The Doobie Brothers’ ‘Minute by Minute,’ released on Dec. 1, 1978, features most people’s favorite Michael McDonald-era song. But mine’s not “What a Fool Believes.”

This Dennis DeYoung-led track illustrates all that Styx aspired to on the way to becoming one of the biggest late-1970s arena rock bands.

With ‘Vertigo’ as with their 17 prior albums, The Necks reveals its secrets in enticing ways over the course of one long, enchanting track.

The highly intuitive and forceful nature of the drummer Jeremy Carlstedt shines through to lend cohesion and makes ‘Stars Are Far’ a gripping excursion that tests the limits of rock-jazz.

The magic we’ve heard from these virtuosos over all these years has been rekindled with the ‘D-Stringz’ project, and without the need to burn fossil fuels.

Experimental French quartet Louis Minus XVI’s ‘Kindergarten’ is easier to like because it’s harder to pin down.

Ivo Perelman came up with a very logical way to follow up the successful pairing with violist Mat Maneri titled ‘Two Men Walking’…by adding one talented woman violist to the two men for this latest walk.

Like all the best religious records, ex-Blind Boys of Alabama guitarist/vocailist Sam Butler’s ‘Raise Your Hands!’ has that the ability to lift the spirits of pagans and Christians alike.

‘Dancing On The Inside’ is soothing jazz even as it takes on the discreet challenges that Whirlpool along with Ron Miles had set up for themselves.

The musical communion between Ivo Perelman and Matthew Shipp continues to progress into something more and more magical. You have to hear it to believe it.