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Genere: Jazz

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Genere: Rock

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Genere: Rock

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Genere: Rock

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Genere: Rock

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Genere: Rock

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Genere: Jazz

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Genere: Jazz

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Genere: Jazz

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Trama: Hailing from the Dominican Republic, pianist Michel Camilo's career spans three decades, two hemispheres and a range of jazz and classical styles. Since joining the Telarc label, he has crafted brilliant recordings in the trio, solo and orchestral settings. Each of them has captured the essence and spirit of this ever-evolving artist at various points along his creative journey.
Following up on the intimate 'Solo' in 2004 and the adventurous 'Rhapsody in Blue' in 2006, Camilo makes his triumphant return to the straightahead jazz trio setting with 'Spirit of the Moment'. With sympathetic backing from Cuban-born bassist Charles Flores and drummer Dafnis Prieto, the leaner, three-man configuration allows plenty of room for the fiery keyboard work that has become Camilo's trademark.

Genere: Rock

Durata: 42:44

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Trama: While duets have been often turned into pairings that dilute both participants into toothless blobs, that's not the case here. Scottish singer Isobel Campbell, formerly of Belle & Sebastian here teams up with Mark Lanegan, formerly of Screaming Trees and collaborator with Queens of the Stone Age. It's a classic beauty and the beast alignment, with Lanegan's gruff baritone sounding like the protector of a beautiful little bird. This is a combination that's been done with success previously by the likes of Lee Hazelwood & Nancy Sinatra, and Serge Gainsbourg with Jane Birkin. The instrumental settings further underscore the gorgeously weathered timelessness of these dozen songs. This is music that straddles several centuries, updating traditions with confidence and subtle invention. <i>--David Greenberger</i>

Genere: Country

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Genere: Rock

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Genere: Jazz

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Genere: Country

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Trama: In recent years, Mary Chapin Carpenter--once among the most promising stars of the folkie infiltration of Nashville ("Down at the Twist and Shout," "I Feel Lucky")--abandoned all desire to dot the country music charts. Free of that ill-fitting yoke she returned to being what she really was all along: A literate acoustic singer-songwriter. In 2004, she released a tour de force, <i>Between Here and Gone</i>, which combined affecting social commentary on the events of 9/11 with personal meditations on her changed life as a married woman living in rural Virginia. <I>The Calling</I> picks up where that album left off, using the same co-producer, pianist Matt Rollings, and core musicians, including John Jennings, who helped Carpenter shape her sonic landscape some 20 years ago. If the new album goes farther in advocating a political conscience--"On with the Song" takes jabs at the jingoistic rubes who dissed the Dixie Chicks, while "Why Shouldn't We" insists we'll have worthy heroes in office again one day--it largely invokes the same quiet, warm, and conversational tone as its predecessor. On the whisper-soft "Twilight," which frames a perfect, peaceful evening with a nearly spiritual grace, a listener might easily imagine himself chatting with the artist about long-held secrets and shared experiences, the Blue Ridge Mountains looming in the background. That is part of Carpenter’s gift--connecting with her audience's shadow self, using her deeply nuanced alto to fill even the simplest words with profound knowing. As a pure craftsman, however, she ranks with the giants of past generations in capturing the small, bruised hearts seemingly lost in the chaos of a catastrophic event. "Houston," one such song here, recalls Woody Guthrie's great "Deportee" in its power and the pathos of the Hurricane Katrina victims who were forced to evacuate their homes, leaving everything behind but fear and hope. "Mama's got her baby/Sleeping in a grocery cart," it begins, at once setting up a picture of wrenching desperation. Carpenter, no stranger to blue moods herself, knows how tough it is to emerge from a dark period of pained restlessness to find one's very self again. The album's soothing closer, "Bright Morning Star," like much of the record as a whole, offers a beacon of light and safe harbor for those shipwrecked on life's rocky shores. <i>--Alanna Nash</i>

Genere: Country

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Trama: She's sophisticated, she's strong, and she's not afraid to be sexy--in short, Mary-Chapin Carpenter is a mirror on '90s American womanhood. Her songs explore everything from the complexities of boomer angst ("Hero in Your Own Hometown") to the simple joy of love ("I Want to Be Your Girlfriend") in a forthright manner that's garnered a following that spans boot-scootin' country types and soccer moms. It might be oversimplifying things to call her "a little bit country, a little bit rock & roll," but her knack for mingling guests like Shawn Colvin and Benmont Tench attests to Carpenter's refusal to accept a pigeonhole as her place in the world. <i>--David Sprague</i>

Genere: Country

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Genere: Country

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Trama: The 1994 sequel to her mainstream country breakthrough on <I>Come on Come On</I> further underscores Mary Chapin Carpenter's true identity, more Ivy League folk rocker than new country cowgirl. Her coolly delivered, deeply felt songs include meditations on family, community and social injustice without rant or cant, never more so than on the gently incisive midlife reflections of the title song, which filters historic milestones and childhood lessons through its delicate verses. Elsewhere, she sketches a heart-breaking, restrained speculation on the inner life of a blind, deaf mystery man ("John Doe No. 24") with the economy and detail of good short story. The set's many love songs are no less intelligent, emotionally authentic or moving. Chapin Carpenter's elegant yet earthy alto is beautifully framed in the settings, coproduced with longtime collaborator John Jennings, that balance jangling guitars, rippling piano, occasional fiddle and crisp rhythm sections closer to the best of LA country rock than what normally emanates from Nashville. <I>--Sam Sutherland</I>

Genere: Country

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Genere: Country

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Trama: Skeptics might say that Carpenter's smash version of Lucinda Williams' "Passionate Kisses" pales beside the tougher original, or that Mary Chapin is but a folkie in poor-fitting country clothes. They're not exactly wrong, but her million-selling third album finds its charm in a spare Americana sound and smart, imaginative material. Carpenter bridges country and folk audiences, much as Emmylou Harris has done, and as few others have managed. And she's a better singer than generally recognised. Originals such as "I Am A Town" and the title cut are genuinely evocative, and "Walking Through Fire" and "I Take My Chances" have an emotional edge that is as raw as it is rare. <I>--Roy Francis Kasten</I>

Genere: Jazz

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Genere: Jazz

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Trama: Betty Carter pressed the jazz singer's art to the limits, in the recasting of standard melodies, in her creative scat, and in the ability to blend her sound with different instruments. Her voice was a special instrument, with an airy flutelike quality in every register, and her singing could be playful or passionate. On this 1987 recording, Carter's voice is mixed right down amid the instruments and each song emerges as a collective creation, a sustained work with Carter at the helm, inspiring her associates. Tenor saxophonist Don Braden blends memorably with Carter on the ballads "The Man I Love" and "Make It Last," while the singer's gifts as a tutor and talent scout are confirmed here by the presence of two outstanding young pianists, Stephen Scott and Benny Green. <i>--Stuart Broomer</i>

Genere: Jazz

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Trama: This CD compiles two very different sessions from 1958 and 1960, presenting contrasting sides of the great bop vocalist Betty Carter. The first is with an outstanding 13-piece big band, with thoughtful arrangements by several band members including trombonist Melba Liston, altoist Gigi Gryce, tenorist Benny Golson, and trumpeter Ray Copeland. The setting suits the bop side of Carter perfectly; her approach challenges and matches the horn solos of Golson and trumpeter Kenny Dorham. The second session, with a string orchestra arranged and conducted by Richard Wess, emphasizes the gentler, ballad side of Carter's repertoire, but she hardly sounds repressed. The renditions of "My Reverie" and "Stormy Weather" show what Carter can do with a song in even the most formal settings. <i>--Stuart Broomer</I>

Genere: Country

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Trama: Backed by a band flush with aces--from the country side, Buddy Emmons, Albert Lee, and Roy Huskey Jr.; from rock, Howie Epstein, Benmont Tench, and David Lindley--Carter plays her strongest suit with her 1993 release. There's a commitment to her own material--fine songs like "Long Hard Fall" and the hit "Every Little Thing"--that pushes her vocals in intense, emotional directions. This is Carter's first record to adequately express her rock sensibilities in a cohesive country setting, and for that, it remains her best. <I>--Roy Francis Kasten</I>

Genere: Country

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Genere: Country

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Trama: A key to the underlying character of Carlene Carter's 1995 album is the presence of former NRBQ stalwart Al Anderson, who co-wrote four of the 12 songs with Carter and played lead guitar on eight tracks. Carter shares the NRBQ philosophy that traditional eccentricities are more interesting than traditional verities, and she marries unpolished garage-rock rhythms to her excitable vocals about the romantic action down at the local honky tonk. She helps her father, Carl Smith, reprise his 1955 hit, "Loose Talk," while her mama June Carter and her stepdad Johnny Cash help Carlene sing her great-uncle A.P. Carter's "The Winding Stream." At the same time, various members of Prince's Revolution band, Tom Petty's Heartbreakers and the Desert Rose Band are also on hand. The result is a vibrant brand of country-rock which has more in common with Chrissie Hynde than Linda Ronstadt.<I>--Geoffrey Himes</I>

Genere: Jazz

Durata: 62:14

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Trama: The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, led by Wynton Marsalis and Stanley Crouch, has made a public point of not inviting such post-Coltrane avant-gardists as Anthony Braxton, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and the World Saxophone Quartet to the jazz-revival party. Carter, by contrast, has invited them to his own shindig on the superb <I>Conversin' with the Elders</I>. Braxton and the AEC's Lester Bowie are represented by compositions, while Bowie and the WSQ's Hamiet Bluiett are present as Carter's soloing partners. More conventional jazz heroes, such as Count Basie horn men Buddy Tate and Harry "Sweets" Edison, are also on hand. By taking a broad approach to jazz history, Carter has so expanded his musical vocabulary that every time he brings his mouthpiece to his lips he can make any sound he wants--silky swing, strangled shrieks, romantic lushness, or bawdy honks. He uses them all here with a casual swagger that's a pleasure to behold. <I>--Geoffrey Himes</I>

Genere: Jazz

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Genere: Jazz

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Trama: Violinist Regina Carter's able to cover ample stylistic terrain without any sense of a tourist's itinerary. Her signature excursions on <I>Rhythms of the Heart</I> reveal a jaunty joie de vivre reminiscent of Stephane Grappelli, best showcased on "Lady Be Good" and Tadd Dameron's "Our Delight." But there are also credible forays into salsa with "Mojito," Afro-pop with "Mandingo Street" (featuring Cameroonian multi-instrumentalist and composer Richard Bona), and soulful reggae on a cover of the Temptations' "Papa Was a Rolling Stone," where vocalist Cassandra Wilson provides her trademark hushed refinement. A longtime sidewoman for trombonist Steve Turre and others, Carter proves adept at fostering ideal forums for her cohorts, particularly pianist Kenny Barron, whose tune "Cook's Bay" is a pastoral gem, and whose exchanges with Carter on "N.Y. Attitude" ensure that's there's a graceful depth to the song's brisk efficiency. Finally, don't overlook the pensive beauty of Carter's take on the ballad "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most." <I>--Britt Robson</I>

Genere: Jazz

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Trama: Violinist Regina Carter recorded <i>I'll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey</i> following her mother's death. A tribute to her mom, it features period songs she was fond of. But far from wallowing in sentimentality, it's a spirited work of reflection featuring vocals by the irrepressible Dee Dee Bridgwater on two songs, including a freewheeling "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen," and the charismatic Carla Cook on three tunes, including a darkly glowing "St. Louis Blues." Teaming to warmly atmospheric effect part of the time with clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera and accordionist Gil Goldstein, Carter readily avoids easy nostalgia, whether basking in the childlike delights of "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," "Little Brown Jug" and "Anitra's Dance" (the <i>Peer Gynt</i> classic, taken from the great '30s bandleader John Kirby's arrangement), or the more sophisticated of emotion of Duke Ellington's "Blue Rose" and "I'll Be Seeing You." Produced by John Clayton, the album doesn't rise to the heights of <i>Freefall</i>, Carter's 2001 duo recording with pianist Kenny Barron, but its easygoing qualities win out over the slick high conceptualism of some of her other efforts. <i>--Lloyd Sachs</i>

Genere: Jazz

Durata: 52:54

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Trama: Bassist Ron Carter provided the anchor for Miles Davis's band from 1963 to 1969, becoming an indispensable part of one of the trumpeter’s greatest bands. While there's plenty of reflection on Davis's music and personality here, the emphasis is squarely on Carter's own long-standing quartet, featuring pianist Stephen Scott, drummer Payton Crossley and percussionist Roger Squitero. As you'd expect from that line-up the emphasis is often on rhythm, with Carter's warm-toned, resonant bass pulsing at the heart of the music. Davis's fleet "Seven Steps to Heaven" inspires racing invention from Scott and some vibrantly explosive percussion from Squitero, while "My Funny Valentine" has Scott playing with the kind of spare lyricism that was a Davis hallmark, Carter supplying a beautiful chordal accompaniment. There's even a bell-like elegance to the subtle blues-feel of "Bag's Groove." While much of the material alludes directly to Davis's inspiration, the quartet's also reflects one of Davis’s own stylistic sources, pianist Ahmad Jamal's trio. <i>--Stuart Broomer</i>

Genere: Jazz

Durata: 55:46

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Genere: Jazz

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Genere: Country

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Trama: The simple truth is that Johnny Cash could read the phone book and make it compelling. At times this set sounds like a deathbed recitation rather than a collection of songs, but the man's aura and mystique carry the day. Atop Rick Rubin's spare arrangements, Cash makes every song he interprets his own. <I>--Marc Greilsamer</I>

Genere: Country

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Trama: On first thought, the idea of the Man in Black recording such covers as "Bridge over Troubled Water," "Danny Boy," and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" might seem odd, even for an artist who's been able to put his personal stamp on just about everything. But <I>American IV: The Man Comes Around</I>, which also draws on Cash's original songs as well as those by Nine Inch Nails ("Hurt"), Sting ("I Hung My Head"), and Depeche Mode ("Personal Jesus"), may be one of the most autobiographical albums of the 70-year-old singer-songwriter's career. Nearly every tune seems chosen to afford the ailing giant of popular music a chance to reflect on his life, and look ahead to what's around the corner. From the opening track--Cash's own "The Man Comes Around," filled with frightening images of Armageddon--the album, produced by Rick Rubin, advances a quiet power and pathos, built around spare arrangements and unflinching honesty in performance and subject. In 15 songs, Cash moves through dark, haunted meditations on death and destruction, poignant farewells, testaments to everlasting love, and hopeful salutes to redemption. He sounds as if he means every word, his baritone-bass, frequently frayed and ravaged, taking on a weary beauty. By the time he gets to the Beatles' "In My Life," you'll very nearly cry. Go ahead. He sounds as if he's about to, too. Unforgettable. <I>--Alanna Nash</I>

Genere: Country

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Trama: In 1994 Cash stunned the music world with this commanding collection of 13 solo acoustic performances that roll from gospel to cowboy to sarcastic folk. Minimalism had long been Cash's meal ticket, but this time around, producer Rick Rubin stripped it <I>all</I> away, recording the bulk of the record in Cash's cabin or his own living room (two cuts were captured live at the Viper Room in front of an emphatic audience). Cash offers five typically direct and vivid originals, but he also seizes control of songs by Kris Kristofferson, Nick Lowe, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, and Loudon Wainwright. Forty years after "Hey Porter," Cash delivers a pure, naked, and incredibly moving record that, dare we say, rivals the impact of his greatest achievements. <I>--Marc Greilsamer</I>

Genere: Country

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Genere: Country

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Trama: The art of Johnny Cash is as traditional and innovative, as expansive, as the 20th century itself--so much so that The Man in Black now stands as an honest-to-God American icon, a living link to the Carter Family and the very origins of modern country music some 70 years ago. His own repertoire has touched upon just about every significant development in the field ever since, and this three-CD, 75-song box set gives an impressive overview of just about all of it: the rockabilly-boogie singles for Sun in the 1950s; his straight-country smashes from the '60s and '70s; the Americana sagas he recorded during the folk revival; the pro-Indian and antiwar protest songs; the legendary live prison sets; and so much more--all of it a compelling testament to the art of simple storytelling and to the expressive power of a unique human voice. While more is far better in this case, the single-CD Sun Years captures the best early Cash available. So while calling this The Essential Johnny Cash is certainly accurate, it's also a huge understatement. Call it, instead, an essential document of 20th-century America. --David Cantwell

Genere: Country

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Genere: Country

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Genere: Country

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Trama: The album that broke Rosanne Cash's truce with country radio, <I>Interiors</I> matches acoustic-based surface beauty with some of the most harrowing songwriting this side of Alex Chilton's <i>Sister Lovers</i> psychodramas: it's hardly surprising that Cash's marriage to Rodney Crowell, a major subject here, broke up within a year of its release. Cash has never been this good again, though <I>Interiors</I> remains criminally underheard in a world that buys Sarah McLachlan's ruminations by the million. <I>--Rickey Wright</I>

Genere: Country

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Trama: Rosanne Cash went through some major changes after 1990's critical triumph <I>Interiors</I>. She divorced her longtime producer and husband Rodney Crowell, she moved from Nashville to Manhattan, and she shifted her career from Columbia's country division to its pop division. What hasn't changed is her music. <I>The Wheel</I> boasts the same kind of extremely personal portraits of troubled marriage and unsettled womanhood set to the same sort of lucid folk-pop as her previous three albums. No one in Anglo-American pop does it better. Cash is the Billie Holiday of country singers. Her small voice sometimes wanders off pitch, but she invests her soft, close-microphone vocals with so much core emotion that she creates the illusion of whispering the most intimate secrets into each listener's ear. Her translucent voice projects such resilient strength that the listener's reaction is not pity but gratitude for the confidence. --<I>Geoffrey Himes</I>

Genere: Rock

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Genere: Rock

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Trama: <I>No More Shall We Part</I> contains a greater wealth of musical invention and lyrical intelligence in its 68 minutes than most acts manage in an entire career. Cave is not merely in a different league from most of his peers; he's scarcely even playing the same game. <I>No More</I> sees a renewed emphasis on the virtuosity of Cave's longtime backing band, the Bad Seeds (Cave's last album, 1997's superb <I>The Boatman's Call</I> was a relatively sparse affair). The Seeds decorate the sprawling ballads on <I>No More Shall We Part</I> with aplomb, helped on several tracks by the crystalline harmonies of folk singers Kate and Anna McGarrigle. Cave's lyrical preoccupations remain constant--God, love (and the loss thereof), and death. As ever, Cave deals with these themes with great agility and imagination, and, as ever, he is funnier than he is generally given credit for. <I>--Andrew Mueller</I>

Genere: Jazz

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Genere: Jazz

Durata: 51:01

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Genere: Jazz

Durata: 41:45

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Genere: Blues

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Genere: Blues

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Genere: Country

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Trama: Beth Nielsen Chapman has long been a music-industry favorite, with the likes of Elton John championing and performing her songs. To say she's had it rough, though, barely does justice to the events that inform 1997's <I>Sand and Water</I> and its follow-up, <I>Deeper Still</I>--the death of her husband and her subsequent fight with breast cancer. <I>Deeper Still</I>'s acceptance of hard truths will resonate with many listeners, while others will raise an eyebrow at Chapman's insistence that there are "angels by [her] side." As Hallmark as she can sometimes seem, though, it feels a bit churlish to throw stones at someone who could've folded as easily as continuing to record. <I>Deeper Still</I> offers nothing as pop perfect as "This Kiss," the hit she cowrote for Faith Hill, but those tuned to its singer-songwriter pitch will treasure it nonetheless. <I>--Rickey Wright</I>

Genere: Folk

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Genere: Folk

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Genere: Jazz

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Genere: Jazz

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Genere: Jazz

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Trama: With his elegant lyric sensibility and use of classic harmonics, which might best be characterized as equal parts Hank Jones and Bill Evans, pianist Bill Charlap manages to suggest something at once timeless and modern in his approach to jazz piano. And while references to past and present masters of the keyboard abound in this recital of Hoagy Carmichael compositions (as in his tasty appropriation of Evans's tolling intro to "Some Other Time" on a poignant reading of "The Nearness of You," or his interpolation of Red Garland's "Billy Boy" as a prelude to "I Walk with Music"), Charlap manages to evoke the dreamy, unhurried character redolent of so much of Carmichael's music, while maintaining his own probing, crystalline presence. Thus, while a briskly swinging jaunt through "Jubilee" finds him navigating an equestrian set of changes in a round-robin romp with his exceptionally empathetic rhythm mates (bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington), his sultry flirting with tenorist Frank Wess on "Blue Orchids" and his lofty harmonic byplay with guitarist Jim Hall reveal a musician wise beyond his years--restrained and relaxed and confident enough not to hide behind a fusillade of empty notes. Such maturity is part of what makes his storytelling accompaniments behind master vocalists Tony Bennett and Shirley Horn--and a breathtakingly slow, humid trio treatment of "Georgia"--so richly rewarding. <I>--Chip Stern</I>

Genere: Jazz

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Trama: S Wonderful by Bill Charlap Trio
"This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply."

Genere: R&B

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Trama: Though this is not the most recent Ray Charles box set collection, it may be the best. That's because it focuses on Ray's great growth in the 1950s, particularly his days with Atlantic Records. The set opens with Ray still in a Charles Brown, smooth-voice, mellow-piano mode, but in short order, he discovers his own identity. From the good time of "It Should Have Been Me" on disc one, though the orgiastic "What'd I Say, Parts 1 & 2" on disc three, the man they call "The Genius" rocks, rolls, raises the rafters, and sinks way down low with the blues. This box also features an excellent essay by the late music historian, Robert Palmer. --Robert Gordon

Genere: Blues

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Genere: R&B

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Trama: Feeling is what Ray Charles is all about--straight from the gut, exposed and vulnerable, real. And because it's the feeling of his music that matters most to him, whether it's found in the words he's singing or the notes he's playing, he has never seen any reason to limit himself to any particular style. He's played blues and gospel, jazz and soul, pop and rock and country, and for a half century now he's scored hits and created masterpieces with just about all of it--very often all of it at once! But no matter how startlingly dynamic his arrangements, the focus is always the feeling in Charles's voice. It's such an expressive, soulful instrument that, regardless of what's swirling around it--strings? gospel choir? pedal-steel guitar? all of the above?--it still demands the center of attention. Charles's version of country music takes the listener to unexpected places, musically and emotionally. Hearing all of his interactions with C&W pulled together like this simply amazes. --David Cantwell

Genere: R&B

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Trama: Ray Charles is the Genius of Soul, but he's always had a bit of country boy in him, too. Between playing hillbilly piano when he was a kid and landing several duets on the country charts in the '80s, Charles released this 1962 classic, taking 12 country standards and proving that great songs can remain great, no matter what the setting. Behind blaring brass and thrilling strings, Brother Ray transforms "Hey, Good Lookin'" and "Bye Bye Love" into big-band swing; "You Win Again" into the Nashville Sound; and "I Love You So Much It Hurts" into the most elegant of pop. "I Can't Stop Loving You" was the big hit, but everything else here is just as timeless and beautiful. <I>--David Cantwell</I>

Genere: Rock

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Genere: Folk

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Trama: During the early '90s, the Chieftains embarked upon a series of multigenre crossover recordings. Major pop stars were brought in as guest artists and a few had the goods, but others came across as wannabes or well-meaning if clueless PR victims. This Grammy-winning live album from 1992 features the Who's Roger Daltrey and American singer Nanci Griffith. Sadly, Griffith's husky, thin-textured voice is inadequate to the demands of Irish vocal ornamentation and phrasing. Daltrey, meanwhile, sounds raucous, unidiomatic, and amateurish; plus his presence with a traditional Irish music ensemble in the middle of British-occupied Belfast seems a bit much. In any case, courting comparison with the Chieftains' own singer, Kevin Conneff, is a risky business at best. The instrumentals are typically accomplished and future <I>Riverdance</I> diva Jean Butler provides charmingly percussive footwork, but the trap drummer on the last tune is glaringly out of place. <I>--Christina Roden</I>

Genere: Folk

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Trama: So thoroughly identified are they with Irish music, that even when the Chieftains depart from the tradition--to collaborate with Chinese, country, or pop musicians, for example--they lose not a drop of credibility in the process. On <i>Tears of Stone</i>, the group accompanies a bevy of internationally acclaimed female vocalists on traditional tunes with inventive new arrangements by Paddy Moloney. Sinead O'Connor and the Corrs remain close to their roots, while Bonnie Raitt, Mary-Chapin Carpenter, Loreena McKennitt, and Joan Osborne all sound more than convincingly Celtic. The best performances, however, are by those artists least attached to the tradition. Moloney's take on Joni Mitchell's "The Magdalene Laundries" outdoes the original; "Sake in the Jar," composed for Japanese pop star Akiko Yano, sounds like a new form of music altogether; and Canadian jazz singer Diana Krall's "Danny Boy" doesn't so much tug at the heartstrings as rip them out by the roots. <i>--Richard Gehr</i>

Genere: Jazz

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Genere: Folk

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Genere: Jazz

Durata: 48:17

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Trama: Even though she only co-writes a few songs per album, Norah Jones's success seems to have re-energized the women's singer-songwriter scene, and this isn't bad thing--there's a lot of great talent out there getting support because of Jones. Italian songwriter Chiara Civello is one of them. Her breathy but versatile voice allows her to do a convincing French café version of Suzanne Vega's "Caramel," a wispy torch ballad "Parole Incerte" (one of three songs sung in Italian), or do a dancing version of the bossa nova tune "Outono." Working through a dozen songs, Civello is supported by an acoustic-based band composed of studio ace Steve Gadd on drums, keyboardist Larry Goldings and a handful of jazz and Latin jazz players. More impressively, she co-wrote "Trouble" with the legendary Burt Bacharach. An auspicious debut from a singer that seems to have already charmed musicians, labels and musical legends, Last Quarter Moon is the tasteful work of a singer-songwriter with global perspective. -- Tad Hendrickson

Genere: Folk

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Genere: Country

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Trama: Guy Clark is a slow worker. <I>Dublin Blues</I> is only his seventh album since his debut, "Old No. 1," appeared in '75. The silver-haired Texan has praised the patient, meticulous process of hands-on craftmanship in songs like "The Carpenter," "Boats to Build," and "Jack of All Trades," and obviously applies the same approach to his own songwriting. The time is well spent, for this batch of songs resembles fine furniture; the words and music fit together so precisely that there's nary a seam nor a wobble. Clark's limitations are the same as ever. The cramped dimensions of his vocal tone and range make Johnny Cash sound like Luciano Pavarotti, and his easy-going, clip-clop midtempo rhythms are too unvarying for their own good. Admiring friends such as Nanci Griffith, Emmylou Harris, Kathy Mattea, and Sam Bush make the harmonies surrounding Clark especially rich on "Dublin Blues," and Ramblin' Jack Elliott (the subject of an earlier Clark song) sings a duet vocal on "Hangin' Your Life on the Wall," a defiant anthem on old folks who refuse to slow down. The heart of any Guy Clark album, though, is the writing, and the writing on <I>Dublin Blues</I> is the work of a dogged perfectionist. <I>--Geoffrey Himes</I>

Genere: Country

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Trama: Despite the misleading title, this collection is actually a straight (albeit reordered) reissue of Clark's first two records: 1975's landmark debut <I>Old No. 1</I> and <I>Texas Cookin'</I> from the following year. Only one song from the latter title is missing, replaced by the "Fools for Each Other" single from 1978. Though he was in his early 30s when he recorded <I>Old No. 1</I>, Clark's keen, world-weary tales (and equally worn voice) belie his age. With simple arrangements and richly detailed narratives, the record has an air of resignation and melancholy, yet somehow manages to be comforting and uplifting. <I>Texas Cookin'</I> is a fine follow-up, but despite a number of high-profile guests, it never truly reaches the heights of its predecessor. Together, however, they form quite an impressive body of original songs, especially for only one year's worth of recording. <I>--Marc Greilsamer</I>

Genere: Country

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Genere: Country

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Trama: Guy Clark approaches songwriting the same way he approaches fishing--if what he comes up with is too meager, he throws it back; only the best specimens are considered "keepers." Fifteen of those specimens are featured on <I>Keepers--A Live Recording</I> (Sugar Hill), which was taped at a Nashville club in 1996 on Halloween weekend. Two strong songs are unveiled--"A Little of Both," a bouncy, witty song about avoiding choices, and "Out in the Parking Lot," a slow, poignant look at the action outside a nightclub. These two are joined by 13 old favorites, including those turned into hits by Ricky Skaggs ("Heartbroke"), Jerry Jeff Walker ("L.A. Freeway"), and Johnny Cash ("The Last Gunfighter Ballad"). They're all wonderful songs, but these aren't necessarily the best versions. Clark is a limited singer, but his voice cracks more than usual on several of these live renditions; this version of "She Ain't Goin' Nowhere" is practically unlistenable. Clark did put together a sharp little band for this recording, but if he was going to make a live album, why didn't he deliver some of his long, droll stories rather than these truncated introductions? <I>--Geoffrey Himes</I>

Genere: Country

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Genere: Jazz

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Genere: Jazz

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Genere: Blues

Durata: 45:28

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Genere: Rock

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Genere: Rock

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Trama: In a few short years, the Clash transformed themselves from one of English punk's hardest-edged bands to an adventurous outfit with their hands in reggae, dub, dance, and funk. Nowhere is that range more evident than this collection of singles spanning their entire career, from the three-chord fury of "White Riot" through the swooning pop of "Train in Vain" to the dance groove of "Rock the Casbah." While no substitute for the likes of the self-titled debut, <I>London Calling</I>, or <I>Sandinista!</I>, <I>The Singles</I> does offer up a succession of tunes that helped make the Clash the world's biggest punk band. The addition of two tunes not released on any of their original albums ("Bankrobber" and "This Is Radio Clash") add to the value of this retrospective. <I>--Rob O'Connor</I>

Genere: Blues

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Genere: Country

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Genere: Country

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Genere: Jazz

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Trama: A superb, mostly self-taught musician, Jimmy Cobb is the elder statesman of all the incredible Miles Davis bands. Cobb's inspirational work with Miles, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly and Co. spanned 1957 until 1963 and included the masterpiece Kind of Blue, the most popular jazz recording in history. On this new Chesky Records recording, Jazz In the Key of Blue, Jimmy Cobb partners with past collaborators Roy Hargrove and John Webber and guitarist Russell Malone for this collection of standards.