Lizz Wright’s ‘Freedom and Surrender’ is a stirring and eclectic mix of adult contemporary and jazz stylings which is not to be missed.

I’m not one to snap up everything Willie Nelson or Wynton Marsalis puts out. But ‘Two Men With the Blues,’ released in the summer of 2008, was special.

McFadden’s Parachute uses a lo-fi approach similar to Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices – only with a terrific 1960s garage-rock feel.

Hall and Oates’ ‘Along the Red Ledge,’ released on August 21, 1978, produced a track by Daryl Hall that John Oates says is his favorite.

Question Mark and the Mysterians were a cool and tight band, and the set of songs found on this underated 1967 sophomore release ‘Action’ only served to validate their merits.

‘The Keith Emerson Band featuring Marc Bonilla,’ released on August 20, 2008, found Emerson fully – and finally – embracing his storied past.

Guitarist Matt Gold and drummer Nate Friedman discuss Sun Speak’s endlessly intriguing blend of folk, jazz and experimental music.

Inventive yet still unabashedly joyous, ‘Everything That Happens Will Happen Today’ was released by David Byrne and Brian Eno on August 18, 2008.

Jon Anderson has written a few classic Yes songs by himself. Sadly, “Clear Days” from the 1970 release ‘Time and a Word’ is not one of them.

Even as shadows gathered around the superlative ‘No Better Than This,’ released this week in 2010, John Mellencamp clung to his weathered optimism.