PLAYING IT BY EAR How the right live monitor can take your stage show to the next level  Whether you’re playing a grungy blues set at a local club or headlining a stadium rock festival, delivering a show to remember is impossible if you can’t hear what you’re doing. What sounds perfectly harmonious to you could sound like a broken chainsaw out in the crowd—and vice versa. So how can you ensure you’re getting the onstage mix that you need... 

SPECTRUM ROAD Jack Bruce and friends pay tribute to one of fusion’s founding fathers    The word “supergroup” gets tossed around a lot, but Spectrum Road makes an impressive case for itself. Each member of the quartet comes with a wildly impressive résumé. Guitarist Vernon Reid is the prime mover behind Living Colour, the juggernaut that helped define rock-funk in the ’80s. Keyboardist John Medeski, one-third of Medeski Martin &... 

LENNY KRAVITZ For this one-man band, no influence is out of bounds—even the Partridge Family “Maybe I’m schizophrenic,” says Lenny Kravitz with a chuckle, contemplating his reputation as one of rock’s most committed multi-instrumentalists. From his 1989 debut Let Love Rule through the new Black and White America, Kravitz has consistently played almost all the instruments on his albums. “When I’m playing various instruments, I take on...