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'Blogarrhea: Songwriter Hall of Famer Chip Taylor Releases Two New Homespun Folksy CDs

On June 9, in New York City, the Songwriters Hall of Fame inducted Chip Taylor, 76, the outlaw country singer who, like Willie Nelson, rejected Nashville's strict 1970s conformity. Unlike Willie, though, who packed up and moved to Austin, Taylor packed up and quit the music business entirely in 1980 to become a professional gambler. The brother of actor Jon Voight and volcanologist Barry Voight certainly wasn't going to listen to anybody tell him how to make his music.
By Mike Greenblatt

  • 'REVIEW: Ben Adkins, 'Salmagundi,' Self-Released

    In 1600s England, they called a large mixed-salad "salmagundi," meaning many ingredients. The same can be said for Florida drummer Ben Adkins and his quintet's debut self-release of the same name. From the New Orleans party of "That Jambalaya" with rampaging guest solos by sax man Michael Emmert and guitarist Chris Adkins, to Blue Mitchell's classic bebop "Fungii Mama," which Ben starts with a searing drum solo, Salmagundi, indeed, has more than just lettuce and tomatoes.
    By Mike Greenblatt

  • 'REVIEW: Dave Douglas, 'Dark Territory,' Greenleaf Music

    We have a winner! A wildly uncompromising synthesis of electronica, jazz and soundtrack (for a movie that doesn't exist), trumpeter/band leader/composer Dave Douglas has really entered some 'Dark Territory' here (Greenleaf Music). It's the follow-up to last year's aptly-named 'High Risk.' Now, though, he's not only balancing on a high wire of expectations, he's dancing in the dark.
    By Mike Greenblatt
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