Narada Michael Walden’s music and that of the artists he works with varies intriguingly from genre to genre. So do the albums that shaped his career.

The few who heard him described Sterling Harrison’s music as “deep soul,” with a voice that conjured up aural images of Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett.

This album will always be defined by its lead-off moment, as the Temptations take a kid’s song and transform it into a funked-out Yuletide hoot.

Best described as “acoustic soul,” Hall and Oates’ underrated ‘Abandoned Luncheonette” arrived 50 years ago today.

Cheryl Pawelski spent 17 years saving great music from irretrievable oblivion for ‘Written in Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos.’ It was time well spent.

Rickie Lee Jones, Alexis Evans, Shawn Maxwell and others are part of the latest edition of Five for the Road, an occasional look at music that’s been in my car lately.

Jose James is taking yet another big career leap forward with ‘On and On,’ a searching exploration of the music of Erykah Badu.

He departed much too early, but fortunately Donny Hathaway left us with several memorable songs – including this one.

‘Contending and Contention’ is a harmonic, vocal and sonic journey, held together by its message – and Evie Asio’s distinct sound.

Preston Frazier’s Best of 2022 list includes studio projects from David Paich, Monkey House, Ben Craven, Adrian Quesada and others.