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This blogger, Richard Gehr, is not an employee of AARP. The opinions expressed in the blog are not necessarily the opinions of AARP and AARP assumes no liability for the content posted by Mr. Gehr or any other participant

Richard Gehr | July 31, 2007

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Bob Brozman Orchestra, Lumiere (Riverboat/World Music Network)
National steel guitar virtuoso Bob Brozman overdubs dozens of different guitars, ukuleles, and other plucked string instruments on this (mostly) solo world tour that begins with an international tango and concludes with an Okinawan lullaby. In-between, Brozman weaves calypso, ska, South Indian, West African, and many other styles into a rich, smooth, and often quite beautiful blend.

The Doors, Live in Boston 1970 (Bright Midnight/Rhino)
According to his bandmates, Jim Morrison was "ripped" and "pie-eyed, stinko" during the two shows (the second nearly twice as long as the first) the group performed during the long evening captured here on three CDs. There are plenty of brilliant moments, though, as when Jimbo folds "Fever," "Summertime," and "St. James [!] Infirmary Blues" into an epic "Light My Fire."

Miroslav Vitous, Universal Syncopations II; Eberhard Weber, Stages of a Long Journey (ECM)
Each of these highly regarded bassists fuses jazz and classical music on respective albums packed (nearly to a fault) with ambitious ideas. Vitous uses a sampler to add choral and orchestral touches to a combo that sometimes sounds tripped up by the interventions. For the Stuttgart birthday celebration heard on his album, Weber arranged new tunes and a half-hour Birthday Suite for orchestra, vibraphonist Gary Burton, soprano saxophonist Jan Garbarek, and other soloists. The album concludes with the almost pastoral "The Last Stage of a Long Journey" and the short, elegant bass solo, "Air."

BBC Symphony Orchestra & Leon Botstein, Dukas: Ariane et Barbe-Bleu (Telarc)
For his rarely performed opera, Paul Dukas (1865-1935) transformed the Bluebeard story into a downbeat feminist parable. It begins with pitchfork-wielding villagers and ends with Ariane's lonely victory as Bluebeard's other wives realize they really can't live without the lady-killer. The only downside is that the music doesn't jump out of your speakers with as much electricity as Dukas's gorgeous score demands.

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