If the name Greg Chako is unfamiliar to you, perhaps it is because the veteran Cincinnati-bred guitarist, composer, and arranger has spent much of his career performing and recording in Asia, including years abroad in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, and Japan.
After recovering from a near-fatal case of sepsis, Chako took full advantage of his new lease on life, returning home to lead a piano-less quintet on Hard Bop: For the Record, whose second track, “Second Chance,” salutes his return to good health and his ability to resume playing the guitar. Chako’s happiness and gratitude to be back on the jazz scene are evident on every theme, all of which he wrote and arranged.
The group’s two-horn front line consists of…
You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please Log In.
FM is an absolutely stunning collection of tracks by Freddie McGregor, recorded between 1977 and 1982, originally released as singles on Earl ‘Chinna’ Smith’s High Times label in Jamaica. Freddie McGregor is accompanied on the album by the Soul Syndicate band, one of the most important and defining roots reggae session groups, who worked regularly with many of the major producers in Kingston in the 1970s and ’80s.
Native Companion is the fourth collection of contemporary Celticana from the peregrine musician that is Ryan O’Reilly. Alongside his English roots, the Oxford-born and Winchester-bred troubadour has strong Irish and Canadian connections, and currently teaches poetry and songwriting at the Berlin campus of BIMM University. No surprise then, that his lyrics are carefully crafted and tell stories that paint scenes and memories drawn from his travels, taking in Brighton and Boston via Wicklow.
Aside from the obvious – the great albums, the thriving live scene – one of the best things about the folk music coming out of Dublin right now is its variety. Its artists display an admirable willingness to change and to embrace new forms: experimentation is the order of the day for groups like Landless, OXN and Lankum, all of whom have, to some extent, embraced drones or discordance. But for all the longform heaviness, all the avant-garde leanings, these groups have always acknowledged the importance of traditional Irish song, and there is still room under the umbrella for artists whose output is recognisably of that tradition. Foremost amongst those performers is 
Rose Delta Rising is the latest LP from Derbyshire-based guitarist 
The well-traveled, two-time BMA Pinetop Perkins Piano Award winner Anthony Geraci has landed at one of the blues’ premier labels, Chicago’s Delmark Records, for his label debut, Where Were You. Without delving into his extensive biography, Geraci has long been a pillar of the New England blues scene, having had stints with Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters, Sugar Blue and The Bluetones, leading the Boston All-Stars, and playing in the blues supergroup The Proven Ones, among his many pursuits.
London-based songwriter Kamran Khan is no stranger to the inner workings of the London indie scene of the last decade. Through such escapades as his previous works with BBC Radio 6 acclaimed act Pencil, and widely respected solo project entitled 
At what point does a song stop being a song? Strip away the beat, harmony and narrative; leave behind a voice, a melody, a few repeated words, the hiss of a phone recording. 
It might be a touch of hyperbole to say the world wasn’t ready for Swiss pianist 
The East LA retro-soul mavens, 
It started with Jerry Garcia. More specifically, on a tribute show to the deceased Grateful Dead icon with a band playing his songs accompanied by a full orchestra.
Fingerstyle guitar master and folk musician Martin Simpson has never released an album that’s less than top-drawer and meticulously put together, which is why he’s one of the most respected figures on the traditional scene, but his latest album, Some Kind of Jubilee, feels extra special. A double album spanning one hundred minutes, this 16-song feast marks a milestone in Martin’s career: a full half-century since his debut, Golden Vanity, dropped on the Trailer label in 1976. To celebrate, Martin has gathered a select elite of musicians, including bass mainstay Ben Nicholls, lapsteel whiz Greg Leisz, guitarists Louis Campbell and Zak Hobbs and cellist Liz Hanks.
Americana/folk musician 
There is a long tradition of mainly Christian spirituality associated with the tidal island of Lindisfarne, long enough for it to be known by some as Holy Island.
San Francisco-based blues singer, songwriter, and chromatic harmonica player Big Harp George/George Bisharat returns with his sixth album, No Shortcuts. Like his last two albums, 2023’s Cut My Spirit Loose and 2024’s Cooking with Gas, he features players from the Greaseland gang, including guitarist Kid Andersen, Joe Kyle on bass, drummer Derrick D’Mar Martin, Chris Burns on keys, along with a bevy of horn players and vocalists, and The Morgan Brothers (James and Dwayne). Tenor saxophonist Doug Rowan, baritone saxophonist Aaron Linton, and trombonist Mike Rinta also play on all tracks. The credits list 20 musicians and vocalists.
For almost a decade now, South London artist