This reissue reintroduces us to percussionist Tito Puente's bestselling recording. The two-disc set from 1957 is full of the Latin dance craze that was coursing through Manhattan's Palladium Ballroom at the time.
Keep on Loving You, Reba McEntire's 31st album, isn't altogether unlike the female-centric mainstream country the singer has made a cottage industry of, but she's found better songs and sounds more committed to them than she has at any time since the release of Read My Mind, one of her better albums, in 1994.
Jazz-based hip-hop has been around for more than 20 years. Blitz the Ambassador's Stereotype is out to kill preconceived notions about the genre.
One day country radio programmers could realize that George Strait, at 57, doesn't fit their perceived demographic.
The title alone would inspire incredulity. Though pre-Castro Cuba had symphony orchestras that recorded standard repertoire, that's not happening here. This Miami-based septet of Cuban extraction uses standard electric, percussion and brass instruments in a series of Cuban-flavored fantasias on a theme by Bach, whose music often functions as a stylistically neutral backbone for an extremely inventive ensemble.
American Idol finalist Chris Daughtry never met a cliché he couldn't steamroll his way over on angst-driven post-grunge rock. That was forgivable on his band's 2006 debut because you figured he probably didn't have that much say in its direction.
MAXWELL BLACKsummers'night Columbia ½ Maxwell's long-anticipated new release contains nine songs -- and one of them is instrumental. Yet the outstanding collection, BLACKsummers'night, speaks volumes about the reason for the Brooklyn-born singer's enduring appeal: a distinctive voice.
MOBY Wait For Me Little Idiot ½ It's been a decade since pint-size Moby blew up to extra-large to become the world's biggest shaven-headed vegan DJ, with the blues-infused field-holler techno of the ubiquitous Play. Since then, the mixmaster born Richard Melville Hall has receded to a more comfortable size, most recently with last year's old-school dance-floor workout, Last Night.
Few prominent conductors have such fleeting claims to greatness as has Eugene Ormandy -- but as the Japanese recording industry is proving, the moments are unquestionably there.
GINUWINE A Man's Thoughts Notify/Asylum/Warner Bros. Ginuwine, the incredibly well-toned singer known for mixing rhythm and raunch, seeks to show he's not all about the physical here: He can still wind it and grind it, but he has evolved into a man who isn't afraid to share his emotions.
MICHAEL JOHNS Hold Back My Heart Downtown/Fontana Aussie Michael Johns couldn't parlay his photogenic stage presence and facility for turning old Dolly Parton and Queen tunes into fresh, soulful laments on American Idol into better than an eighth-place finish in 2008. Even Jason Castro finished four positions higher. Bad voters!
R & B AL B. SURE! Honey I'm Home Hidden Beach Recordings ½ Al B. Sure!, who found success with his falsetto in the '80s as one of New Jack Swing's most popular singers, returns with his first studio release in more than 15 years. Singing over a steady backup of lush vocal harmonies and hip-hop riffs, he sets a laid-back groove on Honey I'm Home and expectedly delivers convincingly on the slow jams about the ups and downs of love.
MOS DEF The Ecstatic Downtown ½ It may seem like ages ago, but Mos Def was once known for his music. As one of the faces of the now-defunct Rawkus records, Mos helped bring underground, socially conscience hip-hop to the spotlight at the peak of mainstream excessiveness and flashiness. But while he focused on his acting career in the 2000s, the music suffered with two sloppy, meandering albums that left much to be desired (including album artwork and a booklet in the case of the bare-bones...
ART BRUT Art Brut vs. Satan Downtown You have to love any band that cops influence from the Fall, and even takes its name from French painter Jean Debuffet's outsider aesthetic. In his wonky, witty work, singer-lyricist Eddie Argos inherits the mantle of clever punk held by Johnny Lydon, Ian Dury and Damon Albarn, preserving the best qualities of each.
GRIZZLY BEAR Veckatimest Warp Records ½ Animal Collective, Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear: These days, there's a zoo full of melodically gifted indie-rock mammals who have spent ample time hibernating in their bedrooms with their Beach Boys records. Grizzly Bear, which doesn't sound the slightest bit ferocious but comes by its moniker honestly (the drummer's name is Christopher Bear), is a Brooklyn quartet of NYU grads whose third album is named after a small island off Cape Cod. Sometimes...
The singer-songwriter Yusuf enjoys the reaction he gets driving through London in his '60s-vintage VW Kombi van, which is custom-painted with artwork from his days as the artist known as Cat Stevens -- including images depicting such huge hits as Peace Train and Moonshadow.
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