Sean Daly

Making like a hepster Raffi in the midst of a Bourbon Street all-nighter, Harry Connick Jr., on the thoroughly oddball Songs I Heard, covers 16 … Read More “Harry Connick Jr.: Songs I Heard”

Long before he was playing backstage b-ball games with backup mates the Range-and scoring hits with 1986’s “The Way It Is” and “Mandolin Rain”-the tall, … Read More “Bruce Hornsby: Here Come the Noise Makers”

After ’80s pop star Setzer watched his 1998 tattooed-swing album The Dirty Boogie go double-platinum and win a Grammy, the former Stray Cat knew he … Read More “Brian Setzer Orchestra: Vavoom!”

Hello, my name is Sean, and I am a DVD slut. No matter how lousy a certain movie might be-heck, even when I’ve already seen … Read More “Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band: Swingin’ for the Fences”

Flirting throughout Brazil with the puckish samba guitar of John Pizzarelli, grand dame diva Rosemary Clooney signs, stamps and sends 16 laid-back, lovely postcards from … Read More “Rosemary Clooney: Brazil”

Talk about your sibling rivalries: Being the younger brother (and a piano player and singer, to boot) of pop icon Nat King Cole has gotta … Read More “Freddy Cole: Merry Go Round”

Although demonstrative Squirrel Nut Zippers co-leader and playfully peculiar frontman Tom Maxwell bolted for solo pastures last summer, the remaining Chapel Hill, N.C., swingers don’t … Read More “Squirrel Nut Zippers: Bedlam Ballroom”

Half Bettie Page (physical), half Dinah Washington (vocal), whole heartbreaker (ugh)-and voted one of the sexiest people of 1999 by Los Angeles magazine-Lavay Smith leads … Read More “Lavay Smith and her Red Hot Skillet Lickers: Everybody’s Talkin’ ‘Bout Miss Thing!”

New Orleans chanteuse Ingrid Lucia knows what boys want, too-the decidedly sudsy doe-eyed beauty frolics in a penthouse bathtub on the cover of The Hotel … Read More “Ingrid Lucia and the Flying Neutrinos: The Hotel Child”

Born Angelina Teresa Iapolo, 29-year-old Canadian Lullaby Baxter has a smooth, smoky voice and a straight, sweet delivery. But any degree of sexiness is significantly … Read More “Lullaby Baxter Trio: Capable Egg”

On this somewhat radical departure, pop folkstress Joni Mitchell plants herself in front of the London Symphony Orchestra and gives somber, soulful readings of 12 … Read More “Joni Mitchell: Both Sides Now”

Andrew Bird, a sometime session player with Squirrel Nut Zippers, prides himself on never taking music matters too seriously. With his eclectic mix of bandmates, … Read More “Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire: Oh! The Grandeur”