Here's a look at the music I loved and listened to the most from 2022. If you enjoy the genre one of my picks is from, chances are it's worth a listen. Let me know what albums I'm missing!
While you're here, check out my list of the Best Albums of All Time! You'll find my #1 pick for every year from 1924 to the Present. Then under each year you'll find a list of all the albums I love that first came out that year.
THE BEST ALBUMS OF THE YEAR -- 1924 TO THE PRESENT
Now, onto this year! First, I list my favorite albums. Then I list them again, with a few comments about why I love them. Below that you'll find links to my in-depth library of music, presented by artist and then to cap it off, my #1 picks of all time, with the latest lucky artist at the top. This year, that artist is...
THE BEST ALBUMS OF 2022
ELVIS COSTELLO -- The Boy Named If /The Resurrection of Rust
HARRY STYLES -- Harry's House ESLABÓN ARMADO -- Nostalgia
BARBRA STREISAND -- Live At The Bon Soir
ROLLING STONES -- Live At The El Mocambo
iLe -- Nacarile
ALTAMEDA -- Born Losers
TOMMY MCLAIN -- I Ran Down Every Dream
CHARLIE GABRIEL AND THE PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND -- 89
WET LEG -- Wet Leg
BUZZARD BUZZARD BUZZARD -- Backhand Deals
TCHOTCHKE -- Tchotchke
CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT -- Ghost Song
WEYES BLOOD -- And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow
BAD BUNNY -- Un Verano Sin Ti
MIRANDA LAMBERT -- Palomino
JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON -- Drone Mass
LADY BLACKBIRD -- Black Acid Soul
NOORI & HIS DORPA BAND -- Beja Power! Electric Soul & Brass From Sudan's Red Sea Coast
THE LICKERISH QUARTET -- Threesome
SILVANA ESTRADA -- Marchita
DR. JOHN -- Things Happen That Way
JOEL ROSS -- The Parable Of The Poet
VARIOUS ARTISTS -- Gotta Get A Good Thing Goin': Black Music In Britain In The Sixties
ASHLEY MCBRYDE -- Presents Lindeville
IAN NOE -- River Fools and Mountain Saints
JULIA BULLOCK -- Walking In The Dark
STEVE LACY -- Gemini Rights
JUDY COLLINS -- Spellbound
VARIOUS ARTISTS -- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Music From And Inspired By
COLIN HAY -- Now and The Evermore OUMOU SANGARÉ -- Timbuktu
DUNCAN SHEIK -- Claptrap
GOGOL BORDELLO -- Solidaritine
MADONNA -- Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones
VIGÜELA -- A La Manera Artesana
PANIC! AT THE DISCO -- Viva Las Vengeance
BINKER & MOSES -- Feeding The Machine
MEGHAN TRAINOR -- Takin' It Back
ALEC BENJAMIN -- (Un)Commentary
THE MOVERS -- Vol. 1: 1970-1976
MIDLAKE -- For The Sake Of Bethel Woods
RENÉE FLEMING -- Voice Of Nature: The Anthropocene
THE BEST ALBUMS OF 2022 (a breakdown)
1-10 (plus 3)
ELVIS COSTELLO -- The Boy Named If /The Resurrection of Rust
Check out my list of the best albums of all time and you'll see him year after year after year. From 1977 with his debut My Aim Is True to the 1980s with the infectious Get Happy! and the baroque Imperial Bedroom to the 1990s and the 2000s and the 2010s right up to today, Elvis Costello has consistently delivered great music for almost 50 years. Indeed, 18 albums and 1 EP of his have popped onto my "best of" lists over the years, often right near the top. Whether he's collaborating with Burt Bacharach or the Roots, exploring New Orleans jazz or singing with a classical quartet, Costello is always fascinating, always great. His voice has a timbre all its own, cutting through with its nervy anger or gorgeous croon. Maybe those marvelous experimentations of recent years weren't quite your cup of tea. If not, The Boy Named If is your chance to dive right back in. Costello pounds it out with one great rock song after another. This is a mature, adult Costello, but any song on here would sound right at home in concert side by side with songs from This Year's Model. Remember when everyone assumed watching grown men try to rock out would be embarrassing? Surely the Rolling Stones would have to hang it up when they hit, say, 40 years old! Well, here's Costello at 68 sounding as brash and hungry as ever. Just to prove his consistency, Costello "reunites" his original band Rusty by bringing pal Allan Mayes into the studio to rerecord six songs their group covered back in the day. Like Tom Petty's late career reunion with Mudcrutch, it's not nostalgia or generosity here-- they sound damn good. But then, Elvis Costello always does.
Apparently, One Direction was a super group. All the lads enjoy solo success, with my money still on Niall Horan to break even bigger than he has so far. But clearly Harry Styles is the one. If 1D has a reunion, it will be because Harry decides they should. (And why not Harry; it would be fun.) His solo success wasn't fore-ordained. Sure, Harry co-wrote some of their songs (including the not-so-swift Taylor retort "Perfect"), but he wasn't the driving creative force any more than Robbie Williams was in Take That. Yet the band took a "break" and Harry turned out his debut solo album which was ok and then another one which was solid and now this. Yes, each album was better than the one before, with Styles working through his influences. But I still wasn't ready for the sonic delight on display here or the pop song-craft. Now he just sounds like...Harry Styles. It's quiet, sad, open-hearted and sometimes creepy. (Those lines "Cocaine, side boob/ Choke her with a sea view" contrast darkly with the sensitive soul listening to a friend's woes in "Matilda," for example.) And it's so compulsively listenable, with every track on side one sounding like a monster hit, not just the unstoppable "As It Was." All the songs were written by Styles with at least one collaborator, but they sure sound personal. Maybe a good comparison is Carole King for its vibe of feeling confessional and universal at the same time. Here's hoping he can follow up this tapestry with a lot more like it.
COLIN HAY -- Now and The Evermore
ESLABÓN ARMADO -- Nostalgia
Combining the ethnic pride of ranchero with the socially conscious lyrics of norteño, the young band Eslabón Armado has -- wait. Actually I don't know a damn thing about Sierreña or how these guys combine the sounds they heard diving into their parents' album collections with one ear cocked to the radio. All I know is they hit the Billboard Album Top 10 chart, the first Regional Mexican artist to ever do so. That caught my attention. Thanks to streaming, I didn't have to agonize about spending $15 on a compact disc just to check them out. Two minutes after hearing about them, I'm nodding my head along with vocals that burst with charisma and acoustic guitar interplay that makes me yearn to see them in concert. And if you don't speak the language, don't worry. Just listen and you'll know they're having their hearts broken. (Or you can use Google Translate.) I first listened to them back in May of 2022. Eight months later I'm still digging them, exploring their four earlier albums and wondering when they'll make it to Alabama and...hold on. A quick search shows they're playing Montgomery, Alabama on February 26! You know, the internet isn't all bad.
BARBRA STREISAND -- Live At The Bon Soir
ROLLING STONES -- Live At The El Mocambo
Like a god, Barbra Streisand arrived fully formed during club dates in 1962. She had no learning curve; we had a learning curve to keep up with her. The vocal acrobatics, the humor, the insight into the lyrics, the performance of those lyrics akin to a great actor tackling a role, the pacing, the perfectionism, the taste in material...it was all there. These performances were unavailable for decades and naturally they grew in the telling. No actual recording could live up to the hype, except they do. Astonishing.
In contrast, I've never hungered for any live albums from the Rolling Stones. I'm a Beatles fan in the great Stones vs. Beatles debate (as if one had to choose) and I've always loved the Beatles and merely appreciated the Stones. Never wanted to see one of their massive stadium shows, even if Mick and Keith can hold the attention of 80,000 fans whenever they want. But yeah, if I was going to see the Stones, I'd want it to be the impossible fantasy of a club date. Something like their Live At The El Mocambo performances from 1977. Ronnie Wood is new to the band and they've got something to prove and clearly a club is the place to prove it. Fans knew via bootleg these shows were special, but damn. It can make even a hold-out like me learn to love 'em.
iLe -- Nacarile
ALTAMEDA -- Born Losers
Whew! I named iLe's album Almadura as the best album of 2019. Pretty bold to back such a young act. Her follow-up proves my faith in this Puerto Rican talent is well-founded. Not that anyone else is paying enough attention this time around. Similarly, Canadian act Altameda seems to be flying dangerously under the radar. With their third album, they are ready for the spotlight, having built on their first two albums and honed their chops in concert. Both acts are lyrically precise, musically captivating, alive. Either one could easily be the Act Of The Moment and I've loved them so much it's a shock to look online and discover precious little attention. Maybe college radio or some alternative Latin formats are embracing them? All I know is, you should.
iLe's new album features a panoply of guest artists, but it feels as fully her own as ever. She's definitely in charge, twisting sexist comments back on the men who say them, embracing an image as "difficult" because what's wrong with knowing who you are and wrapping it all up in music as sonically adventurous as ever. It's a treat and a wake-up call at the same time. It took me a while to track it down, but the word "nacarile" means sort of being in a place that's the middle of nowhere and a slang way of saying "no, uh-uh, not happening." So iLe can't be tied down to this or that location or region or style of music. And no, you're not going to forget her. Not happening. Nacarile.
Altameda is a rock band. The opener on their latest album is "Dead Man's Suit," a song about a thrift store purchase that includes lyrics worthy of John Prine. The centerpiece "Everybody's Got To Bleed" has a Stones-like crunch. They portray females with empathy on "Ramona Retreat" (about a woman slipping away from her lover to return home for good) and "Sweet Susie." Really their third album feels more confident musically and lyrically than ever, from "Wheel of Love" to the title track (with guitar echoing George Harrison) and the gorgeous closer "In Time They Say." They nod to Dylan and the Band here and there. Like Springsteen, on "Nightmare Town" they detail with care the places that formed them, but at the same time convey the desperate desire to get the hell out of there. Wilco? The Jayhawks? Those are useful touchstones here. Like them and you'll probably like Altameda. Only 50 years of Elvis Costello's genius kept me from naming this rocker the best album of the year. If you're in the market for "favorite new band," Altameda is ready for you.
TOMMY MCLAIN -- I Ran Down Every Dream
CHARLIE GABRIEL AND THE PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND -- 89
Oh I love a great backstory as much as anyone. Beloved but obscure act gets their moment of glory? Aging veteran given a showcase with the help of their more famous friends? Sign me up! So let me be clear. Both these albums came on my radar not because of their backstories but because my friend Sal said they were worth my time. I put them on the to-be-listened-to list and when I got around to them, I wasn't even sure why they were on the pile. But the moment the music starts, you know they're special. Tommy McLain has a long, funky career and here's the aging vet making the artistic statement of a lifetime. Charlie Gabriel is a key member of the legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band. He plays multiple instruments, is revered in New Orleans and is releasing his debut album...at the age of 89. EIGHTY NINE! If that doesn't scream feature story for NPR and CBS Sunday Morning and the like, I don't know what does. But I knew NONE OF THIS when I played them. The wisdom, the strongly etched lyrics of McLain blew me away. The sheer beauty of Charlie Gabriel's playing on classic standards held me still. And then I checked out their stories. Just play them. McLain's is a treat. Gabriel mixes a few genial originals with some lovely versions of classic tunes. What exactly happens on his version of "Stardust" that makes me sigh with pleasure? He doesn't radically rework the song or deconstruct it with flair, the way John Coltrane blew apart "My Favorite Things." It's a simple duet with guitar and Gabriel on clarinet. He doesn't worry about a purity of tone. In fact, a few times, he allows a little distortion to show us he's only human, though by and large his sound is lovely here. I think what makes it special is that the musicians clearly love this song. Maybe they've played it a thousand times but they're paying attention to it. And so we pay attention to them. Gabriel begins in an ever so sprightly manner and then at about the 1:08 mark, he clears his throat and launches into the main melody and it's just...heart-stopping.
And do check out Burning Wood, the music blog of my friend Sal Nunziato. He's turned me on to great new music over the years, almost as often as he's championed classic albums I need to listen to again or for the first time. His Top 10 albums of 2022 contain seven albums I also loved. So clearly he's got good taste...or I'm just cribbing from him.
Also if you've got vinyl to sell, he's your man. (If you want to buy vinyl, he's got you covered there as well.)
WET LEG -- Wet Leg
BUZZARD BUZZARD BUZZARD -- Backhand Deals
TCHOTCHKE -- Tchotchke
Okay, there's world music and hip hop and acts devising music that can catch your ear in ten seconds on TikTok. But don't worry. Kids will always grab some guitars, a drum, a bass and start pounding out \ rock and roll. Hence the pleasure of these three acts. Wet Legs got all the buzz and like any music consumer burned many times in the past by music industry hype, I wasn't jumping to check out a band suddenly buried in press clippings. I've seen that hustle before. But people with good taste kept mentioning them too and well, what the heck, why not give them a listen? Damn if Wet Leg isn't a blast with its meat and potatoes rock and roll, which is a compliment in my book. The star-making machinery might just as easily have singled out Buzzard Buzzard, Buzzard, a pretty obscure UK act. Wet Legs is deservedly touring the world and playing music festivals like Coachella. Meanwhile fellow UK act Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard (one of my least favorite band names; I mean, really guys?) is just as awesome and promising. They sing "Come on, rock on!" without irony, and who could ask for more than that.Their upcoming tour dates include...maybe some shows in Bristol in March? And yet another act (this one with the cool name of Tchotchke) is also delivering the goods. They might actually slipstream behind Wet Legs since both are all-female acts, a still too rare occurrence in rock. Their album is more eclectic and pop-friendly than the others. But all three could set up their gear in your garage, plug in and thrash away to the delight of friends and neighbors. If you like Wet Leg, jump on the other two right away.
CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT -- Ghost Song
Cécile McLorin Salvant was already one of the boldest and most exciting jazz singers around, building on the brilliant, path-breaking recordings of Cassandra Wilson with her own singular vision. I named her album Dreams and Daggers the best of 2017. Now she's expanded even my idea of what a jazz vocalist might encompass with her latest, most theatrical album yet. It contains a clutch of originals sitting comfortably alongside a number of songs you can only describe as "eclectic." It opens with an astonishing cover of Kate Bush's delirious debut single "Wuthering Heights," a song I love and yet never imagined someone else covering. You'll also find -- among others -- a very obscure song by Sting ("Until," a tune rescued from the soundtrack of the modest Hugh Jackman film Kate & Leopold), Kurt Weill's "The World Is Mean," a traditional number and "Optimistic Voices" from The Wizard of Oz. What's that? You thought you knew The Wizard of Oz and haven't heard of that song? Tell me about it. I was listening to the album when she sang it and without looking at the liner notes I just knew I was familiar with this song but I was damned if I could remember from where. It drove me nuts but I refused to look it up until finally my aging brain clicked into action. Dorothy is entering the Emerald City and a chorus of voices perkily delivers "Optimistic Voices," telling her how much she's really really going to like her time visiting there. You've heard it countless times and it's part of your subconsciousness, just sitting there until Salvant brings it up to the surface. Her great achievement is not reviving obscure gems or casting familiar songs in a new light. It's all of that and more -- an expansive embrace of popular music as broad as her vocal range. Salvant can do it all. And does.
NOTE: It's been pointed out to me that Pat Benatar covered "Wuthering Heights" on her second album Crimes Of Passion, the best-selling album of her career. Bette Midler covered "Optimistic Voices" on her second album, 1973's Bette Midler. So take away my rock card and my gay card.
11-20
WEYES BLOOD -- And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow
A Seventies vibe, sure, but she's not retro. Weyes Blood is delivering a very distinctive body of work in the singer-songwriter but-I-know-what-I'm-doing-in-a-studio genre. You might just start with the album Titanic Rising (I really can't get the should-have-been-a-hit song "Everyday" out of my head). If you do, before you know it you'll be listening to this excellent follow-up as well.
BAD BUNNY -- Un Verano Sin Ti
The artist of the year. We're in an era that devalues the album and hey, that's how music was heard for most of the past 100 years, with singles and a stream of music mattering more than the album, that unhip artistic statement of a 40 minute song cycle. For two or three years now, the singles and collaborations and albums of Bad Bunny kept coming and kept delighting. And I've had albums of his higher on my lists. I just wish I would hold up one of them and say, HERE! Start here. But you know, start here.
MIRANDA LAMBERT -- Palomino
Miranda Lambert really is astonishing, never putting a foot wrong. She pivots from an expansive double album to a Pistol Annies Christmas album to the stripped down Marfa Tapes and tosses off a couple of terrific studio albums before and after. Palomino is terrific. It doesn't explicitly echo any of her musical explorations alongside others. But you get the sense her palette is more varied than ever. I'll follow her anywhere.
JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON -- Drone Mass
A marvelous composer, Jóhannsson died too soon, so this is a posthumous release. He's best known for film scores, including the towering achievement of The Miners' Hymns, a brilliant documentary that combines archival footage with Jóhannsson's music to triumphant effect. (It was my favorite film of 2012.) Here he's composed a mass, a mass one might imagine is a requiem though it doesn't have the weighty sadness of such an enterprise. He's especially good at using voices in choral arrangements that are haunting and classical in nature. Clearly Jóhannsson enjoyed Arvo Pärt as much as anyone. But he's his own artist and this is perhaps a final reminder of how much we lost when he died in 2018.
LADY BLACKBIRD -- Black Acid Soul
I listened to Black Acid Soul. Vaguely retro soul music with a strong voice, but I've heard it all before. Months later, I put it on again and wow! How does it happen that an album can strike you so differently on a second listen? Suddenly, Lady Blackbird is an artist I'm dying to see in concert and tell friends about and anxiously hope she'll deliver the goods next time around. Because I want more music. A real talent and yet more proof that sometimes it not them, it's you. Keep an open ear.
NOORI & HIS DORPA BAND -- Beja Power! Electric Soul & Brass From Sudan's Red Sea Coast
What do I know about the music of Sudan? About as much as I know about ranchero. (Check out Eslabón Armado, above.) What do I know about the travails of the Beja people? Even less. Apparently music has been stifled and suppressed in Sudan in countless ways over the years. Maybe that's why this album is so joyous. This new band kicks out the jams and delivers world music, which is to say music for the world. Infectious, fun, compulsively listenable and when you hear it you'll want to learn more about Noori & His Dorpa Band. as well as Sudan and the Beja people. Or you can just dance to it.
THE LICKERISH QUARTET -- Threesome
Power pop heaven. I never listen to EPs but somehow I stumbled across an EP of this band. Damn it was good. Straightforward, catchy pop-leaning rock and roll with clever lyrics. In other words, power pop that's compulsively listenable. When would a proper album out? Months and months later a second EP appeared. I never listen to EPs but I listened to that one too and damned if it wasn't just as high in quality as the first. Finally, in 2023 the third and final EP in the trilogy came out. I'm retroactively declaring this an album (you can buy it on vinyl as such, I think or follow me on Amazon Music and click onto my playlist combining the three EPs) and putting it on this list now. The Raspberries, Fountains of Wayne and the like are good comparisons. Just terrific. But wait, there's more! After falling in love with them, I discovered they rose from the ashes of the legendary power pop band Jellyfish. That group released two beloved albums in the 1990s and then disappeared. And no, I'd never even heard of Jellyfish, much less heard them, if you follow me. Now I'm gaga for Bellybutton (1990) and Spilt Milk (1993) and you'll find them on my lists of the best albums of those years so I look like I was really cool and smart back in 1990, even though I wasn't. So check out The Lickerish Quartet and you'll discover two great bands for the price of one.
SILVANA ESTRADA -- Marchita
It's not her debut but singer-songwriter Silvana Estrada comes into her own with this Blue album of heartbreak. Estrada performs on the cuatro -- a sort of smallish guitar I'd never heard of before -- and it's the key instrument here, keeping the music intimate and folk-ish even as Estrada employs everything from an organ to a cello to complement the simple directness of her voice and her playing. Mesmerizing.
DR. JOHN -- Things Happen That Way
What a great country detour for Dr. -- kidding! It's not a country album. It's just a Dr. John album, the voodoo/bayou/New Orleans gumbo you expect from one of the city's most famous performers. Sure he covers some country classics like "Funny How Time Slips Away" and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry." But it's the swampy, soulful sound the Dr. has been prescribing to audiences for more than 50 years. He died in 2019 in the midst of recording this, but they must have been about to wrap things up because it sure sounds complete. It's a great, mellow capper to a marvelous career. How often can you tell people that if they want to check someone out, that the 33rd or so album he recorded is a great place to start?
JOEL ROSS -- The Parable Of The Poet
Entire sub-genres of jazz are devoted to spiritual matters. They can be searching, questioning works like A Love Supreme or they can offer solace and contemplation. That's what you get here with vibraphonist Joel Ross's new work. Ross composed seven movements, from Prayer to Benediction and assembled a terrific group of musicians to bring his piece to life, especially Immanuel Wilkins on alto sax. This isn't aural wallpaper, it's not soothing as such. But it does offer a calm and centeredness amidst the spiritual journey Ross embarks on. Apparently that journey is a self-effacing one: Ross is the guiding force here but his vibraphone is not front and center. You'll have to check out his other albums to savor it more, but after hearing this you'll be doing so.
21-30
VARIOUS ARTISTS -- Gotta Get A Good Thing Goin': Black Music In Britain In The Sixties
What a terrific compilation. (By the way, kids, a "compilation" or "boxed set" is a sort of physical playlist. Someone came up with a terrific playlist but instead of just posting it online, they were so proud of it they put it out on vinyl or CD or cassette for all I know so people could buy it and put it on their shelf. Go figure!) As the subtitle says, it gathers Black music in Britain in the Sixties. As far as I can tell, these weren't by and large big hits in the Sixties, but the Northern Soul movement in the UK has long rediscovered relatively obscure songs and given them a second life. For example, the Flirtations had one modest Top 40 hit in the U.S. with "Nothing But A Heartache." Carl Douglas enjoyed a fluke novelty hit with "Kung Fu Fighting" in 1974...but six years earlier in 1968 he put out the memorable "Serving A Sentence Of Life." Nobody paid it any attention. They're both on here with a host of other songs by acts only hardcore enthusiasts would know. The full boxed set features more than 100 tracks, though only 30+ are available to stream on Amazon Music. (If you're obsessive like me, you can check out the track list and hear the rest by heading to YouTube or searching for individual acts on your streamer of choice.) The music is so fun, I haven't felt this giddy since diving into the Rhino Records boxed set Beg, Scream & Shout, a similar Aladdin's cave of riches. The acts here are not so hefty artistically as the better-known ones on that set, not by a country mile, yet both collections opened up vistas for me and kind of blew my mind. Gotta Get A Good Thing Goin' is a testament to just how much damn good music is out there.
ASHLEY MCBRYDE -- Presents Lindeville
IAN NOE -- River Fools and Mountain Saints
The working class. The working poor. Poor people. Country and folk music is where you can dependably find them presented with affection and clarity of the "don't pull that shit with me, I know the game" variety. They know life is hard in country and folk, but that's no excuse.
Ashley McBryde gathers a host of musicians to offer a variety show of sorts depicting regular folk. It's a hoot from the opening track, "Brenda Put Your Bra On." She leans heavily into the humor at first. But as her concept album deepens, so do the shadows until they're enjoying gospel night at a strip club and it's no joke when they sing "Jesus loves the drunkards and the whores and the queers." It's a prayer.
Ian Noe is deadly serious in capturing the underbelly of serious poverty and despair. His folk-rock album River Fools and Mountain Saints is a series of short stories set in the heartland where the heart is in love with opioids, not love. If there's a swing set in the yard, it's rusted. Drunkards, veterans, mountain saint mothers who do what they must to get by and wouldn't know how to complain if it ever occurred to them to try -- they're all here. All here in songs that pierce the Appalachian haze with a spotlight because what else can you do but write it down?
JULIA BULLOCK -- Walking In The Dark
A rising classical star, soprano Julia Bullock does it right with her solo debut. Her husband Christian Reif conducts the London Philharmonic and accompanies her on piano. Composer John Adams called Bullock his muse so she returns the favor by including an aria from his work El Niño. The other major outing is "Knoxville: Summer Of 1915," which I forever associate with Dawn Upshaw. Other songs include the Connie Converse piece "One By One," a spiritual and even Sandy Denny's "Who Knows Where The Time Goes?" You might chide it for following the blueprint of such albums to a fault, if she didn't deliver the goods.
STEVE LACY -- Gemini Rights
While we wait for Maxwell's blacksummerNIGHT, this soulful and psychedelic offering will do just fine. Stevie Wonder is a heady but worthy comparison.
JUDY COLLINS -- Spellbound
Late in her career, Judy Collins is on a hitting streak, knocking out one excellent album after another. Think Johnny Cash in his final days or Rosemary Clooney once she paired up with Concord Records. This 29th (!) studio album is the first on which Collins wrote all the songs. Well, no wonder, since she built her carer on showing great taste in the songs of others, ranging from Joni Mitchell and Stephen Sondheim to Leonard Cohen and beyond. When you've got a gift for uncovering gems by others, focusing on just your own songs might take a back seat. The happy surprise is how good her own songs are here. Forgive yourself if you didn't know better and kept wondering what talented songwriter Collins lit upon this time. And her voice is in fine form. Whatever agility or heights she has lost are more than made up for by knowing exactly how to use the instrument she has.
VARIOUS ARTISTS -- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Music From And Inspired By
Both times, I've enjoyed the soundtrack more than the film. The first one was overseen by Kendrick Lamar, wonderfully so. This time the soundtrack has a more expansive, world music scope, even if the song getting much of the attention is Rihanna's return to the spotlight. In many ways, it captures the vibe of the Black Panther ethos even better this time around. Instead of heavyweights stopping by, listening to it is like heading to Wakanda and discovering all sorts of riches you had no idea were available.
Zach Braff was right. Okay, I won't stick with just that one-liner. But Braff really has kept me on top of the solo career of Colin Hay, the Men At Work frontman who has delivered so many solo albums by now he really wishes we'd quit with the Men At Work references. But now you know who he is and that the mellow angst of "Overkill" wasn't a downer misstep by the band but a hint at the rich territory Hay would explore on his own. I enjoyed his recent covers album but this new collection of tunes might be his peak. Think solo Sting.
OUMOU SANGARÉ -- Timbuktu
The Mali singer Oumou Sangaré has nothing to prove after decades of vibrant recordings, social activism, a worldwide profile as a feminist leader and success as a businessperson. But here she is, heading to the US during the COVID lockdowns and recording a new album embracing elements of the blues and folk without ever abandoning the Malian sound that is at her core. It's fresh and exciting without ever stooping to an attempt at cross-over. Sangaré doesn't stoop, unless it's to help others up.
DUNCAN SHEIK -- Claptrap
Maybe it's the voice. Duncan Sheik sings and you lean in. His singing is intimate and confessional; his best album -- the Nick Drake-inspired Phantom Moon -- should be played as dusk settles into night. He sings and you want to hear what he's saying. Here, finally, he's discovering a sort of peace. Sheik's gone from struggling to catch his breath to struggling to understand the world around him. Maybe we're surrounded by love, he says. Maybe we can find an opportunity for grace. He's still searching but maybe he's more confident there's something worth finding. Claptrap? Not at all.
31-40
GOGOL BORDELLO -- Solidaritine
Surely we're ALL ready for a loud, raucous new album championing Ukraine. It's from the NYC-formed punk band Gogol Bordello. The lead singer is from Ukraine; it's named in part for the Ukrainian writer Nikolai Gogol; and like Goran Bregovíc's Wedding and Funeral Orchestra, the musicians are exuberant, seemingly prone to drinking, fervently inspired by the sounds of the Romani and ready to rock. Solidaritine is political, angry, ferocious and about as much fun as you can have right now. Think The Pogues but not nearly so low-key.
MADONNA -- Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones
I can't review this boxed set. It contains the 50 #1 hits Madonna has achieved on the Billboard dance music charts, so far. No other artist has ever created 50 #1 hits in a single genre before. To my knowledge, no artist has ever created 50 different songs that have hit #1 even in multiple genres. That's remarkable. Scan the titles or start playing them and you won't even think about asking yourself whether you really like a song until you reach #25 or #28 or so. Madonna spins out one classic single after another and you're dazzled and -- if you're me -- slightly surprised at how well you know these specific mixes. I"m no club goer, never was, and yet many of these tweaks of her album tracks are familiar to me. Once I hit the last 15 or 20 songs, well then I'm in new territory, songs that didn't quite land with me or songs I actively disliked or simply weren't up to Madonna's standards. (Please don't tell her; she'd kick my ass.) And yet...and yet the versions contained here, the versions reimagined and rethought by some of the best in the business (and all undeniably still the songs she created) have me thinking twice about my opinion on the later, lesser songs. Still, I can't review it. I can't listen to dance music at home on my iPhone or even in my car driving down the road in Birmingham, Alabama. I need to head to New York City, re-open the Limelight, have a drink or two and then head to the dance floor preferably with a date dancing by my side while the deejay spins this album. Then and only then can I hear these songs in the context they deserve and know what I think about them. Meanwhile, it's not too late for Madonna to clean up her discography and put out The Immaculate Collection Vol. 2, the much-needed follow-up to The Immaculate Collection, one of the most astute greatest hits compilations ever released. Separate the wheat from the chaff, Madonna and deliver a statement about the singles that matter.
VIGÜELA -- A La Manera Artesana
Literally, music from la Mancha, Spain. A regional style that might evoke the Gipsy Kings to my ears, but Vigüela isn't interested in combining the music handed down to them with modern pop sounds. They'll pound out percussion grabbing a tool from the barn or a spoon from the kitchen and get on with it. Neither approach is better or purer. All that matters is that they're passionate about what they're doing. The Gipsy Kings have that and so does Vigüela and so will you when listening to them.
PANIC! AT THE DISCO -- Viva Las Vengeance
My Chemical Romance. Fall Out Boy. Panic! At The Disco. These emo bands that listened to Queen and thought, hmm, what if we went bigger are all a blast. I'm a little bummed to hear Panic is calling it a day after this final tour. But it's become a solo vehicle for singer Brendan Urie and presumably he'll carry on under his own name in the future. So not to worry. For now, if you want propulsive music that takes you higher, if you know a crafty hook is just as important as a guitar solo, if you understand that stadium moves aren't selling out dude but precisely what they've been aiming for since singing along to the radio in their bedroom as kids, well dive into Viva Las Vengeance.
BINKER & MOSES -- Feeding The Machine
Saxophonist Binker Golding and drummer Moses Boyd are mainstays of the London jazz scene. Here they collaborate with synth wizard Max Luthert on a set of restless, freewheeling instrumentals that would sound right at home in the films of Davids Cronenberg or Lynch. Not that the vibe here is creepy; it's just mind-blowing and eager to take you on a ride. Golding blows away in sheets of sound, Boyd anchors it all when he's not flying off into orbit himself and Luthert is always there with shadings and loops and echos to make clear this is no ordinary set. It's free jazz and everything that doesn't interest me in jazz...except when it's this good. Anyone rightly enamored by the great recent work of Kamasi Washington, Immanuel Wilkins and the like should dive right in.
MEGHAN TRAINOR -- Takin' It Back
ALEC BENJAMIN -- (Un)Commentary
Pure pop pleasure. Meghan Trainor lost her way a bit. But here she is hitting the sweet spot of catchy, memorable songs with a delightful retro vibe. Alec Benjamin was poised to break out when the pandemic upended everything. I'm not quite ready to declare any of his albums as great, but since I keep listening to them over and over there's clearly something going on. With both these acts, I have to admit that -- often enough -- passionate teenage fans know what they're talking about.
THE MOVERS -- Vol. 1: 1970-1976
I headed to South Africa for a wedding over the New Year. As is my wont, I prepared by reading about a dozen novels and works of history about the country, watched some South African movies and dived back into the wealth of music I was introduced to in the wake of Paul Simon's Graceland. Happily, I also discovered some bands new to me, especially the groovy, organ-driven group The Movers, who flourished in the 1970s. Think Booker T & the M.G.'s and you'll get a good sense of what a blast these tracks can be. Don't hesitate. Seriously, start playing this right now.
MIDLAKE -- For The Sake Of Bethel Woods
Here is the obligatory reference to Midlake's The Trials Of Van Occupanther, one of the best albums of 2006 and a landmark of indie rock. Here is the obligatory reference to former lead singer Tim Smith, who left the group after 2010's The Courage of Others. He announced a new band called Harp and then got all The Las on us, trapping himself in the studio to seek that sonic perfection that always stays on the horizon, tantalizingly out of reach. Perhaps that's what drove his bandmates bonkers, who put out an entirely new album -- Antiphon -- just six months after he walked away. But then they took nine years before putting out For The Sake Of Bethel Woods, so maybe it's just something in the waters of Denton, Texas. Mind you, the members released five different side projects in recent years, so, they haven't been silent. But still, nine years! And just to shock everyone, Smith announced recently that yes, indeed, Harp will be putting out a proper album in 2023. Why should you care? Well, you're just admitting you haven't listened to The Trials of Van Occupanther, a moody atmospheric masterpiece following in the wake of R.E.M.'s Murmur and sitting comfortably alongside Fleet Foxes and the like. Get on that. Then you'll enjoy the British folkie vibe of The Courage Of Others and that will set you up to appreciate For The Sake Of Bethel Woods. Bethel Woods is a reference to Woodstock, which the late father of one of the member's attended as a youth, the same dad who appeared to him in a dream recently and said, "Hey, you should get the band back together." So they did. The result is a nifty opener, setting up the religious undertones of an album that celebrates family, friends and the music that knits them together. It's heart-warming, really, just to hear them again. In typical Midlake fashion, track 10 is "The End," but it's not the end. They have more to say with the next song, "Of Desire," confessing, "We're working it out/ But time can really, really play some tricks on us now." It's sweet and quiet until it explodes into the sound of six friends making a beautiful noise, simply because they can.
RENÉE FLEMING -- Voice Of Nature: The Anthropocene
Soprano Renée Fleming is in excellent form here, celebrating the natural world she found consolation in during lockdown. The "anthropocene" refers to the current era, when humanity's impact on the environment is undeniable. This isn't a requiem, even though the centerpiece and longest track is Nico Muhly's "Endless Space," which underlines and exclamation points the dire threat of the climate crisis. That's the only misstep on an otherwise faultless recital ranging from newly commissioned pieces to Romantic classics. Fleming is especially marvelous on French songs by Liszt and Fauré, her light precise vocals making you wonder anew at her instrument. Just to prove she can do anything, Fleming segues from some Edvard Grieg to her best new commission: the marvelous "Aurora Borealis" by Caroline Shaw. But she's not done yet, capping it off with a cover of Jackson Browne's "Before The Deluge" where she's joined by Alison Krauss and Rhiannon Giddens and sounds right at home. In that tune, almost everyone is swept away by nature's wrath, even as they sing, "Now let the music keep our spirits high/ And let the buildings keep our children dry." It's a prayer Jackson Browne sang in 1974. Some fifty years later, it's more urgent than ever.
MUSIC LIBRARY LIST OF ALBUMS BY ARTIST
Wondering what I think about Bruce Springsteen's body of work? Or where to start with Prefab Sprout (who?) or Frank Sinatra? Check out my list of albums, organized alphabetically by artist and then chronologically by album with a rating for each one. Under A-E you'll find ABBA to the Everly Brothers, from F to J Marianne Faithful to Damien Jurado, from K-O the Kaiser Chiefs to Buck Owens and so on.
THE BEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME (MY #1 PICK EACH YEAR 1924 TO THE PRESENT)
THE 2020s
THE 2010s
iLe -- Almadura (2019)
BOBBIE GENTRY -- The Girl From Chickasaw County: The Complete Capitol Masters (2018)
CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT -- Dreams And Daggers (2017)
DAVID BOWIE -- Blackstar and Lazarus ep (2016 tie)
THE 2020s
ELVIS COSTELLO -- The Boy Named If /The Resurrection of Rust (2022)
FLOATING POINTS AND PHAROAH SANDERS -- Promises (2021)
A GIRL CALLED EDDY -- Been Around (2020)
THE 2010s
iLe -- Almadura (2019)
BOBBIE GENTRY -- The Girl From Chickasaw County: The Complete Capitol Masters (2018)
CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT -- Dreams And Daggers (2017)
DAVID BOWIE -- Blackstar and Lazarus ep (2016 tie)
LEONARD COHEN -- You Want It Darker (2016 tie)
SUFJAN STEVENS -- Carrie and Lowell (2015)
KAISER CHIEFS -- Education, Education, Education and War (2014)
JANELLE MONAE -- The Electric Lady (2013)
RUMER -- Seasons Of My Soul/Boys Don't Cry (2012)
FLEET FOXES -- Hopelessness Blues (2011)
THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH -- The Wild Hunt (2010)
THE 2000s
THE AVETT BROTHERS -- I And Love And You (2009)
WILLIE NELSON AND WYNTON MARSALIS -- Two Men With The Blues (2008)
SHARON JONES AND THE DAP KINGS -- 100 Days 100 Nights (2007)
GREEN DAY -- American Idiot (2004)
THE WHITE STRIPES -- Elephant (2003)
NORAH JONES -- Come Away With Me (2002)
MANU CHAO -- Proxima Estacion: Esperanza (2001)
EMINEM -- The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
THE 1990s
DAVID GRAY -- White Ladder (1999)
BILLY BRAGG AND WILCO -- Mermaid Avenue (1998)
RADIOHEAD -- O.K. Computer (1997)
BECK -- Odelay (1996)
THE MAVERICKS -- Music For All Occasions (1995 -- tie)
ALISON KRAUSS -- Now That I've Found You: A Collection (1995 -- tie)
JOHNNY CASH -- American Recordings (1994)
CASSANDRA WILSON -- Blue Light 'Til Dawn (1993)
kd lang -- Ingenue (1992)
NIRVANA -- Nevermind (1991)
MADONNA -- The Immaculate Collection (1990)
THE 1980s
BEASTIE BOYS -- Paul's Boutique (1989)
PUBLIC ENEMY -- It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (1988)
DOLLY PARTON, LINDA RONSTADT, EMMYLOU HARRIS -- Trio (1987)
PAUL SIMON -- Graceland (1986 -- tie)
VARIOUS ARTISTS -- The Indestructible Beat Of Soweto Volume One (1986 -- tie)
BARBRA STREISAND -- The Broadway Album (1985 -- tie)
PREFAB SPROUT -- Steve McQueen aka Two Wheels Good (1985 -- tie)
U2 -- The Unforgettable Fire (1984)
R.E.M. -- Murmur (1983)
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN -- Nebraska (1982)
QUEEN -- Greatest Hits (1981)
JOHN LENNON AND YOKO ONO -- Double Fantasy (1980)
THE 1970s
THE CLASH -- London Calling (1979)
WILLIE NELSON -- Stardust (1978)
STEELY DAN -- Aja (1977)
STEVIE WONDER -- Songs In The Key Of Life (1976)
BOB DYLAN -- Blood On The Tracks/The Basement Tapes (1975)
RICHARD AND LINDA THOMPSON -- I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight (1974)
BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS -- Catch A Fire/Burnin' (1973)
SIMON AND GARFUNKEL -- Greatest Hits (1972)
JONI MITCHELL -- Blue (1971)
RANDY NEWMAN -- 12 Songs (1970 -- tie)
HARRY NILSSON -- Nilsson Sings Newman (1970 -- tie)
THE 1960s
THE BEATLES -- Abbey Road (1969)
VAN MORRISON -- Astral Weeks (1968)
ARETHA FRANKLIN -- I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You) (1967)
THE BEACH BOYS -- Pet Sounds (1966 -- tie)
THE BEATLES -- Revolver (1966 -- tie)
BOB DYLAN -- Bringing It All Back Home/Highway 61 (1965)
STAN GETZ AND JOAO GILBERTO -- Getz/Gilberto (1964)
PATSY CLINE -- The Patsy Cline Story (1963)
RAY CHARLES -- Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music Vol 1 and 2 (1962)
BILL EVANS -- Sunday At The Village Vanguard/Waltz For Debby (1961)
ELLA FITZGERALD -- The Intimate Ella (1960)
THE 1950s
MILES DAVIS -- Kind Of Blue/Workin'/Porgy and Bess (1959)
ELVIS PRESLEY -- Elvis' Golden Records Vol. 1 (1958)
LERNER AND LOEWE -- My Fair Lady Original Broadway Cast (1957)
ELLA FITZGERALD -- Sings The Cole Porter Songbook (1956)
FRANK SINATRA -- In The Wee Small Hours (1955)
DINAH WASHINGTON -- Dinah Jams (1954)
PEGGY LEE -- Black Coffee (1953)
VARIOUS ARTISTS/HARRY SMITH -- The Anthology Of American Folk Music (1952)
HANK WILLIAMS -- 40 Greatest Hits (1951)
BILLIE HOLIDAY -- The Complete Decca Recordings (1944-1950) (1950)
THE 1940s
DJANGO REINHARDT -- Djangology 49 (1949)
HANK WILLIAMS -- 40 Greatest Hits (1948)
WOODY GUTHRIE -- Songs To Grow On: Nursery Days aka For Mother And Child (1947)
BING CROSY AND THE ANDREWS SISTERS -- Their Complete Recordings Together (1939-1951) (1946)
BING CROSBY -- Merry Christmas (1945)
RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN -- Oklahoma! (1944)
DUKE ELLINGTON -- The Carnegie Hall Concerts: January 1943 (1943)
FRANK SINATRA AND TOMMY DORSEY-- The Song Is You! 1940-1942 on RCA Victor (1942)
DUKE ELLINGTON -- The Blanton-Webster Band (1941)
DUKE ELLINGTON -- The Blanton-Webster Band/1937-1940 on Classics Label (1940)
THE 1930s
GLENN MILLER -- The Essential Glenn Miller (1939)
BENNY GOODMAN -- Benny Goodman At Carnegie Hall (1938)
BILLIE HOLIDAY -- The Quintessential Billie Holiday Vol 3-4 1936-1937 (1937)
ROBERT JOHNSON -- King Of The Delta Blues Singers Vol. 1 (1936)
BING CROSY -- Bing Crosby: His Legendary Years (1931-1957) [Decca 1934-1954] (1935)
BING CROSY -- Bing Crosby: His Legendary Years (1931-1957) [Brunswick 1931-1934; Decca 1934-1954] (1934)
BESSIE SMITH -- The Collection (1933)
THE MILLS BROTHERS -- The 1930's Recordings (1932)
BING CROSY -- Bing Crosby: His Legendary Years (1931-1957) [Brunswick 1931-1934] (1931)
DUKE ELLINGTON -- The OKeh Ellington 1927-1930/1924-1930 on Classics Label (1930)
THE 1920s
CHARLEY PATTON -- King Of The Delta Blues (1929-1934) (1929)
MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT -- Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings (1928)
HENRY THOMAS -- Bull Doze Blues (1927-1929)
LOUIS ARMSTRONG -- The Complete Hot Five And Seven Recordings (1927)
LOUIS ARMSTRONG -- The Complete Hot Five And Seven Recordings (1926)
LOUIS ARMSTRONG -- The Complete Hot Five And Seven Recordings (1925)
DUKE ELLINGTON -- 1924-1930 on Classics Label (1924)
SUFJAN STEVENS -- Carrie and Lowell (2015)
KAISER CHIEFS -- Education, Education, Education and War (2014)
JANELLE MONAE -- The Electric Lady (2013)
RUMER -- Seasons Of My Soul/Boys Don't Cry (2012)
FLEET FOXES -- Hopelessness Blues (2011)
THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH -- The Wild Hunt (2010)
THE 2000s
THE AVETT BROTHERS -- I And Love And You (2009)
WILLIE NELSON AND WYNTON MARSALIS -- Two Men With The Blues (2008)
SHARON JONES AND THE DAP KINGS -- 100 Days 100 Nights (2007)
CORINNE BAILEY RAE -- Corinne Bailey Rae (2006 tie)
JAMES HUNTER -- People Gonna Talk (2006 tie)
SUFJAN STEVENS -- Illinois (2005)GREEN DAY -- American Idiot (2004)
THE WHITE STRIPES -- Elephant (2003)
NORAH JONES -- Come Away With Me (2002)
MANU CHAO -- Proxima Estacion: Esperanza (2001)
EMINEM -- The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
THE 1990s
DAVID GRAY -- White Ladder (1999)
BILLY BRAGG AND WILCO -- Mermaid Avenue (1998)
RADIOHEAD -- O.K. Computer (1997)
BECK -- Odelay (1996)
THE MAVERICKS -- Music For All Occasions (1995 -- tie)
ALISON KRAUSS -- Now That I've Found You: A Collection (1995 -- tie)
JOHNNY CASH -- American Recordings (1994)
CASSANDRA WILSON -- Blue Light 'Til Dawn (1993)
kd lang -- Ingenue (1992)
NIRVANA -- Nevermind (1991)
MADONNA -- The Immaculate Collection (1990)
THE 1980s
BEASTIE BOYS -- Paul's Boutique (1989)
PUBLIC ENEMY -- It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (1988)
DOLLY PARTON, LINDA RONSTADT, EMMYLOU HARRIS -- Trio (1987)
PAUL SIMON -- Graceland (1986 -- tie)
VARIOUS ARTISTS -- The Indestructible Beat Of Soweto Volume One (1986 -- tie)
BARBRA STREISAND -- The Broadway Album (1985 -- tie)
PREFAB SPROUT -- Steve McQueen aka Two Wheels Good (1985 -- tie)
U2 -- The Unforgettable Fire (1984)
R.E.M. -- Murmur (1983)
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN -- Nebraska (1982)
QUEEN -- Greatest Hits (1981)
JOHN LENNON AND YOKO ONO -- Double Fantasy (1980)
THE 1970s
THE CLASH -- London Calling (1979)
WILLIE NELSON -- Stardust (1978)
STEELY DAN -- Aja (1977)
STEVIE WONDER -- Songs In The Key Of Life (1976)
BOB DYLAN -- Blood On The Tracks/The Basement Tapes (1975)
RICHARD AND LINDA THOMPSON -- I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight (1974)
BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS -- Catch A Fire/Burnin' (1973)
SIMON AND GARFUNKEL -- Greatest Hits (1972)
JONI MITCHELL -- Blue (1971)
RANDY NEWMAN -- 12 Songs (1970 -- tie)
HARRY NILSSON -- Nilsson Sings Newman (1970 -- tie)
THE 1960s
THE BEATLES -- Abbey Road (1969)
VAN MORRISON -- Astral Weeks (1968)
ARETHA FRANKLIN -- I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You) (1967)
THE BEACH BOYS -- Pet Sounds (1966 -- tie)
THE BEATLES -- Revolver (1966 -- tie)
BOB DYLAN -- Bringing It All Back Home/Highway 61 (1965)
STAN GETZ AND JOAO GILBERTO -- Getz/Gilberto (1964)
PATSY CLINE -- The Patsy Cline Story (1963)
RAY CHARLES -- Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music Vol 1 and 2 (1962)
BILL EVANS -- Sunday At The Village Vanguard/Waltz For Debby (1961)
ELLA FITZGERALD -- The Intimate Ella (1960)
THE 1950s
MILES DAVIS -- Kind Of Blue/Workin'/Porgy and Bess (1959)
ELVIS PRESLEY -- Elvis' Golden Records Vol. 1 (1958)
LERNER AND LOEWE -- My Fair Lady Original Broadway Cast (1957)
ELLA FITZGERALD -- Sings The Cole Porter Songbook (1956)
FRANK SINATRA -- In The Wee Small Hours (1955)
DINAH WASHINGTON -- Dinah Jams (1954)
PEGGY LEE -- Black Coffee (1953)
VARIOUS ARTISTS/HARRY SMITH -- The Anthology Of American Folk Music (1952)
HANK WILLIAMS -- 40 Greatest Hits (1951)
BILLIE HOLIDAY -- The Complete Decca Recordings (1944-1950) (1950)
THE 1940s
DJANGO REINHARDT -- Djangology 49 (1949)
HANK WILLIAMS -- 40 Greatest Hits (1948)
WOODY GUTHRIE -- Songs To Grow On: Nursery Days aka For Mother And Child (1947)
BING CROSY AND THE ANDREWS SISTERS -- Their Complete Recordings Together (1939-1951) (1946)
BING CROSBY -- Merry Christmas (1945)
RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN -- Oklahoma! (1944)
DUKE ELLINGTON -- The Carnegie Hall Concerts: January 1943 (1943)
FRANK SINATRA AND TOMMY DORSEY-- The Song Is You! 1940-1942 on RCA Victor (1942)
DUKE ELLINGTON -- The Blanton-Webster Band (1941)
DUKE ELLINGTON -- The Blanton-Webster Band/1937-1940 on Classics Label (1940)
THE 1930s
GLENN MILLER -- The Essential Glenn Miller (1939)
BENNY GOODMAN -- Benny Goodman At Carnegie Hall (1938)
BILLIE HOLIDAY -- The Quintessential Billie Holiday Vol 3-4 1936-1937 (1937)
ROBERT JOHNSON -- King Of The Delta Blues Singers Vol. 1 (1936)
BING CROSY -- Bing Crosby: His Legendary Years (1931-1957) [Decca 1934-1954] (1935)
BING CROSY -- Bing Crosby: His Legendary Years (1931-1957) [Brunswick 1931-1934; Decca 1934-1954] (1934)
BESSIE SMITH -- The Collection (1933)
THE MILLS BROTHERS -- The 1930's Recordings (1932)
BING CROSY -- Bing Crosby: His Legendary Years (1931-1957) [Brunswick 1931-1934] (1931)
DUKE ELLINGTON -- The OKeh Ellington 1927-1930/1924-1930 on Classics Label (1930)
THE 1920s
CHARLEY PATTON -- King Of The Delta Blues (1929-1934) (1929)
MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT -- Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings (1928)
HENRY THOMAS -- Bull Doze Blues (1927-1929)
LOUIS ARMSTRONG -- The Complete Hot Five And Seven Recordings (1927)
LOUIS ARMSTRONG -- The Complete Hot Five And Seven Recordings (1926)
LOUIS ARMSTRONG -- The Complete Hot Five And Seven Recordings (1925)
DUKE ELLINGTON -- 1924-1930 on Classics Label (1924)
--30--
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