sometimes when i listen to a new release it almost seems to write itself right out of the gates. two that i have been listening to fall into that category.

tommy emmanuel – ‘accomplice two’

i got turned on to this one from a review in no depression magazine. i have heard his name before and have seen him on videos playing with other artists that i admire. the word ‘accomplice’ in the title refers to the fact that each cut here is a collaboration with another artist(s), and ‘two’ refers to the fact that this is his second installment. when i read the review, i hit the purchase button automatically because, for the most part, they were all people that were in my wheelhouse.

first of all, if you were also not very familiar with his name, let me say that, of all the reviews i read, many used the term ‘a guitarist’s guitarist’. he is an extraordinarily gifted acoustic guitarist, and he dabbles in a number of genres.

i will give you a broad sampling of who he plays with here, and i will tell you that if you were like me and have a lot of these people in your musical collection, you should probably just stop here and get it. billy strings, molly tuttle, sam bush, nitty gritty dirt band, little feat, jorma kaokonen, jerry douglas, jamey johnson, david grisman, michael mcdonald, and many more.

really well done.

van morrison – ‘moving on skiffle’

i just got this one two days ago, and have gotten through it twice, but i have heard enough to try to entice you to add it to your early summer playlist. his last two projects spent a lot of energy on his political disagreements with the covid lockdown policies – especially, but not limited to, their effects on the music business. somewhat controversial in some people minds, but van has never been one to back down on how he feels, and i respect him for that.

for this session he returns to the skiffle era that he first started in back in the sixties. this is not a genre that i am very familiar with, but you don’t need to be either to get sucked into the energy. and in fact, they are not all done in the skiffle style, and they are not all skiffle songs from that era. of the 23 songs, about half are traditional covers of standards, with new arrangements by van, and the other half are covers of american folk and country artists such as hank williams, roy acuff, jim reeves, jimmy rodgers, elizabeth cotton, and so on.

backed by a crack band that can keep up with him in any style, van rides on top of it all with his distinctive vocal prowess. at 77 he can still bring it. i was listening to the last half a dozen tracks or so on the way into work this morning as the sun was coming up, and it just put a smile on my face.

give it a chance.