Tom Moon
Tom Moon has been writing about pop, rock, jazz, blues, hip-hop and the music of the world since 1983.
He is the author of the New York Times bestseller 1000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die (Workman Publishing), and a contributor to other books including The Final Four of Everything.
A saxophonist whose professional credits include stints on cruise ships and several tours with the Maynard Ferguson orchestra, Moon served as music critic at the Philadelphia Inquirer from 1988 until 2004. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GQ, Blender, Spin, Vibe, Harp and other publications, and has won several awards, including two ASCAP-Deems Taylor Music Journalism awards. He has contributed to NPR's All Things Considered since 1996.
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Tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson's brilliant Power To The People was recorded in 1969, when jazz musicians were confronting the influence of rock and soul. Some had trouble, but Henderson wrote tunes that always sneaked a step or two beyond convention. -
On 1969's Kidney Stew Is Fine, Eddie Cleanhead Vinson crafts scooting, good-time shuffle-blues, spiced with the harmonic sophistication of bebop. Vinson was a master of the blend: His seamless mix of ingredients makes Kidney Stew a delicacy.
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In the world of Latin music, vibraphonist Cal Tjader commanded respect: He was considered one of the few Anglos who could hang with the heavyweights. Tjader recorded Latin jazz, bossa nova, salsa and boogaloo for more than three decades, and his titles are uniformly strong.
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The Austin, Texas, band called Explosions in the Sky has spent eight years pursuing what might strike some as a tiny sub-speciality: alternative instrumental rock. The band has a new album called All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone.
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The Arcade Fire put out a brilliant debut album in 2004's Funeral. They spent the better part of 2006 in a church outside Montreal, creating Neon Bible. Like their debut, the 10-piece band's music is full of percussion, strings and smart lyrics.
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The Serious Monkee had chops as a songwriter, as well as an unusual sound: a glossy merger of country and rock that took what The Byrds had been doing a step closer to pop. Magnetic South foreshadows the country-rock of The Eagles, whose debut arrived two years later. -
Like many at the Fania label, salsa bandleader Ray Barretto recorded quickly and often: Barretto Power is one of four albums he released in 1972. Some, inevitably, are duds, but this one is incandescent, exemplifying the label's genre-crossing creativity. -
George Benson helped kick-start "smooth jazz," that not-so-distant cousin of "easy listening." But before that, Benson's early records — including the spry It's Uptown, which he recorded at age 23 — are more musically adventurous. -
The rock band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah released its first record last year on its own label. Major labels came knocking when the band quickly became an Internet darling. The band decided to remain independent and, this week, will release its second record on its own label, Some Loud Thunder. -
The eyepatch-wearing pianist was among the most erratic characters in the Crescent City, and as a result, his discography includes few solid studio sides. Booker was prone to effusive showboating, but on this 1977 live recording, he sounds engaged playing songs that were staples of his live show.
