A.j. Cook

Known for their impeccable and authentic gypsy-jazz playing, The Cook Trio has delighted audiences through-out the U.S. This wonderfully talented group romps through traditional Parisian Waltzes, Jazz Standards and Modern Pieces with style and virtuosity. The sound of these acoustic guitars and bass, invites listeners on a journey to the romantic cafes of Paris and the Gypsy camps where guitar is the language of life. Two guitars and a standup bass are all that’s needed to produce the haunting and beautiful sounds of The Cook Trio. Brothers Ian and Jason Cook along with Kyle Jones demonstrate an artistry that calls back to Django Reinhardt and looks forward to nights in Paris and days in the hot Florida sun. The trio is by turns explosive and serene, and you won’t believe how fast Jason Cook’s fingers can move, or how deeply you’ll be moved.

Harpsichordist Martha Cook here records Bach's Kunst der Fuge, BWV 1080 (The Art of the Fugue), with a specific interpretive framework in mind. The work, Cook believes, was devotional and intimate in intent; it is, she writes, a "musical prayer," and it embodies the parables and exhortation found in the biblical Book of Luke, 14:27-35. Interested readers are invited to consult the booklet for more details. Making the supposition work involves discarding the version of the work published after Bach's death by C.P.E. Bach and others, and it also involves some of the numerology that so often seems to crop up in connection with Bach's larger works. There's some justification in earlier German music for regarding Bach's instrumental music in this programmatic way; Bach would have known the Biblische Historien keyboard sonatas of 1700 by one of his key predecessors, Johann Kuhnau. But what's missing is any evidence of why Bach, by the end of his life a revered figure, might have wanted to embed secret messages in Die Kunst der Fuge. The unalloyed good news is that you can disregard the stated method of interpretation and listen to the performance in the abstract. It's very powerful.

After a quick listen to Balls, it's hard to imagine why Warner Brothers dropped Elizabeth Cook after only one album. Could she have sounded too traditional for country radio? Did they want her to tone down her in-your-face delivery? The mysteries of major labels are many and unfathomable, so suffice it to say that Cook is a major talent and will undoubtedly wind up with another major-label deal. Balls has the same power and charm evident on her earlier outings and the bonus of Rodney Crowell's sharp production talents…

Continuing to go her own way on Gospel Plow, Elizabeth Cook is another artist who's too rock for country and too country for rock, although in the music business climate of 2012 she may be too country for country, too. As you might expect from the title of this mini-album, Gospel Plow is a record of sacred music, although it's marked by Cook's own inimitable mix of styles and features at least one track that will surprise almost any country fan, not matter how alt. The songs are mostly familiar, although the arrangements are anything but…