The Celia Collection

Heaven knows, the Scotsman born Donovan Leitch was ripe for ridicule, even when he was hitting the charts with regularity. He was the ultimate flower child, and his airier pronouncements made cynics want to tighten up those love beads around his neck. Listening to Troubadour, however, it's striking how versatile, melodic, and agreeable most of his material sounds decades after "Mellow Yellow" has faded into a jaundiced yellow. Clearly under the sway of Bob Dylan early on in his career, Donovan nevertheless was capable of directing his reverence into something as enchanting as "Catch the Wind." Amping up as the '60s progressed, he assembled a series of psychedelic-pop classics, including "Season of the Witch," the "Hey Jude"-like sing-along "Atlantis," and the uncharacteristically driving "Hurdy Gurdy Man" (the latter features three-quarters of what was to become Led Zeppelin providing stellar support). This two-disc anthology may be more Donovan than some desire, but the booklet, seven previously unreleased tracks, and expansive perspective it provides makes it a more-than-worthy overview for those who take their paisley folk-rock with a beatific smile.

With her powerful pipes, stunning showmanship, and superhuman sense of timing, Celia Cruz defined her chosen genre like few other performers in the history of popular music. EXITOS ETERNOS is a collection of tracks the "Queen of Salsa" recorded during the last decade of her life that, despite the vocalist's advanced age, clearly show Cruz's talents never wavered. Known for her uncompromising attitude and refusal to sing in English, Cruz valued aesthetic purity, but never became a museum piece. A driving pulse and rhythmic toasting that recall dancehall reggae propel her 2001 hit "La Negra Tiene Tumbao," and other tracks feature subtle synthesizer textures. Unlike lesser artists, however, Cruz is able to incorporate these disparate sonic colors seamlessly, making them sound as traditional as a conga drum or guiro. Of course, the unrelenting force behind each recording is Cruz's astounding voice, the sheer energy of which makes even these later recordings sound both classic and utterly contemporary.

In this magnificent collection presented melodies performed by these masters of jazz piano: Scott Joplin, James P. Johnson, Eubie Blake, Mandy Randolph, Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, Joe Sullivan, Teddy Wilson, Count Basie, Oscar Peterson, Thelonious Monk, Nat King Cole and many, many others …