When I think of the genius of the late, great Allen Toussaint, I think of the masterpiece he made with Lee Dorsey in 1970.

‘Waking Days’ is Jeff Crosby’s best thus far and one of the best singer-songwriter albums you’re likely to come across this year.

Yes’ “I’ve Seen All Good People” uses a number of elements not commonly found in rock. But it all comes together to form an unlikely masterpiece.

Allen Toussaint, who has died at 77, was always content to work behind the scenes – until a devastating storm swept him from New Orleans.

Mose Allison’s ‘American Legend, Live In California’ reminds us that we’re lucky to have him because he’s the first and the last of the line.

As a subversive within the musical realm, Aram Bajakian connected with a subversive director and like the film, effectively said much without any words at all.

For ‘Oscalypso’, Erik Friedlander makes the case for cello as a lead jazz instrument the same way his hero Oscar Pettiford once did.

Michael Hedges did nothing less than bring the acoustic guitar into the New Age realm and completely conquer it within the space of this record.

The rootsy realism of Hall and Oates’ ‘Abandoned Luncheonette,’ released on Nov. 3, 1973, is a source of inspiration for John Oates, too.

Toto aimed for a streamlined feel on ‘Turn Back,’ and this opening track is a competent – though not exactly perfect – execution of that strategy.