Chic | I Got Protection

You don’t have to like the steam hammer disco sound of chic. But: The groove that the band around guitarist Nile Rogers and bassist Bernard Edwards instigated was unrivalled. Maybe even to this day. Rarely has one heard such a compelling drive, such a well-oiled...

Vince Gill | Time To Carry On

What music can do. It can give you energy, it can supply you with adrenaline, it can calm you down or make you aggressive. And it can comfort you. Country star and super guitarist Vince Gill has released one of the most beautiful and touching consolations on the 2006...

Lee Ritenour | No Sympathy

Be careful, kitsch alert! “No Sympahty” from the 1981 Lee Ritenour album “R.I.T.” comes so soft and gentle and, okay, snivelling that a pack of handkerchiefs should be within reach when listening to it. If you don’t have a problem with...

Jars Of Clay | Famous Last Words

The first chords of the acoustic guitar are still reminiscent of the Oasis classic “Wonderwall”. But that will soon be over. After a few more bars and the first verse of “Famous Last Words” the chorus lights up – and you think of the...

ZZ TOP | El Diablo

Somewhere I read that Jimi Hendrix was an early fan of Bill Gibbons, the guitarist of ZZ Top. It’s easy to imagine. The full-bodied musician plays an impudently cool and bluesy guitar. An absolute master of reduction. He also proves this in the not so well known...

Jess Roden Band | Can’t Get Next To You

A voice like a force of nature. Black, powerful, soulful, bluesy. Everything there. Nevertheless, Jess Roden from the British Kidderminster, who in reality is quite white, remained an absolute insider’s tip throughout his career – which, after all, started...

Richard Page | Even The Pain

Who remembers the band Mr. Mister? With “Broken Wings” and “Kyrie” Richard Page and Steve George, the two heads behind Mr. Mister, had top hits worldwide. But as fast as the band showed up and conquered the charts, as fast they disappeared...

Brad Paisley | Make A Mistake

When Brad Paisley released the album “Mud On The Tires” in 2003, he was still quite far away from superstar status, his popularity as a CMA Awards host, Grammys and private jet. In the early 2000s, the smart guitarist and singer was still considered a...

Keb Mo | The Reflection

As a four-time Grammy winner, Keb Mo can’t exactly be described as an insider tip. Nevertheless, Kevin Moore, as the singer, guitarist and songwriter, who was born in Los Angeles in 1951, is bourgeois, is probably the most popular name among music connoisseurs...

Small Faces | Tin Soldier

Admittedly, “Tin Soldier” is not exactly what you might call a rare pearl. The song was a hit for the Small Faces, on Youtube almost six million watched their performance on French television. Those who see and hear the performance of the four Small Faces...

Amy Grant | House Of Love

A good song always sounds good. Even without a big arrangement and without opulent accompaniment. A really good song sounds good even if it is performed with guitar and vocals only … …I was able to experience that in 2014 in a small club in Leiper’s...

Michael Franks | How The Garden Grows

Since the early 70s Michael Franks has been providing the music community – and with it me – with very special music. Songs that are somewhere between jazz, folk and pop … … and mostly highly melodic and often provided with complex arrangements...

Hirth Martinez | Love Song

Mid-1970s, late ’70s. I still wanted to be a drummer and bought every album one of my favourite drummers played on – cracks like Steve Gadd, Jeff Porcaro and Carlos Vega. So I came across the Los Angeles-based singer and songwriter Hirth Martinez. I got...

Don Henley | New York Minute

Dramatic, sinister, ominous. Eagles drummer, singer and songwriter always had a weakness for the downside of the sunny West Coast medal. However, he has never brought it to the fore more beautifully and forcefully, … … as in the “New York...

Donald Fagen | Ruby Baby

In 1982 Steely Dan singer Donald Fagen took a solo break. Why? After all, his album “The Nightfly” hardly sounded any different than the albums he recorded with his Steely Dan special Walter Becker. But that doesn’t mean that “The...

Tom Scott | Maybe I’m Amazed

Tom Scott may still be my favorite saxophonist today. Not because he would have such a breathtaking technique at his disposal – he probably has, but I can’t judge it – but because he simply plays incredibly beautiful melodies, and in addition...

Tyler Childers | Whitehouse Road

If you don’t know Tyler Childers – there are still far too many of them – and want to get an idea of the Kentucky-born singer and songwriter, you should think of a young, somewhat drunken Bob Dylan on a country trip … … … slim guy,...

Peter Allen | Bi-Coastal

In 1980 the Australian Peter Allen released the album “Bi-Coastal”. The work produced by David Foster featured everything that was good and expensive in Los Angeles in terms of musicians and songwriters … …Toto members Steve Lukather and Jeff...

George Benson | Star Of A Story (X)

The 1980 George Benson album “Give Me The Night” could be raved about almost any of the ten titles. No wonder, since there was a very special summit meeting in the Californian Kendun Recorder and Cherokee Studios … George Benson at his best. Producer...

Ed Gerhard | The Water Is Wide

It must have been like that in 1998. I had to go to Nashville for a music magazine for the Summer-NAMM. A musical instrument fair. Fairs are known to be exhausting – but sometimes also enriching. Especially the evening program has its charm with its many...