The opinions expressed here are correct. Disagreement with them shows poor thinking on your part.

On second thought, the opinions in this survey were my own when I wrote this. Feel free to disagree and understand that my opinions may very well have changed by the time you read this.

Also I have not heard anywhere near all of the music that could fit into this listing. The list therefore is of course limited to music that I have heard. Now onto the fun...

20) Ben Harper Fight for your Mind (Virgin, 1995)

If Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and Bob Marley had ever recorded an album together it probably would sound a lot like Fight for your Mind. Ben Harper has the touch and care of Dylan, interest in the sonic explorations of people like Hendrix, and the political sensibilities of Marley. But to say just that seems to be discounting the disc.

Drummer Oliver Charles lays down a wide variety of grooves that vary from straight ahead to funky to merely background. Bassist Juan Nelson and a couple of other musicians also make fine contributions to the album. That said, Harper is definitely the star. A few songs do feature Harper playing a traditional acoustic guitar but for the most part his instrument of choice is the Weissenborn, a guitar played on the lap -much like a steel guitar- that produces a lower than normal sound. By plugging the Weissenborn in, Harper is able to provide a slew of powerful sonic explorations.

At the same time the album also shows its roots. Blues, gospel, and hip-hop are unquestionably in this disc’s lineage.

The lyrics on this album aren’t quite as impressive. Harper addresses an array of issues ranging from love to politics to religion with a bit of smoking pot in between. Unfortunately Harper too readily resorts to clichés in order to make his point.

The best song on the disc, however, is the song with the most interesting lyrics. "Give a Man a Home" is a slow shuffle that compares the homeless person living on the street to the person without the relationships needed to fill either a home or a life.

Fight for your Mind was Harper’s second album. In early 1994 he released the excellent Welcome to the Cruel World, a much quieter and delicate album. Most of the songs on Cruel World do feature bass and drums along with Harper’s acoustic guitar. Yet the backing instrumentation does not come across as essential. This meant that Fight for your Mind sounded quite surprising. A closer listen to Cruel World, though, shows that the full band sound is essential to some of the disc’s best cuts. "Mama’s Got a Girlfriend Now" is the best example of this. In 1997 Harper released the disappointing Will to Live. The musical growth or sense of progression was gone and so was any real sense of purpose. The 1999 release Burn to Shine continued this unfortunate trend.

These later failures -a harsh but appropriate term- do not take away from Fight for your Mind. You might grow a bit tired of this disc after repeated spins but over the long run it will provide plenty of enjoyment.

19) Johnny Adams Man of My Word (Rounder, 1998)

What happened to soul music? Where is the tradition of Solomon Burke, Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, and so many others? It is shame that this part of musical history does not get its just due. Stax-Volt should mean at least as much as Motown does to the connoisseurs of music. These questions, of course, are all rhetorical and unable to affect change. The R&B that deserved to have blues in its name will never get the praise it deserves.

Johnny Adams is not to blame for this. From the 1940s till 1998, Adams sang soul and R&B songs and created a string of historic, if little remembered, recordings. Man of My Word, though, was probably his most acclaimed recording. The disc was recorded in a New Orleans studio in February through April of 1998. Ballads such as the standard "You don’t Miss your Water" mingle effortless with more lighthearted and more upbeat number such as ‘It ain’t the Same Thing" and "Going Out of my Mind." The final track is gospel duet with Aaron Neville called "Never Alone." It is on songs like "This Time I’m Gone for Good" and the title cut that Adams is most impressive, however. Both are mid-tempo and Adams delivers a forceful vocal performance. The pain, joys, and tribulations of love all shine through in these performances.

There is not really a whole lot to say here. This is just soul and R&B music done to its best. Unfortunately it would be Adams’ final testament. Adams dies shortly after recording Man of my Word.

18) Joan Osborne Relish (Blue Gorilla/Mercury, 1995)

Yes Relish contains "One of Us" - the decent but certainly not great alt/pop/rock tune that rocketed Joan Osborne to fame. Fortunately the rest of the disc is far better. It opens with another religious themed song called "St. Teresa." She then does a cover of Bob Dylan’s "Man in the Long Black Coat." Both of these songs are musically more like "One of Us" than anything else on the disc but nonetheless Osborne puts in a far more impressive vocal performance.

The disc does not really get going till the third track, however. Osborne does the self-penned "Right Hand Man" This is a soulful song with a rock steady pulse. The nest track, "Pensacola," R&B ballad that looks at religion -you might notice a theme- and Osborne’s strong vocals make it one of the best tracks.

From there the disc goes in a range of connected directions. There is "One of Us" but also more R&B cuts as well as folk numbers such as the closer, "Lumina." Osborne also does the Sonny Boy Williamson and Ralph Bass cut "Help Me." This is straight blues and works well. It is a shame that Osborne’s pop success has precluded her from getting props in the world of blues.

The real highlight of Relish is "Let’s Just Get Naked." Osborne wrote the tune and the music is basically blues rock. The vocal owe their debts to the blues. This is not a song about simple or pure lust as the title suggests. Rather it deals with a complicated relationship that has gone sour but a physical attraction still exists.

The story is that Osborne first came to music through a bar’s open mic night. She was film student at New York University at the time and covered a Billie Holiday tune on a dare. The owner of the establishment was so impressed that he asked Osborne to perform on other nights. She would go on to become a force in New York City’s roots music scene and release some albums on her own. Relish made her a national star, however. Unfortunately she has yet to release a full length album since 1995. Again the story is that she is at odds with the record label over what direction to take her music.

How bizarre it is that a record label wants to control a performer who came to music through such odd circumstances. This just shows how illogical the music industry is. I tend to think that the Internet will not change the music industry in a fundamental way. It might, however. And if that means that performers like Osborne can be more independent and that many more bar room legends get their music, I eagerly await the change. Who knows what will happen. All I can say is that Relish is one fine album.

17) David S. Ware Quartet Go See the World (Columbia, 1998)

Tenor saxophonist David S. Ware would be widely known in a better world. On earth, however, this Sonny Rollins protégé performs in relative obscurity. Ware has not failed to achieve any success. Critics widely acclaim him and Go See the World was Ware’s major label debut. With this release, he no longer has to drive cabs for a living.

Drummer Susie Ibarra, bassist William Parker, and pianist Matthew Shipp join Ware for this disc. It is a mistake to compare any group to the classic John Coltrane Quartet yet there are a lot of similarities here. All of the players work exceptionally well with one another and this music does stretch all the boundaries of straight ahead jazz without ever breaking them. This disc is both daring and accessible.

16) Kelly Willis Bang Bang (MCA, 1991)

Kelly Willis is delightful reprieve from a world that says Garth Brooks and Shania Twain are country singers. There is nothing unduly retro about Bang Bang. Willis does show knowledge of country’s legacy but does not wallow in it. Instead she shows spunk and humor in the disc’s big hit "Baby Take a Piece of My Heart" and a hard luck happiness in "I’ll Try Again." The real highlight of Bang Bang’s 10 cuts is the closer Settle for Love. Joe Ely wrote this song but Willis makes it her own. the gender reversal is interesting and worth noting. Men are not supposed to be interested in money from a partner but that is exactly what the person Willis is talking to is doing. It shouldn’t be a difficult decision.

15) Kris Kristofferson The Austin Sessions (Atlantic, 1999)

I feel a bit strange about including this here. There is not a new song in this bunch. Instead it is just Kris Kristofferson doing new versions of the songs that made him into the acclaimed songwriter that he is. The Austin Sessions showcases these songs along with Kristofferson’s performing limitations. His guitar playing was never exceptional and his voice only occasionally hints at greatness and then only briefly. The joke about Kris -as his friend Willie Nelson calls him on stage- is that his own persons of his songs pale in comparison to what people like Johnny Cash and Janis Joplin have done with them.

None of this matters on The Austin Sessions. The passable voice seems rugged as the result of hard living. Even the most talented vocalists could not duplicate the experience the Kris shows here. "Sunday Morning Coming Down" overflows with pain and regret as it should. "Help Me Make It Through the Night" sounds not like a call to lust but a moment of clarity. And "Loving Her was Easier (The Anything I’ll Ever do Again)" is more a look back life than a remembrance of any one relationship. There are also odes to the devil in various incarnations. "To Beat the Devil" presents the title character as the individual who trys to derail dreamers. "Why Me?" is a celebration of how lucky Kris has been.

The instrumentation of this disc varies greatly but is primarily acoustic. A number of guest stars like Jackson Browne and Steve Earle show up to do harmony vocals but never distract from the star. As the disc progresses to the final two tracks, it becomes clear that this disc is putting Kris’ life in perspective. "The Pilgrim: Chapter 33" is a semi-autobiographical tail that concludes by saying that the life with all its highs and lows is, in the end, worth it. The journey has not ended, however, as the final track is "Please Don’t Tell me How the Story Ends."

14) Don Byron Music for Six Musicians (Nonesuch, 1995)

Without our heroes, Shelby Steele would be mowing the master’s grass,
A lawn jockey waiting for the mailman.

Poet Sadiq provides verse for "‘Uh-Oh, Change/White History Month," which closes with the above two lines and is the first track on Music for Six Musicians. The rest of the poem is difficult to understand and not all that good.

Fortunately the rest of the disc is much better. Clarinetist Don Byron has always liked to have a motif for his releases and here it is latin Jazz. This would be fairly conventional in the hands of most but Byron does the unusual task of combining that style with more avant-garde tastes. It doesn’t work flawlessly and, at times, Byron seems to miss the point of both genres. But at its best moments, Music for Six Musicians gives listeners a taste of somebody who combines musical styles for the sole purpose of showing how connected they are. Bill Frisell lends a helping hand on "I’ll chill on the Marley tapes..." and allows mediocre and bland song to become something far more subversive. On this and other tracks, the most interesting element of the music is how it switches back and forth between styles with ease. Just placing different styles beside each other is hardly original but it takes talent and vision to create a brief safe area that mixes solo and harmony. This is unquestionably, one of the best discs to give to somebody who likes mainstream fare and is just staring to consider the possibility of freer sounds.

13) Matthew Shipp Trio The Multiplication Table (Hat Hut Records, 1998)

One reason -probably the primary reason- for the chemistry between the musicians on David S. Ware’s Go See the World is that they have worked together on more than a few dates. The Matthew Shipp Trio could actually go by the name of the rhythm section for the David S. Ware Quartet as that is exactly what it is. Drummer Susie Ibarra an bassist William Parker join pianist Shipp for this July 17, 1997 date. Their are 8 cuts including three versions of standards. The Multiplication Table opens with Joseph Kosma’s "Autumn Leaves." The classic melody is there but so is the Shipp’s abstract yet brutal piano playing. Shipp’s style, while certainly original, is similar to that of Cecil Taylor. This makes William Parker a good fit as Parker formerly played with Taylor. Ibarra comes from the "Rashied Ali school" in that she does not just provide rhythm but interacts with the other musicians on every level. The three also cover in a like manner "The ‘C’ Jam Blues,’ a Duke Ellington composition that clocks in at over 13 fun filled minutes. Their version of Billy Strayhorn’s "Take the ‘A’ Train" has a similar feel to it and adds thematic unity.

The strongest elements of The Multiplication Table, however, are Shipp’s own compositions. Nobody has ever accused the pianist of picking the most poetic titles and this is no exception. Three are variations "ZT" while "The Multiplication Table" is another. On all these tracks, however, the trio mixes and matches strength with gentleness and melody. The music might seem more classical than jazz but there is certainly improvisation here. Shipp will pound away at the keyboard and unleash blocs of notes that seem odd in theory but work wonderfully in practice. Parker will respond to this with similarly constructed bass lines. Sometimes Parker sounds more like he is playing a violin than a bass but when he shows he can play straight up when he needs to. Ibarra, for her part, is as likely to be using percussion instruments on the kit as sticks. This creates a unique sound that works well with the other players. A few times she does seem to be off in her own world and not interacting Shipp and Parker either melodically or rhythmically. Most of the time, though, Ibarra works well with her band mates and they produce music that attempts to be both soulful and intellectual. It works just about all of the time and makes for a very interesting disc.

12) Neil Young Mirror Ball (Reprise, 1995)

Neil Young became known as the "godfather of grunge" in the 1990s. Young’s guitar drenched work with Crazy Horse was the primary reason for this. Crazy Horse never emphasizes subtly but instead plows ahead with definite and stammering rock and roll. Mirror Ball is certainly in that tradition but here the backing band is none other than Pear Jam. Young and company move through a number of excellent songs like "I’m the Ocean" and "Throw your Hatred Down" which show talent as well as a degree of unfocused energy and rambunctious. At times this disc feels like a roller coaster ride in which Young and company getting going and don’t really seem to know how to stop. But they do, sometimes with abruptly and sometimes with grace.

The odd part of all of this is that Pearl Jam has usually been amongst the most focused of the grunge groups. Their discs come across as quite deliberate. Mirror Ball was recorded in January of 1995 and although the two parties have long been friends and played together from time to time -their joint version of Young’s anthem "Rocking in the Free World" at the 1993 MTV video awards show is probably the greatest moment in the not so illustrious history of that channel- they probably did not spend much time rehearsing this material. This creates a "Crazy Horse" feel except in terms of rhythm. Whereas Crazy Horse likes to rumble, Pearl Jam has a punchy sound. Drummer Jack Irons is a big part of this but so are bassist Jeff Ament an guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready. Vocalist Eddie Vedder is not at the forefront of Mirror Ball but his contributions also add in this regard. Young handles this situation well and never seems out of place. His lyrics cover the standard Young fare of growing old, isolation, and the discontents of technology but he once again finds new ways of doing this. Young has always produced distinct music but, as he proves here, it is music that others can easily tap into.

11) Corey Harris Greens from the Garden (Alligator, 1999)

Perhaps the truest measure of any artist is how they develop. Or better yet, how they development in unpredictable but logical ways. In 1995, Alligator released Between Midnight and a Day, the debut album of Corey Harris. The disc was fine from start to finish and showcased unvarnished delta style acoustic blues. Then in 1997, Harris an Alligator released Fish Ain’t Bitin’. Harris kept the acoustic style but added a brass horn section for certain tunes and seemed to be expanding musically. Furthermore Harris began to write more of his own songs and start speaking about social issues.

Greens from the Garden continues that tradition but adds electricity to the mix. Cool bass lines from Victor Brown and drum grooves by John Gilmore abound on this disc. Harris plays the electric guitar over this in a way that captures in a way that is reminiscent of John Lee Hooker. It is not Hooker’s sound that Harris imitates so much as it is the style of a funky groove. On tunes like "Basehead," Harris and company getting carried away with speed and humor and put out some really entertaining music. Listeners will find other influences from people like Muddy Waters on this disc. But what stands out most clearly is that Harris is producing blues music that is thoroughly modern yet respectful of the past. I have not doubt that with a bit of luck, some tracks like "Wild West" could be R&B hits.

10) Various artists Largo (Blue Gorilla/Mercury, 1998)

Czech composer Antonin Dvorak left his native country in 1892 to explore the United States for two years. He was deeply moved and influenced by the music which he encountered Dvorak would go on to write the "From the New World" symphony which drew heavily on the sounds on the work songs, spirituals, and Native American Dance music that he heard in the U.S. One theme from the symphony, "Largo", would become on a standard of sorts. Largo is an unconventional tribute to Dvorak. The Chieftains perform several Dvorak pieces on this disc but the bulk of the music was inspired by Dvorak.

The Chieftains open things up but it gets really exciting with the second track. Taj Mahal runs thought "Freedom Ride" which invokes the Civil Rights Movement and places it in the timeless context of rock and roll odysseys. Levon Helm, Joan Osborne, and a host of other performers add more to the mix in this collection which never really slows down. The songs explore the regular like love as well as more unique topics. Willie Nile’s "Medallion" is the first person tale of an immigrant cab driver living in New York City in the 1990s. Commenting on racism as well as a desire to fit into what has been termed "American Culture" the song is a powerful antidote to those who see the U.S. as a paradise and/or view immigrants as unwilling to assimilate. "White Man’s Melody" is a haunting blues by Cyndi Lauper (who has come a long way since "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun") that gives an impressionistic account of Dvorak’s travels. The song brilliantly describes lover of Dvorak by saying "She’d think of him as Elvis/If she knew who Elvis was." A strong argument can be made that much of popular music in the US. is a response to oppression or at least represents resistance to oppression. This is true of blues, jazz, much of folk music, hip-hop, and quite arguably rock and roll. Largo keeps alive this tradition in top notch form.

9) Roscoe Mitchell and the Note Factory This Dance is for Steve McCall (Black Saint, 1993)

Bill Shoemaker’s linear notes to this disc begin by addressing the odd nature of jazz recordings. Since jazz is usually never played the same way twice, recording do not capture a group a of musicians playing a particular composition so much as one instance of that group performing a particular tune. If they did it the next day then it would be different, usually by one a small degree but sometimes radically.

This comes to light with This Dance is for Steve McCall. The recording was made on May 18, 1992. The musicians are Roscoe Mitchell on saxophone, flute, and percussion, Matthew Shipp on piano, Jaribu Shahid and William Parker on bass, Tani Tabbal on drums and hand drums, and Vincent Davis on the drum kit. Mitchell, a legendary performer probably best known for being a founding member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago but who has produced a tremendous body of solo work, had played with all of these musicians before but this was their first recording as a group. They recorded it after a series of convert at the New Music Cafe in New York City. Dedications to Philip Wilson, Gerald Oshita, and Steve McCall -all former band mates of Mitchell that had recently passed away- and a tune called "The Rodney King Affair" further open the window for this to be a dated recording. Most important in this area, however, is the loose nature of these compositions. Mitchell gets credit for writing all but one of the tunes but more often than not it seems like the various tracks are just avenues for improvisation. You could say the same thing about all jazz compositions but here there seems to be a tendency for the playing to just hang by itself and not be connected to a group effort. All of these factors make This Dance is for Steve McCall appear as if it is a unique and very differentiated recording. This may or may not be a bad thing but it is certainly different than what a listener would respect from, for example, a bop recording.

Despite this momentary quality, nothing on this disc seems to be an accident. The ensemble opens with "Ericka," a Joseph Jarman composition. This opens with a few minutes of a soft and probing Mitchell solo. Then comes Parker’s orchestral bass lines. Drums and percussion slowly work their way in as does Shipp and Shahid. The tune builds well and is consistently introspective. After a little over 11 and a half minutes "Ericka" gives way to "Uptown Strut." This short offering features Tabbal and segues well into "The Rodney King Affair" - the real highlight of This Dance is for Steve McCall. Mitchell immediately begins what is probably one of the densest solos ever. In the process he perfectly imitates the brutality that George Holiday captured on film. Mitchell doesn’t hem or haw around the edges but rather just unleashes note after note for the duration of the five minute and 24 second track. Listeners should keep in mind that this recording came just a few weeks after the Los Angeles Rebellion and that this was a rare moment when issues of police brutality, poverty, and racism were the major media stories. Mitchell and his band mates added their own voice with this powerful account of police brutality.

No other track on This Dance is for Steve McCall burns as intensely or, for that matter, as brightly. Yet the rest is rewarding and some of the other musicians get to move to forefront as Mitchell works more as an accompanist. The two drummers especially stand out. Tabbal and Davis breathe life into cuts like "Ah" and, ironically enough, "Variations for String Bass and Piano." Shipp occasionally joins them and adds enjoyable, if not quite needed, color. Mitchell does not totally disappear and actually provides some interesting flute work on "The Far East Blues" -a tune that sounds exactly as the title suggests.

If I have once complaint about this disc, it is that the entire group rarely plays together. The plus side to this is that it allows for many interesting duos, trios and quartets. The musicians seem to have been soaking up each others playing and responding accordingly which gives the album a unique and rather classical feel. Despite all of this, however, you can’t help but just wish that the entire group would coalesce at times. The only places they do this are the opener and the closer- the title track. Both follow the same pattern and build up and eventually evolve into something that does seem a lot like the traditional jazz dichotomy of solo and accompaniment. Perhaps the real strength of This Dance is for Steve McCall is that it provides both this level of interaction and more intimate communications.

8) William Parker/In Order to Survive The Peach Orchard (AUM Fidelity, 1998)

The Peach Orchard is two discs, eight tracks, and over a 135 minutes of music. If you like the free roaming jazz of performers like Cecil Taylor then you will probably enjoy this disc a lot. If you don’t, then you should by all means stay clear of this disc.

The leader of course William Parker. He is joined frequent collaborator Susie Ibarra on drum, Cooper-Moore on piano, and Rob Brown on alto sax. The quartet recorded these tracks between March of 1997 and March of 1998. Three of the tracks are from a live concert at the Knitting Factory club while the rest come from other sessions. Parker is the writer of all eight tracks.

All of the musicians get a chance to shine. A bass in Parker’s hands is liable to bring out sounds rarely associated with the instrument. He hack at it, treat like a violin, and even use to just lay down the bottom as he does on "Theme from Pelkan." Cooper-Moore shows a similar range on the said song. He opens with a standard melody, along with the rest of the group, quickly gravitates to more experimental areas. Brown shows a plenty of depth on this disc and occasionally gets in a good blowing session. Ibarra continues to be showcase her unique style.

As much improvisation as there is here, there is also a lot of structure and composition. Parker explains in the linear notes what inspiration was behind each composition and this does help the listener get a better grasp of the material. Many of his themes are quite sad but four use humor throughout The Peach Orchard. The final cut "In Order to Survive," alternates between a house rocker and a typical free jazz band. This is a very enjoyable disc all around.

7) The Robert Cray Band Some Rainy Morning (Mercury, 1995)

Robert Cray is by no means the most innovative performer. The guitarist and singer takes his inspiration from both the classic Chess sound and the equally important Stax-Volt studio. Cray will use these inspirations to varying degrees with some albums coming up straight up blues and others being more to the R&B side. Some Rainy Morning is right in the middle and is the bluesman’s best ever.

The disc opens with the soulful and slow tunes "Moan" and "I’ll Go On." They set the pace for the entire disc which, while it contains some up tempo number, moves at a slow pace. Cray does some enjoyable guitar line while the rhythm section of bassist Karl Sevareid and Kevin Hayes on the skins provide a solid foundation. Jim Pugh provides the underlying hum on the keys that stands up well on its own. The entire group works well together and seems quite comfortable.

It is Cray’s vocals that stand out the most however. Prior to this, he had sometimes been willing to just play the guitar and do vocal that get the job done. Here, however, he reaches down and pulls out things listeners did not expect. "Never Mattered Much" is a mournful Cray original where the speaker talks about not caring that a relationship has ended. Cray makes it painfully clear with every word that he does not really feel that way. Later on is "Jealous Love" which has deep pocket and the singer giving it all he has. "Will You Think of Me" is tune by Cray and Pugh that features a passionate delivery and stands the brightest. There is not a weak track on this disc and this might be one of the best vocal performances of the 1990s.

6) Steve Earle Train a Comin’ (Winter Harvest, 1995)

Train a Comin’ is an acoustic album but not "unplugged." Steve Earle makes it clear in the linear notes that he wrote these to perform acoustically. This does not result in lone troubadour disc as the only solo track is an instrumental piece by Norman Blake.

Earle does a couple of cover here, including an improved version of The Beatles’ "I’m Looking Through You." (I am not a big fan of the Liverpool four and think that there music is highly overrated -I’m probably wrong.) The highlights of Train a Comin’, however, are the originals which date from the mid 1970s to the mid 1990s. There is the comical "Hometown Blues," the first line of which goes "I wish I’d never come back home." This is only the second best opener here though. "Tom Ames’ Prayer" begins

Everyone in Nacadoches knew Tom Ames
would come to come bad end
Well the sheriff had caught him stealing chickens and such
by the time that he was ten.

The rest of the tune is a narrative on the life of hard luck ruffian and his meditation with nothing at all. (You probably have to hear it to understand. Of course that is true about all of this music.) There are some touching moments like "Goodbye" which captures an important slice of Earle’s turbulent life.

"Ben McCulloch" is the story of Civil War soldier who fights in the Texas infantry under the title character. He joins because "...the poster said we’d get a uniform and seven bucks a week/The best rations in the army and a rifle we could keep." He eventually dessert because "I don’t even know what I’m fighting for I ain’t ever owned a slave."

Earle writes songs with timeless themes. Sometimes he dates them and sometimes he doesn’t but they are almost always good. Train a Comin’ keeps this tradition alive.

5) Johnny Cash Unchained (American, 1996)

You could say that Johnny Cash is unable to write a great song anymore.

You would be wrong although there is a kernel of the truth to the statement. You would be completely irrelevant, however.

Cash uses Unchained to turn Beck’s "Rowboat" into a straight up country song and to deconstruct Soundgarden’s "Rusty Cage." Cash delivers a vocal performance that is stands with his best ever. The backing of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers complements Cash but never gets in his way.

The man in black uses just about all of his various motifs on this disc. There are the moving religious tunes like "Spiritual," "Kneeling Drunkards’ Plea," and the title cut. There are also odes to rural areas in tunes like "Country Boy" and working class life in "I’ve Never Picked Cotton." Cash does it all here and he does it all well.

This might end up being Cash’s last studio release in his lifetime due to his poor health. If this happens, it is a fitting testament to a person who represents how great music can be. As Cash sings in the final song "I’ve Been Everywhere."

4) Roscoe Mitchell and the Note Factory Nine to Get Ready (ECM, 1999)

(The following is partially excerpted from my original review which appeared in this past September’s issue of Agenda.)

This is only the second disc from Roscoe Mitchell and the Note Factory but it is the second classic from the ensemble. Like This Dance is for Steve McCall, Nine to Get Ready only burns hot in certain places. Mostly it stays in the meditative range.

The cd booklet quotes Mitchell as saying that "Nine to Get Ready is the coming together of a dream I had many years ago of putting together an ensemble of improvising musicians with an orchestral range." And such is the Note Factory, an eight piece group (add one, namely Mitchell, and you have nine, hence the album title) that includes Jaribu Shahid on bass and Gerald Cleaver and Tani Tabbal on drums and percussion. All three are from Michigan and Cleaver and Tabbal have played many times in the Ann Arbor area.

The disc begins with haunting harmonizing on a piece called "Leola" and moves from there to cover much terrain in a somber, delicate, and relatively quiet fashion. The only breaks in this are a blues inspired song called "Bessie Harris" and the blowing session that is "Hop Hip Bip Bir Rip." But there is enough thoughtfulness behind both of those recording so that the focus is not lost. In these and the other tunes it is Mitchell that sets the mood with his horn playing but all of the other musicians are also improvising and adding essential elements. The musicians show a great deal of discipline and style on a piece called "Jamaican Farewell," as they show Jamaican influences but avoid getting bogged down in them.

Mitchell’s comment about wanting a group with an orchestral range is especially astute because much of this music could easily come from a classically trained orchestra. Probably the biggest difference is that Nine to Get Ready is the result of improvisation whereas classical musicians tend to shy away from that sort of thing. Don’t take this music too seriously though. The album ends with short and funky number called "Big Red Peaches" that features only a groove. After over 50 minutes of serious and thought provoking music, it is a wonderful pie in the face.

(All of the discs on this list are great but the next three hold a special place in my heart. All move me in a way that goes to the core of existence. For this reason, the reviews might seem a bit gushy. I mean every word of it though.)

3) Mary Chapin Carpenter Stones in the Road (Columbia, 1994)

This was Mary Chapin Carpneter’s follow up to 1992’s Come On, Come On. The 1992 release sold several million copies and spawned something like seven singles that appeared in the top ten of the country charts. Come On, Come On was also the weakest release of career up to that point or since. It wasn’t bad so much as mediocre.

Fortunately Stones in the Road was much better. The disc opens with the up lifting "Why Walk When You Can Fly" an ends with the aptly titled "This is Love." Nestled between this are tunes project uncertainty, regret, and sadness. It is here that the disc is the best.

Carpenter tackles the contradictions of the nuclear family in "House of Cards" and baby boomer confusion in the title cut. The awkward nature of love is there in Lee Roy Parnell slide guitar infused "Shut Up and Kiss Me" as well as "Jubilee."

The best tracks are "A Keeper for Every Flame" and "Outside Looking In." "A Keeper for Every Flame" is about as formulaic as you can get and shouldn’t be good. The lyrics save the disc, however. The first verse is:

She says its been so long she can’t remember when
The mention of his name didn’t make her again
That everything is possible and every day a brand new start
Yeah love’s something possible when you find a willing heart.

The isolation, the dream, the regret, the stagnation, and the hope is all there. Perhaps this is a personal thing, but I have listened to this song many times when I needed hope and reassurance in my life. Sometimes music is all I had so it is a good thing that songs like this exist.

"Outside Looking In" is not soothing but neither is it overly angry. Here Carpenter expresses confusion and loss as with the refrain:

I see them walking hand in hand and my eyes just want to linger
On that golden wedding bands wrapped around their fingers
By the time I turn away I feel it once again
I back in this familiar place, outside looking in.

This disc makes it perfectly clear that life is not always enjoyable. In fact, it is quite painful sometimes. This is hardly an original statement but there has never been a truer one. And any disc that expresses this as well as Stones in the Road deserves more praise than I can possibly give it.

2) Neil Young and Crazy Horse Sleeps with Angels (Reprise, 1994)

In 1979 Neil Young gave the state of rock and roll in his flip side anthems "My My, Hey Hey" and :"Hey Hey, My My." Who would have thought that he would do the same thing 15 years later?

Yet that is exactly what Sleeps with Angels is. Ostensibly it is a tribute to the late Kurt Cobain but Young tells stories that are strangely prophetic of the soon to come deaths of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls.

The disc begins with the soft and simple love song "My Heart." That sentiment quickly falls to side when "Prime of Life" appears. The song should be a celebration but Young’s unmistakable guitar work reveals a dark side as do lyric like:

Are you feeling all right
Not feeling too bad myself
Are you feeling all right, my friend?

A quick reading suggests a simple answer but the irony is so imbedded that is clear that something darker is about to happen.

And it does. Next come "Driveby," the title cut, and "Western Hero." They are all very different songs. "Driveby" seems like an outtake from Young’s unplugged sessions and has a loose, floating, and chanting sound. An untuned snare by Ralph Molina is the only interruption. "Sleeps with Angels" is a more "alt rock" cut while "Western Hero" is your standard Neil Young ballad. All deal with the lose of life and the difficulties that death attaches to those who survive.

These cuts are just warm ups, however, for the more than 20 minutes that is spent on "Change your Mind" and "Blue Eden." "Change your Mind" opens with growling guitars and the immediate lyrics:

When you get weak, and you need to test your will
When life’s complete, but there’s something missing still
Distracting you from this must be the one you love
Must be the one whose magic touch can change you mind
Don’t let another day go by without the magic touch

The song goes to the chorus which, the first time goes like this:

Protecting you
(Change your mind)
Restoring you
(Change your mind)
Revealing you
(Change your mind)
Soothing you
(Change your mind)

As lyrics make clear, this is a song about suicide that was written in memory of the Nirvana singer. Yet it is a song full of hope and possibility. The focus is not on the suicidal person but on that person’s friend. Young thus makes it clear after less than 2 minutes that we are involved in this. That we are all in this ride together. Nobody in the history of rock can write a chorus like Young -"Like a Hurricane" removes any doubt of this point- and this is one of his best. Young expands on these lyrics later on but they remain a consistent and unending plea to commit suicide.

The next two verses go further into this theme. There are musical breaks between the verses where Young, Molina, guitarist Frank "Poncho" Sampedro, and bassist Billy Talbot get to show their stuff. These are good but hardly serve as an adequate lead in for what comes next.

After the third verse and chorus, the group launch into approximately five minutes of musical explorations. They go high and low, raising the bar and tension until a final verse and chorus. The words "change your mind" echo throughout the song and you get the impression that everything will turn out for the best. That this is a happy song.

Young refuses to take that route however. The next tune is "Blue Eden" which is built around the chorus of "Change your Mind" but does not actually contain the title. The music is raw, unpleasant, and even ugly. There is a stark feeling. It did not turn out o.k. It was a disaster, a mess. Somebody committed suicide.

These two tracks are the highlight of the disc. The previous songs seem to all heading in this direction. These two cuts would have been the conventional end to Sleeps with Angels. But Young and Crazy Horse continue. There are a variety of tracks here. "Safeway Car" and "Trans Am" are subdued oddities. "Train of Love" reworks the music of "Western Hero" with excellent results. Then there is "Piece of Crap." This a raucous throw away that probes consumerism and correctly labels it as just a series of frustrations and unmet expectations. "A Dream that can Last" closes up shop on a very hopeful note.

An outstanding quality of all of this is how well Crazy Horse plays. Crazy Horse has always been a great backing band for Neil Young but they have rarely been an exact instrument. They tend to just rumble with force and power but rarely with precision. Usually this works wonderfully, but on Sleeps with Angels, the group does something completely different. They fit Young like a glove and show detail, complexity, and plenty of variation. Legend has it that Crazy Horse was just a bunch of hippies that played for pot money until Neil Young found them. Thirty years later, they have lost one member but played on some greatest music to ever be made. Sleeps with Angels is in that category.

1) Sonny Sharrock Ask the Ages (Axiom, 1991)

My parents gave this cd for Christmas in 1994. I have no idea why I asked for it. Sonny Sharrock had died in spring of 1994 and I remember reading the coverage. But I was not really into jazz as that the time and so it seems odd that I would want this one disc from a relatively obscure jazz performer. Whatever the reason, I am glad that I do own this disc. It was the subject of my first music review ever in the fall of 1995.

Sharrock wanted to be a saxophonist as young musician in the 1960s. He switched to guitar because medical work prevented him from playing a horn. Sharrock’s guitar playing was unique and often sounded like what one would expect from Ornette Coleman or John Coltrane if they played the guitar. He made quite an impact on recordings by people as varied as Don Cherry, Miles Davis, Herbie Mann, and Pharoah Sanders.

Axiom released Ask the Ages in 1991 - the booklet makes no mention of when the recording took place. Sharrock assembled what must have been a dream cast for the session. Charnett Moffett, the son of drummer Charles Moffett who played Ornette Coleman and Archie Shepp, is on the bass. Former Coltrane band mates Elvin Jones and Pharoah Sanders are on the drums and saxophones, respectively.

The quartet rips through six Sharrock originals. "Promises Kept" has a swing feel to it while "Who does she Hope to be?" is a touching ballad. The tunes "Little Rock," "As we Used to Sing," and "Many Mansions" keep the energy and pulse alive. The best track is the closer, however. It opens with one of Jones’ characteristically powerful solos. Sharrock then joins in with some deliberate guitar sounds. Moffett slowly works his way into the mix of this song which never gets too fast but instead stays meditative. This is powerful music to think about, to hear, and to feel.