Keith S. Wilson

"Sound On Stone is an act of love comparable to Alice Coltrane’s completion of tracks she and John had worked on together before his death. The results are profoundly moving, full of beauty and surprise."

With a disclaimer stating that he only had a year to write the songs for his sophomore album (while he had a "lifetime" to write those for his first), Toby Keith introduces us to his second effort, Boomtown. Not to worry: he pulls off a successful follow-up to his hit-heavy debut. His songwriting has matured, and his vocals still stand out as one of the predominant male voices of contemporary country. Keith straddles the wall between traditional and pop, and he maintains a steady balance. Opening with his number one song "Who's That Man," Keith immediately packs a traditional country wallop. His songs tell stories about everyday life and working-class people, and the serious issues they face like divorce, adultery, teenage angst, aging, love, and life in an oil boomtown.

Rita Wilson soars to extraordinary new heights on her highly anticipated new album, Rita Wilson Now & Forever: Duets. A set of true modern standards, Rita Wilson Now & Forever: Duets sees Rita singing alongside giants including Willie Nelson, Smokey Robinson, Jackson Browne, Tim McGraw, Elvis Costello, Keith Urban, Leslie Odom Jr, Josh Groban, Vince Gill And Jimmie Allen, illustrating the high regard in which she is held by her peers.

Cassandra Wilson's swinging for her own creative fences this time. The sultry, gentle, acoustic guitars on her last five recordings have been largely jettisoned for a more keyboard-and percussion -friendly approach – which includes lots of programming and loops. To that end, she's enlisted flavor-of-the-year producer T-Bone Burnett and keyboardist Keith Ciancia. This pair hired a stellar group of players that include drummer Jim Keltner, bassist Reginald Veal (a near-constant here), guitarists Colin Linden and Marc Ribot, and programming whiz Mike Elizondo. Mike Piersante plays "keypercussion" (read: drum loops), Jay Bellerose and Bill Maxwell also contribute kit work. Keb Mo' guests on a track.

Today's music industry is flooded with artists trying to make it big. With all these choices it's difficult to find that one performer who makes you stop and notice. But listen long enough and you can find a special release that stands alone. Such is the case with The Blue Album, the long awaited release by blues vocalist Janine Wilson. Her name may not be familiar to you yet, but Janine Wilson has been delighting blues audiences in the Washington, DC, and surrounding areas for almost a decade. The Blue Album is Janine Wilson's debut release and treats listeners to an assortment of styles such as Texas shuffles, acoustic blues, roots and southern soul, including her powerful rendition of "Breaking Up Somebody's Home" and her heartfelt version of "And I Cried," a song penned by Saffire's Gaye Adegbalola. This disc is not short on surprises.

El Juicio (The Judgement) is an album by pianist Keith Jarrett recorded in 1971 and released in 1975. On four days in July and one in August 1971, Jarrett went into the Atlantic Recording Studios with his trio (Charlie Haden and Paul Motian), plus Dewey Redman on tenor saxophone, and produced enough music for three albums: The Mourning of a Star (released in 1971), El Juicio (The Judgement) and Birth (released in 1972). Accordingly, the 1971 sessions mark the emergence of what would be later called Jarrett's "American quartet."