Maybe it’s the suits that dictate certain artists’ penchant for overall suaveness, yet Tony Hadley embraced such elegance back in his SPANDAU BALLET days and, aging in style, the singer quite organically progressed to delivering old-time standards in a modern way. His 2024 album “The Mood I’m In” was a brilliant example of this, but “If I Can Dream” which will be issued on November 21st should add an interesting spin to the veteran’s formula.
There’s a great deal of nostalgia for original NWOBHM bands of whom only a few are still at it, including TOKYO BLADE, a band which rarely stopped and which can boast about having on board all five members of their 1984 line-up. As the veterans’ latest album, “Time Is The Fire” from last January proved, stopping is not an option anyway, but taking a glance over the ensemble’s shoulder never got in the way of creative development. That’s why the release of the collective’s box set on November 21st feels most welcome.
When the great Larry Coryell left this mortal coil eight years ago, our world became much poorer, because the guitarist’s recordings oozed not only creative wonders but also his personality, which is why every new platter with the jazzman on attracts a lot of attention – even when it’s credited to somebody else. Drummer Bob Holz knew Larry well, as the two used to play together, the former usually backing the latter; however, a couple of concerts that happened in November 2015 found Coryell in a guest role, gracing the stage with Holz’s band A VISION FORWARD, and now the best pieces of those nights are ready for release.
There’s a lot of myths surrounding Graham Bonnet, yet all of them get laid to rest when the singer hits the stage, and that’s what he and the rest of GRAHAM BONNET BAND, first of all bassist Beth-Ami Heavenstone and guitarist Conrado Pesinato, ne and do quite regularly. Today, they are back in Great Britain, but on August 29th, 2024, the ensemble roamed the planks of Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles – the place immortalized in a song by one of the veteran’s former groups. No wonder, then, that the live album recorded there and then is titled “Lost In Hollywood Again”: a CD/DVD package of it and a standalone Blu-ray will be out on December 12th.
Never driven by their popularity, SNARKY PUPPY haven’t been too creative recently, following 2019’s “Immigrance” not with another studio album but with a series of live releases, including 2022’s “Empire Central” which featured new material – and that’s the approach the American band applied to their forthcoming platter, titled “Somni” and scheduled, apparently only on vinyl as of now, for November 21st.
