Singer and saxophonist (for the Rolling Stones) Karl Denson fronts the Tiny Universe as if he’s preaching the gospel. His energy and spirit are contagious while his songwriting serves a larger message of fellowship — across generations, genders, religions and cultures. Not surprisingly, he’s none too pleased with the current state of political discourse. Thus the reason why KDTU’s new album, ‘Gnomes & Badgers’ (out 3/8 on Seven Spheres Records), is Denson’s hard-grooving answer to these tragically divisive times.

Highly regarded as one of the best live acts on the planet, KDTU distills the sweeping stylistic range of its concert performances into their own authentic sound throughout the recording. With ‘Gnomes &Badgers” the inimitable Denson and his long-standing six-piece unit that includes guitarist DJ Williams, drummer Zak Najor, bassist Chris Stillwell, keyboardist David Veith, trumpeter Chris Littlefield and slide/lap steel guitarist Seth Freeman have delivered what is undoubtedly their strongest work yet.’

If you’ve been following Joey Dosik’s career at all, it should come as no surprise that ‘Inside Voice’ consistently, utterly nails it. Dosik has honed his craft as part of a burgeoning Los Angeles scene that reinvents past forms of popular music to exist in the present tense. He is a regular collaborator with Vulfpeck, was named by Quincy Jones as an artist to watch, and has released music of his own, most recently 2017’s EP, Game Winner.