Author: Bill Bentley

Blind Boys of Alabama, Atom Bomb. As the new century started almost 17 years ago, one of America’s most venerable gospel groups turned a page in their playbook. The Blind Boys of Alabama signed to Peter Gabriel’s Real World label and took off for new territory. Atom Bomb was the last of four records done...

Daniel Foose, of Waters and Ghosts. Talk about inspired: bassist and composer Daniel Foose grew up in Austin with deep Mississippi roots, went to college in Denton, Texas and then lit out for New York. Once there, he worked his way into the jazz world and, also, performed with Lady Gaga. Why not? On Foose’s...

Hayes Carll, Lovers and Leavers. It’s always a promising sign when the phrase “Produced by Joe Henry” is on an album. It means the music inside will be deserving of the pinnacle of production that Henry brings to the studio. With Hayes Carll, that would never be in question. He is such a one-of-a-kind singer-songwriter...

Joseph Arthur, The Family. Have mercy. How does someone like Joseph Arthur continually top himself? He’s one of the most free-range rockers the world has seen the past 20 years, and just when you think Arthur can’t take it any farther, wham. There he goes again. Joseph Arthur turns his laser soul on his past...

Eric Clapton, I Still Do. It’s highly likely that if Eric Clapton was only allowed to play one style of music (as if such a thing were ever possible), it would be blues. There is something about his past that makes blues the salve for all that ails him. When he tears relentlessly into songs...

Terry Adams, Talk Thelonious. Would anyone in their right mind take on Thelonious Monk for an entire album? Well, “right mind” and Terry Adams sometimes seem mutually exclusive, which is all the better for those committed to hearing great music. This album’s subtitle says it all: “NRBQ + plays Terry Adams arrangements of Thelonious Monk...

Sam Butler, Raise Your Hands! Sometimes a new album comes from so far out in left field it doesn’t even show up on incoming radar. It just hits like a full force gale, and doesn’t stop making a stand and raising sand. Sam Butler has been the guitarist in the Blind Boys of Alabama for...

Alabama Shakes, Sound & Color. Bless whoever threw all the goofer dust into the fried grits, because on their sophomore album it sure sounds like the Alabama Shakes set their chickens free. There is such a wild freedom of expression that no way will anyone ever mistake this rootsy band again as more of the...

Bob Dylan, Shadows in the Night. It’s obviously late in the evening when Bob Dylan brings out the Great American Songbook. The moon is full, the stars are shining, and the sky is darker than blue. Still, Dylan zeroes in on some of the greatest ballads ever written, with names like Irving Berlin, Rodgers and...

Kristin Andreassen, Gondolier. Beginning the year with an inspired singer-songwriter who, among many flights of fancy, wishes her childhood pet dog had been a horse, seems like a good way to get the party started. Kristin Andreassen’s first onstage experiences may have been as a professional clogger in Annapolis, Maryland, but it was clear from...