Jon Young Thropugh Native Eyes

Eldorado is the 21st release from Neil Young, one of the most prolific artists around today. Released as a special EP in Australia and Japan, and running at only 25 minutes, Eldorado is not much of a value. However, in that 25 minutes there is some of the hardest rocking music that Neil had put out, pre-Ragged Glory. Recorded with the Restless (making for the joke, Neil Young and the Restless), this is a wonderful accomplishment for only three players. The other musicians on the record are Chad Cromwell on drums and Rick "The Bass Player" Rosas, who both also appear on the album This Note's For You. One of the great things about Neil is that after playing with people such as Cromwell and Rosas (and more recently Booker T and the MGs), he gets a great idea for what would be fun to do next and does it. Unfortunately, this is the only time that Neil ever did anything like release less than a full album.

Named for the traditional Navajo song "Shi Ni Sha," I Am Walking collects the best of contemporary Native American music, blending the airy beauty of flutists Andrew Vasquez, Joseph Fire Crow, Gary Stroutsos, and R. Carlos Nakai with notable singers Joanne Shenandoah and the Coolidge family of Walela. The result is rich with the spiritual beauty of ancient Navajo, Hopi, Oneida, and other Native cultures. Too many bright spots dominate this collection to list them all, but among the most special goodies are Walela's "Wash Your Spirit Clean"–floating with angelic voices, sparkling guitar, and crisp percussion and drums–and "Oweegon" from Jim Wilson's Little Wolf Band, which sends Priscilla Coolidge's vocals and Native chant flowing over spicy electronic rhythms like cold water through river rocks. A majestic collection for kind hearts.

Here is a great overview, in 58 individual tracks, of an important time in the life of one of the most important saxophonists in jazz. Lester Young (The Prez), was a genius of the music, spanning the shifting expression from the Swing years into Bebop, and becoming a pivotal figure in both. Yes, he was also persecuted and self-destructive, and plagued by mental and physical illness for most of his life, but his marvelous mind not only set the standard for generations of jazz saxophonists, but gave us an entire lexicon of hipster/beatnik language that has become part of American popular culture. Someone should make a movie about Lester Young.