Jackson Browne live at Terrace Theater, Long Beach, California, 8th June 1978.

Cyndi Lauper looks back at her hits on The Body Acoustic, with a number of guests including Adam Lazzara, Shaggy, Sarah McLachlan, Vivian Green, Ani DiFranco, and Jeff Beck. Conceptually, this looks like a disaster. Alanis Morissette did it as well and the results were mixed at best. But Lauper has always possessed a talent that goes beyond the material she has sung – and she can sing anything. The album is produced by Lauper with Rick Chertoff and William Wittman – who recorded and mixed the disc. Lauper's band is a wide and varied assortment that includes contemporary jazz bassist Mark Egan. "Money Changes Everything," with Lazzara, is a down-home calypso and country ramble.

Some Peter Green fans might be put off by this 64-song/four-CD collection, owing to the fact that they are likely to already own a significant chunk of what's here (especially the Fleetwood Mac material). (And in fairness, there apparently isn't a lot of – or any – unreleased material to draw on from Green's classic period with the band). But this reviewer had to spring for this four-and-a-half hour showcase of his work, and for one major reason – vitality. Green's virtuosity is a given, and his taste and his insights into blues and what can be done with it – while still leaving it as blues – are well known to anyone who's heard his work.

With his album "Concertos" the charismatic mandolinist Avi Avital fulfills a dream and collaborates with the renowned ensemble for historical instruments "Il Giardino Armonico" and its conductor and founder Giovanni Antonini. Together they interpret three concertos for mandolin by Emanuele Barbella, Giovanni Paisiello and Johann Nepomuk Hummel, as well as Avital's own arrangements of concertos by J. S. Bach and Vivaldi. Of the three original works for mandolin, two are from Naples.

The late Irish blues rocker Rory Gallagher would have been pleased to see the Chess logo embossed on the three-disc Blues, a box of rare, unissued, acoustic, and live recordings. Issued to mark what would have been his half-century as a recording artist, 90-percent of the material here is previously unreleased. The discs are divided thematically: Electric, Acoustic, and Live. The booklet is wonderfully annotated with an authoritative essay from journalist and music historian Jas Obrecht; it places Gallagher in his rightful historical place as an electric blues rock pioneer alongside admirers Eric Clapton, Johnny Winter, Jimi Hendrix, and Peter Green.

Wisely, Shout! Factory has picked up Maria Muldaur's two early-'90s recordings – this one and Louisiana Love Call – from the defunct Black Top label for reissue. While both these recordings are excellent, it's Meet Me at Midnite that offers a portrait of the artist as a hardcore R&B singer of the highest order. Produced by John Porter, Muldaur surrounds herself with crack studio players including Rick Vito, Johnny Lee Schell, Hutch Hutchinson, Bill Payne, and a slew of others. Where Louisiana Love Call focused on the music of New Orleans, Meet Me at Midnite digs deep into various dimensions of the Memphis sound – soul, R&B, and blues – and concentrates on the myriad stages and phases of love. While it's true that the set opens with "Trouble With My Lover" by the Crescent City's Allen Toussaint, its vibe is pure Memphis: funky, dirty grooves, packed in a tight cut-time beat and Muldaur shouting the blues with a big, clear ringing voice that wrenches emotion from every syllable. Likewise, the title cut by Vito and John Herron crawls down into the blues alley with killer slide guitar riffs winding their way around Muldaur's seductive vocals.

David Bowie live at Anaheim Convention Center, CA, USA, 16th September 1974.

Bob Dylan live at Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles, USA, 7th June 1978.

Bob Dylan live at Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, 18th November 1979.