Springsteen on Broadway, Netflix review - one-man band becomes one-man show

★★★★ SPRINGSTEEN ON BROADWAY, NETFLIX The Boss hits the Great White Way

An emotional trip into the mind of New Jersey's patron saint

When Bruce Springsteen’s one-man show opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre on New York’s West 48th Street in October last year it was only supposed to run for six weeks. This being Springsteen, however, demand proved almost limitless, so the season was extended twice, and the Boss (as he doesn't like being called) takes his last bow on 15 December.

CD: J Mascis - Elastic Days

The wizard of introspection completely fails to peak, and that's the magic

“I don't peak early / I don't peak at all,” goes the wryly self-aware line in the opening song here, “Take me to the Movies”. Thirty-five years since he started releasing records, Mascis isn't interested in peaking, progress or much else beyond delivering the same he always has.

Sŵn Festival 2018 – a welcome return to form

★★★★★ SŴN FESTIVAL 2018 A welcome return to form

Cardiff's crown jewel festival hits stride with four nights of music and delight

It’s been a tough few years for Sŵn Festival. Once a genuine rival to fellow urban festivals Great Escape and Sound City, recent events have fluctuated between one-dayers and a string of ticketed gigs. 2018 marked the biggest change yet, but also a return to the multi-day, multi-venue format. Founders Huw Stephens and John Rostron announced they were handing over the reigns to Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff’s leading music venue.

Classic Albums: Amy Winehouse - Back to Black, BBC Four review - suffering turned into song

★★★★ CLASSIC ALBUMS: AMY WINEHOUSE – BACK TO BLACK, BBC FOUR How the singer's second album made musical gold out of the blues

How the singer's second album made musical gold out of the blues

Formats are second nature to TV: the BBC and Eagle Rock’s Classic Albums will run and run. Like all formats, there’s always the risk that the medium becomes the message, and content suffers under the weight of form. But Classic Albums at least avoids the BBC’s slavish reliance on presenters, and makes possible programmes that draw the viewer in closer than when everything is mediated by the wall-to wall ego of an expert or celeb.

CD: Madeleine Peyroux - Anthem

Sensual vocals hit the spot

Peyroux made her name by channelling the sultry sensuality and soul of Billie Holiday and breathing new life into well-known songs written by others - notably Elliott Smith and Leonard Cohen.She still brings enchantment to covers, but has increasingly found her own distinctive voice, without losing that element of sensual magic - those long drawn-out notes - inherited from the great Lady Day.

Reissue CDs Weekly: Manfred Mann

‘The Albums ‘64 –‘67’: the first four HMV LPs from the jazz-pop-R&B stylists in a box

Dress each of the band in the same clothes. Stand them in a line outside the EMI headquarters building on Manchester Square. Get the taller ones with glasses to stand at either end of the row. Put the other taller one in the middle. Have the pair of less tall ones – who could be twins – stand between the taller ones. Symmetry and uniformity duly achieved, take the promotional photograph.

Eric Clapton: A Life in 12 Bars, BBC Two review - blues, booze and dues

★★ ERIC CLAPTON: A LIFE IN 12 BARS The longer it lasts, the less it says about the inner Eric

The longer it lasts, the less it says about the inner Eric

There’s undoubtedly a memorable film to be crafted from the life of guitar legend and grand old survivor Eric Clapton – for instance, Melvyn Bragg made a very good South Bank Show about him in 1987 – but the longer this one goes on, the less it has to say. Nor is it obvious why it has been made now.

CD: Beth Rowley - Gota Fría

★★★★ CD: BETH ROWLEY - GOTA FRIA Raw, intimate rebirth album

Raw, intimate rebirth album with a generous helping of rock, blues and Americana

Gota Fría, or “cold drop”, is a Spanish weather phenomenon associated with violent rainstorms, when high pressure has caused a pocket of cold air to dissociate itself from the warmer clouds. Meteorologists, please excuse my basic and probably erroneous interpretation; the point here is that any person who’s experienced mental ill-health will likely relate to the idea of a sudden dip in temperature, a torrential downpour, and the accompanying isolation.

Jazz FM Awards 2018 - a banner year for Ezra Collective

JAZZ FM AWARDS 2018 A banner year for Ezra Collective

Free jazz icons to bona fide jazz royalty are honoured at the fifth edition of the Awards

Hosted by Jazz FM presenters Chris Philips and Jez Nelson on UNESCO’s International Jazz Day, rising stars and international icons were honoured at the fifth Jazz FM Awards on Monday night.