64 articles
Bruce Lindsay
I was born in England to Scottish parents and fell in love with music in the early-1960s. My first record purchase was Elvis Presley's Devil In Disguise. Over the decades I've fallen in (and sometimes out) of love with jazz, blues, folk, prog rock, hard rock, punk, reggae, soul, R&B, disco, funk and hip hop. I'm immune to most classical music but allergic to opera. After unsuccessful attempts at higher education at Sheffield Polytechnic and Sheffield University I eventually returned to the poly and graduated in social studies in 1988 after qualifying as a nurse, became a semi-professional bass player in a variety of covers bands, acquired a PhD from the University of East Anglia and taught there for 20 years before giving up full-time health-care teaching and research to become a freelance writer. I write about jazz and blues for JJ and All About Jazz and I am one of the very few European critics who participate in the Downbeat Critics Poll each year. I'm the author of Shellac and Swing!: a social history of the gramophone in Britain (publication due early 2020) and Two Bold Singermen and the English Folk Revival: the lives, song traditions and legacies of Sam Larner and Harry Cox (publication due in 2021). My favourite instrument is the human voice and almost all of my favourite songs consist of fewer than four chords.
Tony Allen and Hugh Masekela: Rejoice
Ten years in the making, Rejoice was worth the wait. It’s a celebratory, groove-laden, thoughtful, danceable, collection from two of the great figures in...
Al Gold: Al Gold’s Paradise
So where is Al Gold’s Paradise? Based on the evidence from this album, it’s somewhere inside a roadside bar, filled with plenty of beer,...
Cherise: Paradise EP
Vocalist, songwriter, flautist and arranger Cherise was a member of Tomorrow’s Warriors at 16 and the winner of the Jazz FM vocalist of the...
Lightnin’ Hopkins: Four Classic Albums, Third Set
As the title of this two-CD set makes clear, this is yet another package of albums from bluesman Lightnin’ Hopkins. This time, the recordings...
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Gina Kronstadt: October Comes Too Soon
The press blurb that accompanies Gina Kronstadt’s third album describes the songs – all written by the singer – as “adult pop”. It’s not...
Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee: Four Classic Albums
One of the best-known and most stylish blues duos of all, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee get a deserved Avid Roots release for four...
The Niro: The Complete Jeff Buckley And Gary Lucas Songbook
Back in the early 1990s Jeff Buckley was the vocalist in Gods and Monsters, a band led by guitarist Gary Lucas. After one gig,...
Roberto Menescal: A Nova Bossa
Bossa nova conjures up visions of sun-kissed Rio beaches; of warm evenings dancing in beachside bars; of a girl from Ipanema; of cool, gently-swinging,...
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Red Kite: Theory Of Colours
Danish pianist and synthesiser player Esben Tjalve leads Red Kite, a sextet devoted to his own original compositions, on the band’s second album, Theory...
Théo Girard Quartet: Bulle
Théo Girard, Antoine Berjeaut and Sebastian Rochford originally came together as the Théo Girard Trio a few years ago, releasing 30 Years From in...
Billie Holiday: Billie Holiday Sings
This CD may be marketed as Billie Holiday Sings, but that album donates a mere eight tracks to this 22-track package, with the rest...
McAlmont & Webb: The Last Bohemians
Winning combinations are part of jazz history – Parker and Gillespie, Davis and Coltrane, Holiday and Young. Now we can add McAlmont and Webb...
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