Shopping List: The New and the Notable
Steve Forbert, Strange Names & New Sensations (429)
Forbert's froggy voice sounds wise, weathered, and perfectly suited to his clear-eyed observations about middle age ("Middle age is different," he sings, "now you're someone else"), mortality ("Thirty More Years"), and suicide ("Simply Spalding Gray"). It's not all heavy, however. Just heavy enough.
Grateful Dead, Three From the Vault (Rhino)
Having recently recorded Workingman's Dead and American Beauty, the Dead were singing better than ever at this solid (and exquisitely remastered) 1971 show. "Bertha," "Loser," "Deal," "Bird Song," and "Wharf Rat" were all getting either their first or second performances, and Pigpen was still around for a nineteen-minute "Good Lovin'." Huzzah.
This Is Tom Jones (Time Life DVD)
From 1969 to 1971, prior to becoming a cliché, Tom Jones hosted an ambitious and energetic TV variety show that combined Vegas flair with some really excellent music. The highlights of this swinging triple-disc collection include Jones wailing convincingly alongside the likes of Janis Joplin, Stevie Wonder (who also plays a wild drum solo), Aretha Franklin, and Crosby Stills & Nash.
Nick Lowe, At My Age (Yep Roc)
Who woulda figured that the former British pub rocker responsible for "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" would turn out to be the last of the classic country songwriters? Lowe sings convincingly about sin and redemption on an album that delivers its world-weary confidences at a slow simmer.
Kartik Seshadri, Live at Oberlin (Traditional Crossroads)
If you haven't paid attention to Indian classical music in a while, this would be an excellent place to reacquaint yourself. Accompanied by Arup Chattopadhyay on tabla, this Ravi Shankar disciple plays sitar with dazzling authority on one complete raga and the climactic gat section of another.