Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

Canada has its share of prodigies, including this Saskatchewan native who, at the age of 10, became musical director and organist at her local church. Now in her 20s, Taylor has emerged as a jazz diva worth watching. Her second album, produced by keyboard great Doug Riley, showcases her impressive range, belting out Louis Jordan’s “Knock Me a Kiss” and Cole Porter’s “Just One of Those Things” or delivering a swinging rendition of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” and her own bluesy “Little Black Dress.”

With roots in Halifax’s hardcore scene, Wintersleep has emerged, quietly, as one of Canada’s most promising new alt-rock bands. The group has opened for Pearl Jam, and singer Paul Murphy sometimes shares Eddie Vedder’s throaty howl, especially on hard-rock nuggets like “Jaws of Life.” But Wintersleep’s moody, atmospheric soundscape mostly has the ring of something refreshingly vital and original. And ballads like “Fog,” “Insomnia” and the epic “Nerves normal, breath normal” boast a dark, hypnotic power.

Waits, a superb and eccentric singer-songwriter, can divide a room faster than a religious debate: some rave about his balladry; some can’t stand his vocalizations. Waits’ peculiar genius is in full roar on these 54 new and rare recordings, arranged thematically on a three-disc collection. Highlights include his theatrical cover of Kurt Weill’s “What Keeps Mankind Alive,” the torchy “Little Drop of Poison” and his highly political “Road to Peace,” a riveting account of a young suicide bomber’s attack on a Jerusalem bus.