Van Morrison

Van Morrison

Album: “The Prophet Speaks”

Grade: A

The first thing longtime listeners to Van Morrison will notice is the lack of angst – his 40th studio album is missing the usual complaints about the greed and cynicism of the music business. The next and most remarkable aspect is the relaxed, easy groove that permeates through “The Prophet Speaks,” which finds Morrison relishing his relatively recent incarnation as a jazz singer backed by an expressive, moody band.

It’s rather remarkable that Morrison has been singing for well over half a century, and he’s rarely sounded so comfortable and unforced.

He’s once again using the considerable talents of Joey DeFrancesco and his band. The results are impressive, with 73-year-old Morrison focusing on the feel and texture of each song rather than seeking the revelatory, soul-stretching crescendos of some of his earlier works. He seems to have found a style that fits him as he ages, a blend of instruments, including Hammond organ and horns, that could have been heard in the late 1950s but sounds perfectly fresh today.

There are a few straightforward covers of old favorites, including John Lee Hooker’s “Dimples” and Solomon Burke’s “Gotta Get You Off My Mind,” that let Morrison pay tribute to departed performers he used to share bills with. A half-dozen new songs – including “Spirit Will Provide” and the title track – conjure up Morrison’s more mystical approach to lyrics and arrangement.

Even more compelling is “Ain’t Gonna Moan No More,” a Morrison original that both swears off his often complaining, self-pitying ways and pays homage to the greats who preceded him.

–Gregory Katz, Associated Press

John Mellencamp

Album: “Other People’s Stuff”

Grade: A

In his youth John Mellencamp was known to be cocky. That brashness carried him to the big stage, where he became a stadium-scale rocker with an adventurous spirit. He mostly fell short of the stature attained by contemporaries named Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty, but he sometimes took bigger risks.

Mellencamp’s fearlessness is well-represented on his latest album, “Other People’s Stuff,” a collection of cover songs, some of them American classics, from four decades of work. There’s a version of “Keep Your Eyes on the Prize,” the old civil- rights anthem, which Mellencamp introduced at a White House event in 2010. Mellencamp’s gentle interpretation may surprise those not expecting such soulful notes out of a white man from the heartland.

There’s also a slowed-down take on “Wreck of the Old ’97,” the iconic train song, and a Merle Travis song called “Dark as a Dungeon” that Mellencamp originally performed for a documentary about coal mining. Mellencamp’s earthy, cigarette-shaped growl conveys working-class honesty on both.

There are cuts that would fit in neatly on “The Lonesome Jubilee,” Mellencamp’s finest album, with accordion and fiddle enhancing the hard-charging vibe. And there are hints throughout, in the range of songwriters he’s embraced – from Jimmie Rodgers to Robert Johnson to Stevie Wonder – that Mellencamp’s brashness sometimes takes him where others won’t go.

–Scott Stroud, Associated Press

Jeff Tweedy

Album: “Warm”

Grade: B

Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy isn’t known for being warm and fuzzy. So it’s with some irony that his first proper solo record of all new material is titled “Warm.” But it’s also so Tweedy.

Take “Let’s Go Rain,” for example. At first blush its upbeat tempo and catchy chorus makes it sound very much like a feel-good campfire singalong song. But that’s where Tweedy fools you – the song is actually a wish for another biblical flood to wipe the world clean and start over again.

Ah, Jeff! You jokester.

The sound on “Warm” is somewhere between Tweedy’s solo acoustic shows and the finely tuned jet-engine rock of Wilco. It has a similar vibe to many of the songs on “Sukierae,” a side project Tweedy released in 2014 outside of Wilco under the band name of Tweedy.

Exploring life, death, love and heartbreak is familiar territory for Tweedy in Wilco, and he hits on all of those themes with “Warm.”

–Scott Bauer, Associated Press