage Fright (50 Anniversary Reissue). The sound on the album is a bit cleaner and more open, the demos are interesting if you like that sort of thing, but the 1971 concert from the Royal Albert Hall in London is the star of this set. 
  • Pharoah Sanders: Promises.  I didn't have high expectations for this; after all, he just turned 80, and how well can an 80-year-old play the sax? Well, I was wrong on that. Promises is brilliant and easily his best album since Message From Home released in 1996, and one of the highlights of his career.

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