Steve Thomas

No one could ever say that James "Son" Thomas didn't have the right to sing the blues. A Mississippi share cropper and grave digger (and later, a furniture store laborer), Thomas lived a hard life that included being shot by his ex-wife, being severely burned by a space heater, surgery for a brain tumor, long battles with emphysema and epilepsy, and the final series of strokes and heart attacks that finally took his life…..

Despite a strong critical reputation and high-profile work with Jack DeJohnette and Pat Metheney, Gary Thomas somehow got left out when '80s M-Base contemporaries Cassandra Wilson, Greg Osby, Steve Coleman, and Geri Allen found some sort of limelight. German producer Steven Winter has by far been the most consistent documenter of the tenor saxophonist's brawny playing and writing and Pariah's Pariah finds Thomas working in a no-nonsense post-bop quartet with Osby as his front-line foil. The nice harmonies on the extended melody of "Who's in Control?" are an early sign of how well Thomas and Osby complement each other. But the loping, quasi-blues groove of "Only Hearsay" really sets the compositional tone, with both saxes playing off Michael Formanek's bass counterpoint lines.

A great album cover should give an indication of the sound of an album, or at least its sensibility. Happily, that much is indeed true with Steve Walsh's solo debut, Schemer-Dreamer, which sports what very well could be the greatest album cover in rock history…

As a leader, saxophonist and composer Gary Thomas is wildly ambitious. Throughout the 1980s and into the '90s, Thomas experimented with everything from free jazz and funk to heavy metal and hip-hop. Exile's Gate is another such exercise. There are two distinct bands accompanying him here. One is made up of Thomas on tenor with drummer Jack DeJohnette and guitarist Paul Bollenback with organist Tim Murphy and bassist Ed Howard. The other features the latter two musicians, Marvin Sewell on guitar and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington. The first band plays Thomas' free-spirited and aggressive originals while the second plays standards for the most part. Only Thomas would think of putting the two approaches together on one record on alternate cuts.

Being soloist and band member, Steve Morse released so many albums. His works range from progressive rock Dixie Dregs, guitar shredder in his solo albums, up to as part of Deep Purple. With such range of musics, one still can easily distinguished Steve Morse licks, the bluesy chromatic passage that attached to his style. Surprisingly, in this new album, The Sessions, Steve Morse works with many other singers and sing some cover tunes. This album is not Steve Morse's typical instrumental guitar album. Well, a bit disappointing for guitar fans, but the album provide excellent standard hard rock album, that very bluesy, very American in vibes.