Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

It was only a matter of time before the male equivalent of Norah Jones appeared. Lee, who cites both Stevie Wonder and John Prine as influences, has already opened for Jones. Now signed to Jones’ Blue Note label, and with his debut album produced by her bassist-boyfriend, Lee Alexander, the Philadelphia native seems well groomed for success. While songs like “Dreamin’” and “Bottom of the Barrel” have a refreshing, folk-blues vitality, the best is “Soul Suckers,” which pairs Lee’s soulful voice with chilling cellos. Mar. 1   

An ardent student of the blues (as a boy, he befriended Howlin’ Wolf and visited Tampa Red at his sickbed—much the same way Bob Dylan did Woody Guthrie), Toronto’s Linden is now an accomplished bluesman in his own right. This fine album, partly recorded in Memphis with Otis Redding’s horn section, features crackling r&b numbers like “I Give Up.” And the rootsy “Which Way Does the M&O Run” recalls the time he joined Blind John Davis for a New Year’s Eve performance—when Linden was just 17. Mar. 1            

The good Reverend, who abandoned sexually-charged soul music in 1976 for the sacred sounds of gospel, made an inspired secular comeback album with 2003’s I Can’t Stop. His latest pairs him again with Willie Mitchell, the producer of such ever-Green hits as “Let’s Stay Together” and “Still in Love with You.” Backed by the New Memphis Strings, Green summons a preacher’s conviction on songs like “Perfect to Me.” And when he tackles affairs of the heart on songs like “Real Love,” his passion is palpable. Mar. 1