Once again Lucinda Williams excels at making her pain, perseverance and hope relatable to ours, like few others can.

Maurice White, who died today, was the mastermind behind Earth Wind and Fire’s focused, soul-lifting horns, sunburst harmonies and a thrilling propensity for shaken-up textures and rhythms.

Left Lane Cruiser’s Freddy J IV and Black Diamond Heavies’ Van Campbell combined to make some of the most honest, inspired gutbucket blues-rock you’re likely gonna hear this year.

“Turn Back” stands the test of time well on its own, and elevates Toto’s third album – even though it was miscast.

Sparsely furnished in the instrumental and arrangement department, but rippling with bare-the-soul prose, Phil Marshall’s ‘Scatterbed’ clocks in as the ultimate rainy day album.

With ‘Let Me Get By’ the TTB is a full-time, fully mature and fully self-contained ensemble ready to conquer the world. Already, they’re well on their way to doing just that.

Tellingly, Paul McCartney still occasionally performs the Beatles’ “I’ll Follow the Sun” in concert. It’s an important stepping stone in his artistic development.

Perfectly placed instrumentation ties in with Chad Bradford’s rich and deep vocals on “Where My Heart Belongs,” like a cool cross between Joe South and Eddie Money.

Science fiction helped Paul Kantner escape the drudgery of his childhood existence, then it fired his imagination as Jefferson Airplane transformed into Jefferson Starship.

While the tactics might be altered for each time out, Aruán Ortiz’s sophisticated, ultra-modern style of composing, arranging and improvising emerges each time.