Hart-Rouge, Beaupré's Home. This one hasn't left my CD changer for a month. With spine-tingling, soaring vocal harmonies that only a family group can deliver and a dizzying array of acoustic instruments, Hart-Rouge will remind you more than a little of the Rankin Family. But they've got their own field to plow, and, although this is the Canadian group's first U.S. release, it's their seventh album. It includes some powerful songs written by members of the group in both French and English as well as traditional songs and covers by Nanci Griffith and Connie Kaldor. Music to soar by. (Red House, PO Box 2044, Minneapolis, MN 55104)
--Steve Givens
Edgar Cruz, The A.R.T. of Edgar Cruz: Acoustic Rock Transcriptions for Solo Guitar. Make your own decision on the merits of solo, instrumental versions of rock 'n' roll classics on nylon-string guitar. If the idea is even a bit intriguing, note that Cruz does it with exhaustive attention to detail and accuracy. These transcriptions don't all work, but Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die" and Elton John's "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" translate surprisingly well to this setting. Stephen Stills' "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" (on steel-string) and Led Zeppelin's "Going to California" (on 12-string) are also convincing. Cruz' previous CDs cover pop nostalgia, classical, and Christmas music. (ECI, 9608 N. May Ave., Suite 250, Oklahoma City, OK 73120)
--Bryan Powell
George Kahumoku, Jr., Drenched by Music. This music is drenched in Hawaiian history, culture, and soul, from the chant-influenced singing on "Ka Uluwehi O Ke Kai" to extended, meditative versions of "Queen's Jubilee" and "Kaulana Na Pua." Kahumoku's tuned-down 12-string can dance, too, as it does on "Hanohano Hawai'i" with steel player Bob Brozman. Friends and family also figure prominently: there's a vocal-ukulele slack-key duet with Diana Aki on "Kaulana O Kawaihae" and songs inspired by and dedicated to his adopted grandfather ("E Kupuna Ei Nei," played on ukulele), sister Shareen ("U'i Lani"), and brother Moses ("Aloha 'Oe"). (Dancing Cat/Windham Hill)
--Russell Letson
Doc Watson and David Grisman, Doc and Dawg. Flatpicking wizard Doc Watson and David "Dawg" Grisman of the magical mandolin have enlivened progressive acoustic music for more than 30 years. This is an astonishing collection of impromptu, after-dinner tracks laid down every now and again from 1987 to 1991 at Grisman's Dawg Studios. Whether playing "Soldier's Joy," "Sweet Georgia Brown," or "The Kentucky Waltz," they perform in a manner as fresh and easygoing as any front-porch jam. Jack Lawrence's fine acoustic guitar work is featured throughout. Listen to the fun these guys are having and you'll know why dinner at the Grismans' is for picky eaters. (Acoustic Disc, PO Box 4143, San Rafael, CA 94913)
--Roger Deitz
Maura O'Connell, Wandering Home. With the help of producer Jerry Douglas, Maura O'Connell continues to turn out delicious, acoustic guitarñ laden slices of her own brand of Celtic country. This project leans much heavier to the Celtic side, with seven traditional Irish songs, arranged by O'Connell and others, and originals by Andy Irvine, Gerry O'Beirne, and Richard Thompson. Guitarists Arty McGlynn and O'Beirne and Dobro virtuoso Douglas really make this CD a feast for acoustic guitar fans, and the only thing that outshines them is O'Connell's clear, breathtakingly beautiful voice. (Permanent/Rykodisc)
--Steve Givens
Utah Phillips and Mark Ross, Loafer's Glory. Phillips is an anachronistic anarchist who weaves stories and songs out of the long-lost world of hobo-hemia. On his latest recording, he cooks up a Mulligan's stew of bindle bum sketches, skewered rants, and campfire songs, with acoustic accompaniment from fellow freight-flipper Mark Ross. Some of the stories shine, particularly "Gaffing," a dissertation on creative panhandling. The tunes are simple ditties, but they get into your blood when Phillips lets loose with his old-fashioned Wobbly indignation. (Red House)
--Steve Boisson
Cheikh Lô, Né la Thias. Senegalese singer-songwriter Cheikh Lô has an appealingly smoky, breathy voice and a way with soaring melody. This CD is his Western debut (the title translates as "Gone in a Flash"), produced by Youssou N'Dour. With Lô, N'Dour fans get supercharged Senegalese Afro-pop pared down to its acoustic essentials. Lô's lyrics are spiritual, humanistic, and hopeful. His sound relies on a bed of percussion polyrhythms and steel-string and Spanish guitar grooves. One of the most interesting aspects of this CD is the natural melding of styles: Senegalese, Brazilian, flamenco, Caribbean, and more. Lovely, joyful, and hummable, first to last. (World Circuit/Nonesuch)
--Danny Carnahan
Alex Garobe, Eduardo Sainz de la Maza:Obras para Guitarra. Alex Garobe strikes pay dirt with works by fellow Spaniard Eduardo Sainz de la Maza (1903ñ1982). The composer's eight-movement suite Platero y Yo (inspired by the famed poems of Juan Ramon Jimenez) is an absolute gem. The disc's 18 tracks reveal Sainz de la Maza's mastery of the guitar's idiomatic resources and alluring blend of impressionism and jazz. Garobe plays with impeccable tone and insight. This music and Garobe deserve much wider recognition. (Opera Tres, Editiones Musicales, S.L. Aptdo. de Correos 18077, 28080 Madrid, Spain)
--Mark L. Small
Terri Binion, Leavin' This Town. Honey-voiced Terri Binion sings and writes about love, leaving, revenge, longing, and finding a home. In her debut album, spiced with a tasteful mixture of accordion, steel guitar, mandolin, fiddle, drums, and guitar, Binion serves up a stew from the distinguished South, complete with the drawl. Some of the album's nine tracks have a live quality--not too polished, but not too plain--and are reminiscent of the late, great Uncle Walt's Band. Other tracks are more slick and sexy. All in all, a downright fine album. (Daemon, PO Box 1207, Decatur, GA 30031)
--Lisa Theo
Väsen, Spirit. Väsen is a Swedish trio that combines guitar, viola, and the haunting keyed fiddle called nyckelharpa for some of the coolest post-traditional music to come out of Sweden since Hedningarna. This CD is culled from the trio's four releases, plus a few unreleased bonus tracks, some original, some traditional--all unusual and deeply emotional. Guitarist Roger Tallroth penned four of the tracks, including "Josefas Dopvals," the sweetest waltz I've heard in years. Alternately angular and gritty, plaintive and baroque, Spirit is chock-full of inspiring melodies and fine musicianship. (NorthSide, 530 N. Third St., Minneapolis, MN 55401)
--Danny Carnahan
David Harris, The War for Salt. David Harris' voice is so soothing and warm that he could sing the words on a cereal box and still melt his listeners' hearts. The prize inside the singer- songwriter's latest album, though, is his masterfully written lyrics, which read like poetic fragments from a book of fine short stories. They take an even more beautiful cadence when set to Harris' melodies. He's clearly in love with the sea, and his album grooves like the rhythm of waves breaking on a tropical island. (Liberty Beach Music, PO Box 5662, Santa Monica, CA 90409)
--Lisa Theo
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