The Rosenberg Trio- Roots (2007)

I'm a big fan of jazz, and I'll extend that even further and say that my favorite type of jazz is the gypsy style that Django Reinhardt pioneered.  Enter The Rosenberg Trio, with their fast acoustic gypsy guitar driven solos with great clarinet playing and wonderful double bass it shows that great jazz can be played fast, clean and greatly structured. 

The Rosenberg Trio, led by lead guitarist Stochelo Rosenberg is, without a better description, one of the best jazz trios today.  Roots, released in 2007, doesn't have even 1 track that lacks sheer greatness.  I can't say enough about this album.  Less than an hour long, Roots plays all the way through really fast.  Each track has perfect examples of skilled jazz song structure as well as top of the line ability.  If you're into music, or play it, there is a chance that you might feel envious of those bad ass jazz guitarists, and this album has musicians who you'd be willing to make a pact with the Devil to be able to mimic.  Every song on this album has solos that will blow your mind, on all the instruments being played, as well as a flow and energy that isn't easily matched.  My favorite track on this album is Last Minute Swing, which has an intricate flow of solos between the guitar and clarinet, and makes me feel their energy from the first strum of the guitar. 

The Rosenberg Trio are virtuosos, seriously, there are very few musicians that can portray this kind of skill; and to top it off, the instruments are all acoustic, so there is no way for them to "hide" behind any electric instrumentation.  There are many albums to choose from if you want to explore their sounds, and any one of them is a great place to start.  Roots just ended up being my favorite, although their album with Bireli Lagrene is a definite must-have as well.  Listen to them, see them live, download some of their pirated music online, whatever is your avenue, but do what you can to give them a try. 

Official score- 4.25/5

Hank Williams III- Damn Right Rebel Proud (2008)

I have been into Hank Williams Sr. for quite some time now, and a few years ago I was introduced to Hank III.  Hank III does a great job of mixing solid country tunes with an aggressive punk style dirtiness that produces a sound of raw country carnage.  Since first being introduced to Hank III, I have gone out of my way to find as many different albums/bootlegs/etc. as possible, I go overboard sometimes, in order to hear more of what he has done; I haven't been let down yet. 

Damn Right Rebel Proud is my favorite release that I have heard, up to now.  13 rockin' country punk tracks with a running time of under an hour, this is a release that doesn't really drag all that much.  For the most part is seems as though the tracks go from an upbeat fast track, then followed by a slower track, back & forth.  The lyrics are awesome, talking about raw dirty topics- drinking, drugs, fighting, depression, working hard, etc.; common country themes mixed with gritty punk topics.  A couple of my all time favorite Hank 3 tracks are on this album: P.F.F- a GG Allin tribute track that is fast, rough and freakin' awesome (GG would be proud!), and 3 Shades of Black- a slower paced track that speaks to all "freaks & weirdos" that get looked down at by a mainstream society.  A couple of the songs are a little too slow for my taste, but the lyrics and solos on them make up for it. 

Hank 3 is an awesome musician, has been in some great other projects (AssJack, Superjoint Ritual, and more), and should appeal to a lot more people.  Hank 3 speaks to the country crowd, the redneck crowd and the punk crowd; all at the same time.  I would suggest getting this album, and find the other associated acts that he is in.  I don't want to take away from any possible album sales he could make, but you can find all of his releases online and tons of live bootlegs as well.  Check him out, and if you like country or punk or dirty rock n' roll, you'll love the shit outta his stuff.

Official score- 4/5