Astral Traveling Pharoah Sanders Wed Apr 19, Triple Door, 7 pm (all ages) and 9:30 pm (21+), $27 adv/$30 DOS. Pharoah Sanders Has a Master Plan IN OUR EVER-EXPANDING musical universe, there are many instrumental hotshots and technical triathletes who, despite their...

ASTRAL PROJECT At: Scullers, first set, Tuesday night MICHAEL WEISS QUARTET At: Regattabar, Cambridge, second set Tuesday night Two jazz groups made their local debut in Boston on Tuesday, each of which was preceded by a notable new CD. Only one delivered a...

Joel Brodsky, whose photography was featured on hundreds of music album covers, has died at age 67, his daughter said.Brodsky died March 1 in Stamford of a heart attack, his daughter, Jill Holt, said Saturday. He had moved to Connecticut about five years ago from...

"Rock poet" has become almost a dirty word in critical parlance, invoking Moody Blues florid gush or worse. Matching verse to music is still a valid activity, however, provided the words aren't intended primarily for the printed page and the resulting song is strong on record. At his best, Van Morrison achieves this synthesis. Though barely coherent on paper, his lyrics take on a brooding power when sung, seeming like great wisdom even if they border on nonsense. On Astral Weeks, Morris...

Van Morrison is one of the most important singer song-writers working today. His songs and vocal style are intense, dramatic, and written with rare depth and perception. [Astral Weeks] could never be classified as "easy listening." In fact, to get into it takes much more hard work than most records, but it will be well worth the effort. The songs are long and introspective, and it takes time to sort the words out from his thick Belfast accent—but when you do you will hear stunningly poe...