Rares sont les labels indépendants à avoir résisté à l’érosion du temps. Alligator Records fait partie de ces exceptions. Cette firme discographique milite, depuis 1971, pour une exposition médiatiqu…
A.J. Croce –
By Request (Compass): “Over the past three decades, A.J. Croce has established his rep as a piano man and serious vocal stylist who pulls from a host of American traditions and anti-heroes it’s part New Orleans, part juke joint, part soul. While his last album, JUST LIKE MEDICINE, paired him with soul legend Dan Penn and an all-star cast of players, his new album was born of memories of favorite artists and shows, but mostly, of late-night gatherings with groups of friends, many of them fellow musicians, with Croce at the piano taking requests. Croce revisits these musical evenings with BY REQUEST, 12 personally curated covers that traverse decades and genres, propelled by his spirited, loose-and-easy piano mastery and emotive vocals. It’s a tribute to Croce the music fan as well as Croce the musician that both the variety from pop to RnR to soul and execution is inspired, aided by a full band and horns. BY REQUEST is the first album Croce has released
To, in fact,
Now Dig This, you just might need to pop into Antone s Records to purchase the 180-gram vinyl. Platform? Yes, it s the store s front display bin.
In the olden days, a sort of chitlins (and grits) circuit of record stores carried releases by mom-and-pop labels such as Austin s Dialtone, documenting artists rooted deep in regional scenes where authenticity proved no more difficult than plugging in and playing. Louisianan out of Mansfield, Crystal Thomas grooves a modern day Southern soul circuit between Dallas and Shreveport, but she tells me her real love is playing the blues, reveals the imprint s patriarch Eddie Stout.
WildRootsBluesman Victor Wainwright first came to fame with the bands Wild Roots and Southern Hospitality, and has gone on to forge an acclaimed path with The Train. Wainwright still plays with his buddies in WildRoots, and this time out gives most of the spotlight to his partner of 16 years, Stephen Dees. Dees (bass and guitar), his multi-instrumentalist and vocalist wife Patricia Ann Dees and Wainwright are the core three in WildRoots. Stephen Dees produced the album, and both he and his wife engineered and arranged it. To say they get lots of help is a vast understatement. The credits here are ridiculous 29 guest musicians in all comprising both WildRoots alumni and a host of others with gleaming resumes.