Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

Harry’s done it all. A musician as well as an actor, he’s won three Grammys and two Emmys. He’s the husband of a former model and a father to three daughters. But the New Orleans native’s latest album offers something new: confessional songs. Says Connick: “I felt ready to explore some of my personal experiences this time around.”             “The Greatest Love Story” is Connick’s song to the women in his life, including his wife Jill Goodacre. Backed by fiddle and pedal steel (a nod to Jill’s Texas roots), Connick pays a country-style tribute to both Jill and his late mother. There’s plenty of stirring gospel and reflective jazz, includ...

Recorded in Tucson, the Scottish star’s fourth studio album has all the sparseness, warm earth tones and big-sky vistas of the Arizona desert. Produced with Howe Gelb, of alt-country’s Giant Sand, the 11-track CD is a sonic adventure, featuring sweet but simple gems like “Honeydew” and the gloriously sensuous “Feel It All.”

For children of the ’90s, it’s big news that Ben Folds Five is joining Barenaked Ladies and Guster on this year’s Last Summer on Earth tour. The reunited piano-rock trio offers up live versions of such hits as “Brick” and more recent numbers like the rollicking “Do It Anyway” on this collection, which serves as a tour appetizer.

A genuinely boundary-busting artist, Traoré doesn’t follow in the footsteps of fellow Malian singers like Salif Keita or Oumou Sangaré. Thoroughly modern, she bridges songs in English, French and her native Bambara with rock instrumentation and offbeat collaborations. On her 2003 album, Bowmboï, Traoré recorded with the Kronos Quartet. For her latest, the statuesque singer has teamed up with PJ Harvey’s producer John Parish for a sound that is rock-tinged, yet distinctly African. The album features as much Gretsch as n’goni, the traditional Malian lute, and Traoré isn’t afraid to add some distorted lead guitar. Striking dynamics abound throughout, from the whisper-to-a-scream Kouma to the sp...

The simple title suggests a dry introduction to the Spanish style known for its virtuosity. But there’s nothing perfunctory about Miguel’s second album. From its tastefully designed DigiPack cover to the eight fiery tracks inside, this is flamenco at its finest. Miguel, whose family comes from the birthplace of flamenco in Spain’s Andalucia region, studied with masters such as Carlos del Rio and Augustin ‘Bola’ Carbonell. Now living in Toronto, where he works with his own ensemble and companies like Esmeralda Enrique’s Academy of Spanish Dance, he performs with a gusto he calls “full contact, hard-core” flamenco. Tracks like the tempo-shifting Alegrias en La and the spirited Rumba Tangos are...

On its third CD, the Vancouver-based Orchid Ensemble continues its exploration of the crossroads where East meets West. Primarily Chinese in sound, the trio features Lan Tung’s bowed two-string erhu and Mei Han’s zither-like zheng but is rounded out by percussionist Jonathan Bernard on wooden marimba. As on its previous recordings, including 2004’s Juno-nominated Road to Kashgar, the world-music ensemble’s latest mixes ancient strains with modern tones and composed works with improvisational pieces. Some of these, like the stirring nocturnal opener Dancing Moon and the hypnotic Three Variations on Plum Blossom, are written or adapted by Tung. In other cases, the ensemble commissioned works s...

Passionate and prolific, Lenka Lichtenberg is a force of nature within Canada’s world music scene. Born in Prague of East European heritage, she is a composer, vocalist, producer, ethnomusicologist and bandleader with five solo CDs and several collaborative projects to her credit. Although she works in six languages, Lichtenberg has made Yiddish her main medium out of a deep belief in keeping that tradition alive (her mother is a Holocaust child survivor). She has recorded what she calls “Yiddish ethno-jazz” with members of Tasa, and partnered with oud and violin virtuoso Yair Dalal in a unique Yiddish-Iraqi work-in-progress. Now Lichtenberg has released two boundary-pushing CDs. Bridges, re...

The first “A” in ABBA, Agnetha is often regarded as the voice of Sweden’s legendary pop group. Although she released three English-language albums after ABBA split in 1982, the ‘Blonde One’ disappeared for two decades, retreating to a life of seclusion. Even during the release of her 2004 covers album, My Colouring Book, she made few public appearances. Now 63, Fältskog is back—much to her fans’ delight. ABBA was always known for wholesomeness and Fältskog’s new album is typically tasteful, full of lush ballads about love and loss like “When You Really Loved Someone.” There are obvious shades of ABBA in the heartbreak of “Past Forever” and, especially, the surging disco track “Dance You...

Cullum sounds positively inspired since his marriage to model-turned-author Sophie Dahl and the birth of their daughter. Eschewing jazz standards in favor of robust pop, the singer-pianist performs with infectious swagger on original numbers like “The Same Thing” and the tongue-in-cheek cabaret of “When I Get Famous,” featuring loads of retro-cool Farfisa organ.

From the cover photo to her new songs, this is grown-up Demi. Although just 20, the former Disney star has recently faced the challenges of bulimia and a bipolar disorder. Lovato’s fourth album amounts to a personal comeback, featuring buoyant pop songs like “Heart Attack” and such girl-empowerment confessionals as “Warrior.”