A half-dozen cool things in music, from two points of view:

Aaron Williams of Minneapolis:

1 Goldings/Bernstein/Stewart Organ Trio, the Dakota. The jazzy Larry Goldings-led trio was in fine form, showing its considerable versatility and deep grooves at a packed club.

2 Samantha Fish coming to the Fine Line. The talented blues-rock guitarist returns for what promises to be an energizing Sunday night set.

3 Pert Near Sandstone's Winter Stringband Gathering. The high-energy bluegrass favorites announced their annual two-night run at the Cedar Cultural Center for March 3-4. Like-minded openers Arkansauce and the Hackensaw Boys will join for what is always an entertaining evening.

Jon Bream, Star Tribune critic:

1 Rosalia, Rolling Stone cover story. Her "Motomami" is one of the best and boldest albums of 2022, and this profile by Cat Cardenas paints the Spanish superstar as a fearless freedom-seeking artist who knows no boundaries. Most formidable quote: "I'm constantly seeing this phenomenon I keep being surprised by, of women and their talent in these predetermined categories: the sexy one, the crazy one, the bossy one, the diva. But those categories don't lead anywhere, they're just limiting." Ditto for musical genres: "I want to escape that categorization because it doesn't help you at all. It doesn't help your creativity. It's just something that restricts you, so it doesn't interest me."

2 SZA, "SOS." In what seemed like an eternity (five years, to be exact) since her debut, this compelling R&B singer-rapper dropped a deep, highly personal, 23-track, sophomore collection last week. It arrived too late to make many critics' already published best-of-2022 lists, but it will land on mine.

3 José James, the Dakota. The Minneapolis-raised vocalist was warm and witty in his homecoming holiday show, with wonderful hip-hop-tinged jazzy treatments of seasonal fare, including "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm." Loved his velvety original, "Christmas in New York" and his outstanding backup trio, especially wondrous 24-year-old pianist Julius Rodriguez.

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