Edward LaRose’s painting on the cover, itself so full of ying-and-yang dualities, sets an expectant tone for Ralph Peterson’s layered and challenging new recording — and the drummer delivers.

< >> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** The last song of the “classic” Steely Dan period ends Gaucho on a solemn note. “Third World Man” is a lounge ballad at heart that’s made more substantial than what that characterization might suggest

Let’s get one thing out of the way right now: doo wop music was not created to be used as fodder for public television fund-raisers.

With Beyond the Blue, jazz vocalist Tessa Souter expertly blends European classical tropes with the jazz spirit.