Last month, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced its latest group of nominees for induction, a list which includes Willie Nelson, George Michael, the White Stripes, Joy Division, and other worthy candidates. (The Spinners seem to be a controversial choice, but since my first-ever concert was seeing those Motown legends, I'm rooting for those guys.)No one should be surprised that the Monkees were not included in this list of nominees. I'm pretty sure... Read More

The legendary recording engineer and Michael Jackson/Quincy Jones right hand man, Bruce Swedien, loved Norwegian Electrocompaniet amps so much that they were credited on Michael Jackson's album covers. The company's founder, Per Abrahamsen, passed away before Christmas.

Jan Omdahl is the author of a new book in Norwegian on «Afric Pepperbird» by the Jan Garabrek Quartet, an early ECM jazz touchstone. The book is being considered for publication in English. This excerpt chronicles Jan’s attempts to convince his reclusive namesake to talk to him, ending up instead with Garbarek’s personal collection of test pressings.