Ross Johnson

Tenor saxophonist Charles Lloyd turns in another ECM recording that looks and sounds like much of the German label's high-quality "chamber jazz" output with an emphasis on clean recording sound and austere record cover graphics. ECM has garnered a reputation for a uniformity of sound and presentation during the past...

Pianist Brad Mehldau is an interesting critter: a rather uncommercial-sounding jazz player who alternates between solo piano and work with his trio of bass, drums, and piano. He is not quite 30 years old, has a multirecord deal with Warner Bros., writes brainy and ponderous liner notes to accompany his...

Once known as the Hawks when they backed Arkansas rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins, they jokingly dubbed themselves the Crackers. They finally became the Band when they served as Bob Dylan's back-up group on the legendary The Basement Tapes done in Woodstock, New York, in 1967, following the songwriting legend's near-fatal...

The Beach Boys did make more than just one great album -- speaking of Pet Sounds of course -- before they became an oldies-circuit cliché and a mere job for Mike Love. This two-for-one re-release of Sunflower and Surf's Up, from 1970 and 1971 respectively, proves that. With this release...

Some bands benefit from the box-set treatment and some don't. Falling into the latter category is Little Feat, on Rhino's Hotcakes & Outtakes: 30 Years of Little Feat. The box takes four compact discs, eighty-two tracks, and five hours to prove that the band's best work was done on its...