Email Author Rick Mason

2009 Stories by Rick Mason

• Wanda Jackson

  published September 30, 2009

  If Elvis Presley forever will be the king of rock 'n' roll, his queen has got to be Wanda Jackson. She was a teenage heartbreaker in the mid-'50s... More >>

• Stanley Clarke Trio

  published September 30, 2009

  Just a few weeks after appearing at the Dakota with Return to Forever colleagues Chick Corea and Lenny White, bass maestro Stanley Clarke is back,... More >>

• The Gaslight Anthem

  published September 30, 2009

  Although the four members of the Gaslight Anthem claim a punk lineage and hail from New Brunswick, a few miles inland from the Jersey Shore,... More >>

• These United States, Or, the Whale

  published September 30, 2009

  Both these bands, while solidly ensconced in the 21st century, freely and extensively derive their eclectic sounds from an era when psychedelia... More >>

• Global Roots Festival

  published September 23, 2009

  After a decade of nyckelharpas, hardangers, and the ethereal effects of northern lights on Scandinavian traditional music, the Cedar's Nordic... More >>

• A Tribute to Lester Young

  published September 23, 2009

  To launch its new season, the Twin Cities Jazz Society will celebrate the centennial of saxophone great Lester Young's birth with a tribute... More >>

• Astral Project

  published September 23, 2009

  Long considered New Orleans's premier contemporary jazz band, Astral Project is in fact a world-class, all-star caliber quartet whose unique... More >>

• Allen Toussaint

  published September 23, 2009

  Headlining the Twin Cities Jazz Festival in June, Allen Toussaint, dapper Renaissance man of New Orleans music, brought a band to town for the... More >>

• Son Volt

  published September 23, 2009

  When Jay Farrar revived Son Volt in 2005, he initially opted for the snarly electric guitars and dusty, haunted spirit at the core of alt-country... More >>

• Kings of Leon

  published September 23, 2009

  Now that they've graduated to arenas and consequently confronted questions of artistic integrity, as well as become tabloid fodder, Kings of... More >>

• Lucinda Williams

  published September 16, 2009

  The queen of Southern Gothic lyrics and roots that ramble from country to gospel, blues, and gritty rock, Lucinda Williams has become a cult icon,... More >>

• Marcus Roberts Trio

  published September 16, 2009

  After making a name for himself in his early 20s as a member of Wynton Marsalis's band, jazz pianist Marcus Roberts issued a succession of albums... More >>

• Marshall Crenshaw

  published September 16, 2009

  It's been more than a quarter-century since Marshall Crenshaw's stellar, eponymous debut hit the streets and was propelled up the charts by the... More >>

• Väsen

  published September 16, 2009

  Although Väsen doesn't have a chance of landing on what passes for the hit parade these days, over the past 20 years the Swedish trio has... More >>

• Crooked Still

  published September 9, 2009

  When maverick cellist Rushad Eggleston left Crooked Still in 2007, the remaining trio added cellist Tristan Clarridge and fiddler Brittany Haas,... More >>

• The Minus 5, the Baseball Project, and the Steve Wynn IV

  published September 9, 2009

  Three bands, four musicians. The same four musicians, in fact, incestuously switching gears and playing together in three different formats.... More >>

• Regina Spektor

  published September 9, 2009

  Jeff Lynne, one of four producers on Regina Spektor's latest album, has described the music of the singer, pianist, and songwriter as "high-class,... More >>

• Ralph Stanley & his Clinch Mountain Boys

  published September 9, 2009

  This terrific double bill sports one indisputable icon in bluegrass pioneer Ralph Stanley, along with Jim Lauderdale, a superb singer-songwriter... More >>

• C.J. Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band

  published September 2, 2009

  In a nice trick of synergy, the Dakota managed to book two of zydeco's leading lights in less than a week. Like Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural Jr., who... More >>

• Corea, Clarke & White

  published September 2, 2009

  Return to Forever was a seminal jazz-rock group launched by keyboardist Chick Corea in the early 1970s to further explore the fusion ideas of... More >>

• Amina Figarova

  published September 2, 2009

  A native of Azerbaijan, where she studied in a classical conservatory, pianist Amina Figarova became infatuated with jazz in her early 20s and... More >>

• Buckwheat Zydeco

  published August 26, 2009

  Before discovering the myriad pleasures of zydeco after signing on as an organist with zydeco king Clifton Chenier, Stanley Dural Jr. was... More >>

• Jackson Browne

  published August 26, 2009

  Never one to take it easy, Jackson Browne has been out and about for the better part of a year following last fall's release of Time the... More >>

• Aaron Neville Quintet

  published August 19, 2009

  Incongruously combining the muscled physique of a bouncer and the voice of an angel, Aaron Neville is a New Orleans music icon on two levels. As a... More >>

• The Pretenders

  published August 19, 2009

  Nobody can accuse Chrissie Hynde of not being passionate, whether it's playing distinctive rock with the Pretenders, which she's been leading for... More >>