Dan Kening

Hall and Oates Marigold Sky (Push) (star) (star) 1/2 Daryl Hall and John Oates embodied blue-eyed soul in the '80s, and it seemed the hits would never end: "One On...

Tinsley Ellis Fire It Up (Alligator) (star) (star) (star) Atlanta blues-rock guitarist Tinsley Ellis is no stranger to Chicago stages, and fans of his incendiary live performances will find plenty...

Beth Nielsen Chapman Sand and Water (Reprise) (star) (star) (star) The songs on Nashville singer-songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman's "Sand and Water" were written in the wake of her husband, Ernest's,...

Bucky Halker and the Complete Unknowns Passion Politics Love (Whitehouse) (star) (star) (star) 1/2 Bucky Halker, one of Chicago's most interesting songwriters, offers up his best batch of songs yet...

Corey Stevens Road to Zen (Discovery) (star) (star) Blues-rock guitarist Corey Stevens comes up a bit short in virtually every category on his second album. His vocals are strong but...

Steve Winwood Junction 7 (Virgin) (star) (star) (star) Steve Winwood follows up an uninspired 1994 Traffic album ("Far From Home") with his funkiest solo album yet. Winwood's vocals are so...

Swell Too Many Days Without Thinking (Beggars Banquet) (star) (star) (star) On this San Francisco trio's fourth LP, the approach remains mostly the same: moody bass-drum-acoustic guitar riffs that unfold...

Off Broadway Fallin' In (Pavement Music) (star) (star) (star) Between the Buckinghams and the Smashing Pumpkins there was the forgotten era of Chicago rock known as the '70s and '80s....

The Cicadas The Cicadas (Warner Bros.) (star) (star) (star) After nearly 20 years as a country music hitmaker, Rodney Crowell is rockin' again as the leader of the Cicadas. Together...

Martin Simpson's Band of Angels: If you went to the Band of Angels concert Friday at the Unitarian Church of Hinsdale simply to marvel at Martin Simpson, arguably the finest...