Email Author Rick Mason

2011 Stories by Rick Mason

• Alison Krauss & Union Station

  published September 7, 2011

  After her spectacular, multiple Grammy-winning collaboration with Robert Plant on Raising Sand, bluegrass thrush Alison Krauss mustered... More >>

• Madi Diaz, Gabby Young & Other Animals, Keegan DeWitt

  published August 31, 2011

  The grand revelation in this Entry threesome may be Gabby Young (pictured), a charismatic, flamboyantly garbed English singer-songwriter with... More >>

• Dr. John & the Lower 911

  published August 31, 2011

  It's a given every year that the Minnesota State Fair's most interesting music isn't at the Grandstand but scattered around its smaller stages,... More >>

• Ivan Lins

  published August 31, 2011

  As a composer often mentioned in the same breath as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Ivan Lins has been an icon of MPB (Música Popular Brasileira)... More >>

• Return to Forever IV

  published August 24, 2011

  The nascent Return to Forever were inspired by the electric fusion experiments of Miles Davis and have never really looked back, establishing an... More >>

• Tedeschi Trucks Band

  published August 24, 2011

  Two terrific guitarists who happen to married to one another, Susan Tedschi and Derek Trucks, have upped the ante big time with the marriage of... More >>

• Steely Dan

  published August 24, 2011

  Pretzel Logic was the name of one of Steely Dan's classic albums from the mid-'70s. That title also could refer to the music of Dan... More >>

• Hippiefest 2011

  published August 17, 2011

  There's enough baggage with just the name of this thing for several encyclopedias, beginning with such issues as cynicism, exploitation, and... More >>

• Ben Sidran & Irv Williams

  published August 17, 2011

  This surprise collaboration between two of the classiest guys around should make for an extraordinary night at the Dakota. It's only a slight... More >>

• Reverend John Wilkins

  published July 6, 2011

  As with the work of his father, Robert Wilkins, the sounds of Memphis and the nearby North Mississippi Hill Country are both integral to Reverend... More >>

• Rosie Ledet

  published July 6, 2011

  Not only does Rosie Ledet stand out as a rare female zydeco bandleader and wielder of the genre's signature accordion, she's also one of its... More >>

• Willie Murphy

  published July 6, 2011

  As inextricably tied to the Twin Cities scene as any musician in modern times, Willie Murphy has just about done and seen it all in a career that... More >>

• Reverend John Wilkins

  published July 6, 2011

  As with the work of his father, Robert Wilkins, the sounds of Memphis and the nearby North Mississippi Hill Country are both integral to Reverend... More >>

• Little Feat

  published July 6, 2011

  Any band around 40-plus years like Little Feat has endured its share of upheaval. The death of co-founder and lead singer Lowell George in 1979... More >>

• Toots & the Maytals

  published July 6, 2011

  The original Maytals, who had a central role in the formative stages of reggae, are ancient history. But Toots Hibbert and his marvelous voice are... More >>

• Novalima

  published July 6, 2011

  The Peruvian band Novalima create a compelling fusion of traditional Afro-Peruvian music (the vital sound of an often neglected minority), other... More >>

• An Horse

  published June 29, 2011

  Although the Aussie indie-rock outfit An Horse consists only of guitarist/lead singer Kate Cooper and drummer/vocalist Damon Cox, the duo fires up... More >>

• Taj Mahal, Mavis Staples

  published June 29, 2011

  A pair of veteran treasures synonymous with African-American roots music, Taj Mahal and Mavis Staples each have etched enduring careers and... More >>

• Elvis Costello & the Imposters

  published June 29, 2011

  Anybody who's seen Declan MacManus hosting his grand Spectacle television program knows that close beneath the surface of his... More >>

• 2011 Twin Cities Jazz Festival

  published June 22, 2011

  The annual three-day invasion of downtown St. Paul by the Twin Cities Jazz Festival again will be highlighted by a couple of free stages sporting... More >>

• Nanci Griffith

  published June 22, 2011

  Adding a strong literary streak to the dusty Texas songwriter tradition helped make Nanci Griffith stand apart from the usual sagebrush tunesmiths... More >>

• Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue

  published June 22, 2011

  Troy Andrews has been playing his trombone on the streets of New Orleans since the days he competed for a height advantage with his own... More >>

• Jethro Tull

  published June 22, 2011

  The long, curious, enduring saga of Jethro Tull—the band, not the 18th-century agronomist whose name they appropriated—continues with... More >>

• Hiromi: the Trio Project

  published June 15, 2011

  There are no vocals on sensational Japanese pianist and composer Hiromi Uehara's new album, Voice. Yet Voice speaks eloquently... More >>

• James Cotton Band, Charlie Musselwhite

  published June 15, 2011

  This is a rare opportunity to catch on the same bill two veteran blues harmonica masters, both with recent superb albums on Alligator that prove... More >>