Joe Jackson, Look Sharp!, 1979 on A&M

Joe Jackson’s debut full length, with “Is She Really Going Out With Him?,” “Fools In Love,” and “Sunday Papers.” Love this iconic cover photo by Brian Griffin. Recorded…

Joe Turner, Singing the Blues, 1967 on BluesWay / ABC

“Big” Joe Turner here with Buddy Lucas, Patti Bown, Wally Richardson, Thornel Schwartz, Bob Bushnell, Panama Francis, and Herbie Lovelle. This was his debut album on BluesWay though…

Gerry Mulligan, Concert Days, 1966 on Sunset Records

Although this compilation came out in the mid-sixties, the recordings are all from 1954-1957. Thanks to the Gerry Mulligan Discography compiled by Antoine Perier, Gérard Dugely, and Kenneth…

Boygenius, The Record, 2023 on Interscope

Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus follow up to their self-titled EP as boygenius back in 2018. Loved that EP and all the other collaborations they’ve done…

Dire Straits, Alchemy – Dire Straits Live, 1984 on Warner Brothers

Wonderful 2xLP live album of early 80s Dire Straits. Recorded in London at the Hammersmith Odeon over two nights in July 1983. Great versions of “Romeo and Juliet”…

Paul McCartney and Wings, Band on the Run, 1973 on Apple Records

The third Wings album, this time credited to Paul McCartney & Wings. Includes the title track, plus “Jet” and “Let Me Roll It.” This lineup includes Denny Laine,…

Mose Allison, Down Home Piano, 1966 on Prestige

This 1966 release collects instrumental performances from six albums he released on Prestige in the late 50s and early 60s. There’s a similar Mose Allison Sings which collects…

Gerry Mulligan Tentette & Quartet, Walking Shoes, 1953 on Capitol

This LP was a reissue of what had been a 10″ record – Gerry Mulligan And His Ten-Tette – with two tracks from Gene Norman Presents The Gerry…

Grandaddy, Blu Wav, 2024 on Dangerbird

New record from 90s indie rock band Grandaddy – their first in ~6 years and the first since bassist Kevin Garcia died. Blu wav is meant to be…

Simon & Garfunkel, The Concert In Central Park, 1982 on Warner Bros

One of the best live albums from one of my favorite duos. Good variety of tempos and tunes, enough stage banter to feel live but no so much…

Jeff Beck, Blow By Blow, 1975 on Epic

Jeff Beck is a guitarists’ guitarist – constantly named by other greats as one of the greatest but not given quite the same public acclaim. This 1975 album…

Abbey Lincoln, Abbey is Blue, 1960 on Riverside

I first discovered Abbey Lincoln via Vinyl Me Please’s reissue of It’s Magic from 1958, in the VMP Classics Series. This album was a followup to that, her…

Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’, 1958 on Blue Note

Fantastic late 50s “hard bop” jazz record, with Clark joined by Art Farmer (trumpet), Jackie McLean (alto sax), Paul Chambers (bass), and Philly Joe Jones on drums. Recorded…

Violent Femmes, Violent Femmes (box set), 2024 on Craft Recordings

This was one of my favorite albums of the 1980s (it came out on Slash Records in 1983), and I’ve been looking forever for a decent copy on…

Sinéad O’Connor, The Lion and the Cobra, 1987 on Chrysalis / Ensign

This was Sinéad’s debut album and is still just astonishingly great. The spoken word intro in gaelic by Enya before “Never Get Old” is Psalm 91: For He…

Traffic, Welcome to the Canteen, 1971 on United Artists

As a result of some contractual disputes, this is credited on the labels and cover directly to Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Dave Mason, Chris Wood, Rick Grech, “Reebop”…

Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington, Ella at Duke’s Place, 1966 on Verve

The album is divided between “The Pretty, The Lovely, The Tender, The Hold-Me-Close Side” and “The Finger-Snapping, Head-Shaking, Toe-Tapping, Go-For-Yourself Side.” Recorded by Val Valentin and produced by…

Art Farmer, Portrait of Art Farmer, 1958 on Stereo Records

“Stereo Records” was a jazz label made by Contemporary Records in 1958 to push records made with the new-fangled stereo technology: Stereophonic two-channel disc recording utilizing Westrex 45-45…

David Porter, Chapter 1: Back in the Day, 2022 on MIME Records

David Porter is maybe best well-known as a songwriter and producer – the staff writer at Stax records who penned “Hold On, I’m Coming” and “Soul Man” among…

Michelle Shocked, The Texas Campfire Tapes, 1986 on Mercury / Cooking Vinyl

This was the debut album for Michelle Shocked, purportedly recorded by Cooking Vinyl founder Pete Lawrence on a Sony Walkman at an unplanned performance at the Kerrville Folk…