COUNTRY
Charlie Louvin, "Steps to Heaven"; "Sings Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs" (Tompkins Square)
With his brother Ira, who died in 1965, Louvin formed one of the best duos in country music history. Now 81 and enjoying a new surge in popularity, the Alabama native is busier than ever. These complementary sets have much in common, from spare musical settings to the dignity and pathos of Louvin's worn voice. "Steps to Heaven" frames Louvin's delivery of spirituals with piano and a female chorus. Slow and stately dominate, but Louvin occasionally cuts loose with a joyous up-tempo effort. A similar jauntiness breaks the downbeat mood of "Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs." With piano and choir giving way to acoustic picking colored by fiddle and steel, frisky takes on "Wreck of the Old 97" and "Dixie Boll Weevil" balance the somber "Dark as a Dungeon" and "The Little Grave in Georgia." Louvin knows his way around this material: Three of the songs were on the Louvin Brothers' 1956 album "Tragic Songs of Life."
NICK CRISTIANO, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
Reggae
Stephen Marley, "Mind Control Acoustic" (iTunes)
During a tour to promote his Grammy-winning 2007 album, "Mind Control," Marley performed many of the songs on acoustic guitar, and fell in love with the sound. This subtle acoustic remake of that album is soulful and captivating. The sparse instrumentation -- just guitar, percussion and bass with surprises such as flute, harmonica and pedal steel, with no thundering dub or dense production -- lets the bones and emotion of the songs come through. Reggae tracks like "The Mission Acoustic" or "Traffic Jam Acoustic," both featuring brother Julian (Jr. Gong) Marley, have a gutsy, straightforward swing. The twang of a pedal steel gives country poignancy to a reggaefied cover of the Ray Charles song "Lonely Avenue," while harmonica lends bluesy pain to the anger of the protest song "Iron Bars."
JORDAN LEVIN, MIAMI HERALD
LATIN
Omara Portuondo, "Gracias" (World Village)
Like Cesaria Evora, Portuondo possesses a voice that is at once calming and full of sorrow, a colorful alto that seems to luxuriate over each note. "Gracias," her third solo album since her appearance with the Buena Vista Social Club revitalized a recording career that began more than 50 years ago, is a thing of beauty. Backed by a flexible jazz quintet that includes musicians from Cuba, Brazil, Israel and India, plus assorted guests, Portuondo croons songs about her native Cuba ("Yo Vi") as well as songs from South America ("O Que Sera," a duet with Chico Buarque) and Africa ("Drume Negrita," with Cameroon's Richard Bona). Portuondo is such a commanding and entrancing presence that the occasional guest vocalists are mere distractions.
