Fire in The Hole

Georgia rock quintet Blackberry Smoke could write the book on how to "slow build" a career. Since 2000, singer/guitarist Charlie Starr, guitarist Paul Jackson, keyboard player Brandon Still, and brothers Brit and Richard Turner on drums and bass, respectively, have played in excess of 250 dates a year in funky honky tonks, rock clubs, and on festival stages on both sides of the Atlantic, learning how to write songs in the process. Holding All the Roses is their Rounder debut, the follow-up to 2012's killer The Whippoorwill. It was recorded in less than two weeks, during a brief touring respite, with producer – and Georgia native – Brendan O'Brien (AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam). While it might startle longtime fans, there are no sprawling jams on this set – all 12 tunes are under five minutes.

Violinist Billy Bang is equally at home whether performing heady, modern-jazz-style improvisation or when churning out a straightforward swing vibe within mainstream contexts. Here, saxophonist/flutist Sonny Fortune, pianist John Hicks, and others lend their wares to this generally invigorating 2001 production. Based upon his Vietnam War experiences, Bang and associates meld Southeast Asian modalities with Western scales and bouncy swing vamps amid a few tenderly executed ballads…

Walter Becker and Donald Fagen were remarkable craftsmen from the start, as Steely Dan's debut, Can't Buy a Thrill, illustrates.