Music

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the second album from the indie-pop duo The Bird And The Bee.

Jeff "Tain" Watts, an original member of the Wynton Marsalis quintet, has released an album titled Watts. But it's no ego trip; the disc is inspired, at least in part, by L.A.'s Watts neighborhood.

M. Ward's seventh album Hold Time was released Feb. 17. The singer-songwriter is known for his largely acoustic and usually spare arrangements. Ken Tucker has a review.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews For All I Care, the new album from The Bad Plus joined by Wendy Lewis.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the debut release by the L.A. band Fol Chen. The album is called Part 1: John Shade, Your Fortune's Made.

Music critic Milo Miles reviews Last Night The Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes in the Street, the new CD by trumpeter and composer Jon Hassell.

Mosaic Records has re-released the work of jazz musician Anthony Braxton in an eight-CD set. The Complete Arista Recordings of Anthony Braxton features recordings from the 1970s that previously existed only on vinyl. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead has a review.

Jeb Loy Nichols has recorded a half-dozen albums since the late 1990s and before that, fronted the band The Fellow Travelers. Rock critic Ken Tucker says Nichols' new album, called Parish Bar, coheres as one of his more adventurous musical experiments.

Rock Critic Ken Tucker thinks Erin McCarley is an example of a new business model in the industry.

Rock historian Ed Ward appraises the life and work of Philadelphia music producer Jerry Ragovoy.