Michael Fremer

These ten acoustic tunes cut by Buddy Guy on 6 and 12 string guitar, and Junior Wells on harmonica back in 1981 during a visit to Sysmo Studios in Paris, France states the case for the acoustic blues as well as any album I can think of, but if you’re not into the genre, don’t expect this reissue to pull you around. Well, take that back: the sound may drag you in.

Death Cab For Cutie's Benjamin Gibbard probably reads “Romeo and Juliet” as light comedy. Calling him a “hopeless romantic” would be an understatement of Grand Canyon-like proportions. If Bryan Ferry wears his heart on his sleeve, Gibbard wears it on a Times Square billboard with a seriousness I can't recall hearing expressed outside of opera.

Thompson’s first acoustic solo album (with overdubbed guitars and some keyboards added by Debra Dobkin) in many years is as the title and cover art promises, an intimate drawing room recital by a seemingly timeless artist who doesn’t get better with time because he dropped in seemingly fully formed during his Fairport Convention days much as James Taylor did on his first Apple solo album.

The great drummer Art Blakey, still playing ferociously at age 62 when this Keystone Korner live set was recorded January, 1982, was a great believer in giving young talent gigging opportunities. He also was an excellent judge of the up-and-coming, and over the years he helped develop many major jazz artists, including Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard and Hank Mobley, as well as Wynton and Branford Marsalis, both of whom are spotlighted on this record. In fact, it was Branford’s recording debut.