Bruce Springsteen with the Sessions Band: Live in Dublin
Columbia 88697 09582 2
Format: CD

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Bruce Springsteen’s folk-music tribute, The Seeger Sessions, was one of last year’s pleasant surprises. Springsteen covered some great old American songs without treating them as museum pieces. Instead, he sang them with fire and enthusiasm, and in the process he let himself go -- he sounded loose and joyful, as if he’d rediscovered the pure fun of playing music. Live in Dublin captures that same jubilance in front of an audience, where Springsteen always shines brightest. The Sessions Band, augmented by a few additional musicians, cuts loose with the same drive and subtlety that helped Springsteen put The Seeger Sessions across so well. In addition to some of the traditional folk songs from that disc, and a few more besides, Springsteen revisits some of his own songs. In some cases ("Growin’ Up," "Blinded By the Light"), he revises them drastically, much as Bob Dylan has always revised his own older songs. In other cases, such as "Open All Night," "Atlantic City," and "Highway Patrolman," the new versions are definitive, not so much improving on the originals as opening them up, emotionally and musically. As always with Springsteen, one could wish for cleaner sound, but Live in Dublin captures the excitement of the show, which is also available on DVD and Blu-ray….Joseph Taylor

Richard Rodney Bennett: Words and Music
Chandos 10411
Format: CD

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British composer Sir Richard Rodney Bennett is one of our most versatile musicians. He has composed for film (Murder on the Orient Express comes to mind), he’s written a lot of serious concert music, and he’s been active in the world of classic popular song. It’s the latter talent that’s displayed on this charming disc, as Bennett sings the spots off some songs from the Great American Songbook, a few surprises, and a couple of tunes of his own. His singing is direct, his piano playing simple -- it’s the cocktail piano hour taken to a marvelous height. Bennett includes the usually unheard introductory "verses" of such favorites as "It Might As Well Be Spring," "Angel Eyes," and "How Long Has This Been Going On?" One of the surprises is a very successful, slowly crooned version of "Don’t Sleep in the Subway," a tune made popular by Petula Clark at a much bouncier tempo some 40 years ago. Bennett, 70 when this collection was recorded, sings simply and easily, without pushing to make his points. He gets the words across in an intimate way that eludes many singers more dependent on drama and angst. The sound is close and lucid, but very warm….Rad Bennett

Linda Thompson: Versatile Heart
Rounder 613217
Format: CD

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Has it really been five years since Linda Thompson's Fashionably Late became a fixture on year's-best lists, its sophisticated folk-pop befitting her subtle, gorgeous vocals? With Versatile Heart, only the third solo album since her 1982 split from her guitar-god ex-husband (with a wink, she calls him "a little known, but extremely useful guitarist" in the liner notes), Thompson expands her musical repertoire, adding horn and string arrangements as well as a jigger of country twang. She calls the Tom Waits/Kathleen Brennan song "Day After Tomorrow" "the best anti-war song since 'Masters of War.'" It is given acoustic treatment here. Thompson's daughter Kamila and son Teddy contribute songs of their own. The formula remains intact: delicate, understated playing and singing that honor the songs and accentuate their variegated facets, like holding a crystal to the sun. The sound is sweet and well defined, like that of Fashionably Late. Five years is too long to wait for music this good….Marc Mickelson

Merle Haggard: Working Man’s Journey
CB Music 268276
Format: CD

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A lifelong champion of the working man, country-music legend Merle Haggard has released this new album exclusively through the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain. Consisting of six re-recorded classics and six new songs, Working Man’s Journey is an easygoing exploration of subjects dear to the common man’s everyday life: fishing, retirement, hard work, and family. Haggard still sings with his strong, signature gruffness, but his outlaw attitude has been replaced by the reflective reminiscing of one who’s been there, done that, and lived to tell the moral of the tale. "Rainbow Stew" and "Shade Tree Fix-It Man" are two reworked classics that sound especially fresh, while several of the newer songs ("In the Mountains to Forget," "Kern River") have a back-to-basics simplicity that suggests that The Hag may be ready to settle down and take a well-deserved respite. "Stormy New Orleans" paints a hazy Southern portrait of the town, complete with a jazzy Bourbon Street swagger. The sound is clean and no-frills throughout. And so the journey continues….Shannon Holliday

John Corigliano: The Red Violin Concerto; Violin Sonata
Joshua Bell, violin; Jeremy Denk, piano; Marin Alsop, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Sony Classical 88060

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Though at first it would seem a natural transition, the number of composers considered seriously in the world of classical music who have gone to Hollywood to write successful film scores is very small. The American composer John Corigliano is the latest in a short list of such crossover successes. Since the film The Red Violin told the story of a violin that had been passed down from generation to generation for centuries, it seemed logical to ask a classical composer to write its soundtrack music. Corigliano did this to such acclaim that his score won an Academy Award. He then reworked the music into a Chaconne for Violin and Orchestra, and now, taking that as the first movement and adding three more, he has composed a dramatic, romantic, full-length concerto. Although the music is often dissonant, it is full of melodies one can hang on to. The second movement is a playful scherzo, the third a lyrical moment, while the final movement is downright savage, with slashing bursts of sound and nervously skittering, fragmented melodic passages. Joshua Bell played on the original soundtrack, and is impressive here as the logically chosen artist to premiere the concerto. His playing demonstrates virtuoso technique, a rich sound, and a general confidence that helps put the piece across. In this he is ably backed by the Baltimore Symphony and its music director, Marin Alsop. Filling out the disc is the composer’s earlier sonata for violin and piano, with pianist Jeremy Denk -- a saucy, astringent piece that will remind some of Leonard Bernstein in revved-up jazz mode. The rich, resonant sound is of demonstration caliber, the soloist properly balanced with the orchestra and the orchestra properly balanced within its own ranks. The live recording includes some applause….Rad Bennett