Springsteen has always tapped into the wellspring of the American songline – and for all his rock and roll roots and tendencies, as a practitioner of the people’s music, Bruce is really a folkie at heart. As powerful and inspiring as his rock persona is, the populist side of Bruce lends an abiding gravity and conviction to his acoustic side. Looking at his work as a whole, it seems his Woody Guthrie influences now stand side by side with his Elvis ones. We Shall Overcome, Bruce’s fourteenth album, works on a couple of levels: while clearly a tribute to Pete Seeger as one of the true godfathers of American folk and protest music, it is also in a sense part of a trilogy in the aftermath of 9/11. It is almost a natural progression from the very human reaction on ...

Quirk strangeness! That’s Jesca Hoop’s Kismet CD in a neat package. My physicist friend and the James Joyce society may giggle at what is, in effect, a triple pun, but my reason for tossing it out to you is so you’ll feel exactly the way I did when I listened to Kismet for the first time. Mystified, elated, dumbfounded, angry, and some other word I can’t think of right now. I really believe you should rush out and get a copy of Kismet as soon as possible, throw it onto your listening device of choice and take its fast-moving Wonderland journey from “Summertime” through “Love and Love Again.” Why? When was the last time you felt mystified, elated, dumbfounded, angry, and that other word I can’t think of, because of a CD? Exactly. Upon repeated listens I was forced to ask myself where ...

Steve Winwood‘s voice is like glue. It can hold a song together where other less talented, less gifted voices would merely sound like cats crying outside your bedroom window at three in the morning. It’s no different on his latest release, Nine Lives, as Steve’s voice is the primary instrument and its saving grace.     After getting beyond the almost unforgivable cliché title I was happily surprised to find some really good songs and a lot of good music on this nine-cut CD. Nine Lives. Nine tracks. It sounds like some dork record company exec came up with that beauty and wouldn’t let go. I really loved Traffic, I think Blind Faith was much better than history gives it credit for, and “Gimme Some Lovin’” is classic rock at its finest. But Steve Winwood’s solo efforts have always been hit and miss ...