Category: Music

“Cissy Strut,” by The Meters:

This such a classic song that it might as well be a standard. It has been covered by musicians as diverse as John Scofield, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Mayer, etc.

“Bollywood Jam,” by the Alex Skolnick Trio:

If you are not familiar with Alex Skolnick’s music, you are missing out. In the 1990s, he was lead guitarist in Testament, one of the big thrash metal bands along with Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Slayer. When he left Testament, Skolnick decided to study jazz at the New School in New York City.

As a teenager, I really liked his lead work on Testament’s Practice What You Preach and The Ritual albums. When I was in grad school, I was very happy to discover that he had recorded two albums of experimental music with Primus drummer Tim “Herb” Alexander and bass wiz Michael Manring under the name Attention Deficit–both their albums are excellent music to work to. I am very happy he is now playing jazz with his trio, turning hard rock and metal classics into jazz standards.

“The Devil’s Orchard,” by Opeth:

Their new album, titled “Heritage,” will be out in the US on September 20. Having listened to it once, I thought that it pays homage to progressive rock bands of the 1970s such as Yes and King Crimson.