Trash of The Count’s Family

On his latest release Goin' Down Howlin' blues guitarist and vocalist Ron Hacker pays respect to the bluesmen and women before him while also remaining true to his unique style. A rich blend of original and traditional songs both acoustic and electric, it is his strongest album yet. Featuring Artis Joyce on bass and Ronnie Smith on drums.

Songs from the Street, the boxed set that stretches back to "Sesame Street's" 1969 debut, is the kids' record of the year, if not the decade: Big Bird and the gang might've pulled it off themselves–for a crew of fix-it store workers, shopkeeps, and goofball monsters, the talent quotient's off the charts–but when you've got this many names to drop, they've got to land somewhere. What impresses most in three discs is the lack of a single thud. Cab Calloway, Pete Seeger, and James Taylor mosey in on disc one; Johnny Cash, BB King, and Tony Bennett take seats on the stoop for disc two; and the Dixie Chicks, Gloria Estefan, and R.E.M. raise the brownstone roof on disc three–and that's leaving out stars like Lena Horne, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, and Trisha Yearwood. When it comes to inspiring preschoolers and their parents to sing the praises of rubber duckies, bein' green, and the people in their neighborhood; "The Street" gets busy. –Tammy La Gorce