Avi Rabin Hart

Time traveler Alvin Youngblood Hart's albums have darted from crusty Delta fingerpicking and hollering to Hendrixian hellfire to crunchy, primal rockin' blues, all with the ring of authority that comes from complete commitment to the music. This time, he's set the wayback machine to the early '30s, using guitars, mandolin, banjo, and a lot of heart to interpret tunes by Son House, Charley Patton, Skip James, Leadbelly, and others. Somehow, the dust of old Mississippi, the state where the Oakland-born musician now resides, seems to have gotten into his blood. Hart sounds like Parchman Farm's newest inmate as he wails and moans through "How Long Before I Can Change My Clothes," plucking notes from a National resonator guitar. Chiming out chords and quick runs on banjo, he makes Odetta's "Chilly Winds" seem like they're carrying the voices of lost ghosts, recounting their lives of misery under Jim Crow's wing. Hart tends to take many of these classics, like Patton's "Tom Rushen Blues" and Leadbelly's "Alberta," at slightly slower tempos, which gives him more time to squeeze gut emotions from his lightly graveled phrases and lets his pluck-and-drone playing work its hypnotic effect. Stark and impressive for the power Hart generates alone, this may be the acoustic blues album of the year.

Except for occasional trips to the New York live scene and recording sessions, John Hart devotes his time in teaching younger generations as the head of the Jazz Guitar Department at the Frost School of Music, University of Miami. The inspiration for the unusual instrumentation of this album (baritone sax, guitar, bass and drums) came from one of his classrooms where he tutors ensemble playing. He then, of course called his favourite baritone man Gary Smulyan to join the session. Checkmate, the third album by John Hart on SteepleChase was recorded a few weeks before the onset of the Corona virus pandemic. Now after a long dark year of lockdown we hope we can call "checkmate" on the virus.

The cover art of War in My Mind, Beth Hart's first solo album since 2016's Fire on the Floor, finds the singer/songwriter sitting at a piano with a storm cloud looming in the horizon. It's a good visual summation of the record. Working with producer Rob Cavallo, Hart plumbs deep into her soul, coming up with a collection of searching ballads and clear-eyed blues. Hart doesn't avoid good times – "Try a Little Harder" conjures a bit of funky gospel, "Sugar Shack" pulsates to a sensual electronic throb – but this is an album where a title as seemingly lascivious as "Rub Me for Luck" is a roiling bit of minor-key blues. The darkly introspective tone is there from the start.

BEING GUIDED BY THE LIGHT is the fifth album by pianist Mamiko Watanabe and the fifth album to be released by acclaimed record label, Jojo Records. It is the representation of a musician in full flower, an artist reveling in her endless state of exploration. Mamiko plays the piano with the grace of a master but also the feral intensity of a jungle cat. This has led esteemed bassist Santi Debriano, one of her long-time collaborators and in the trio on this album, to compare Mamiko to the legendary McCoy Tyner.

BEING GUIDED BY THE LIGHT is the fifth album by pianist Mamiko Watanabe and the fifth album to be released by acclaimed record label, Jojo Records. It is the representation of a musician in full flower, an artist reveling in her endless state of exploration. Mamiko plays the piano with the grace of a master but also the feral intensity of a jungle cat. This has led esteemed bassist Santi Debriano, one of her long-time collaborators and in the trio on this album, to compare Mamiko to the legendary McCoy Tyner.