New and noteworthy

Pit Sounds

De-Phazz

The cover art notwithstanding, this spacey, more-­intricate-than-meets-the-ear lounge music is no Beach Boys tribute. Or is it? Pet Sounds, after all, drew heavily on the easy-listening modes of its day too. But the similarities break down with the voices—a combination of samples and airy effects that owe nothing to Brian Wilson. Also undreamt of in Wilson’s philosophy: the hyper-catchy “Guru Bamboolo” and the fetchingly weird “Eldorado Flashback.”

Asterisms

Sean Ono Lennon

Over the course of five compositions totaling 37 minutes, melodic patterns that wouldn’t be out of place on a film-noir soundtrack take gradual shape, delineated as often by Michael Leonhart’s trumpet and Devon Hoff’s bass as by Sean Ono Lennon’s electric guitar. João Nogueira’s Wurlizer piano and Yuka C. Honda’s “electronics” provide an astronomical feel appropriate to titles such as “Heliopause” and “Starwater.” The latter encounters enough prog-metal turbulence to activate the fasten-seatbelt sign. The drummer doesn’t always comply.

Swingin’ Live at the Church in Tulsa 

The Taj Mahal Sextet

“We are the Taj Mahal Quartet,” says Taj Mahal after shouting out his five band members at the conclusion of this wonderful set. So the walking encyclopedia of blues and folk can’t count. Big deal. Guitar, banjo, ukulele, piano, singing—he can still apparently do everything else. So can his five band members. Rob Ickes’ dobro and Bobby Ingano’s lap steel guitar in particular shine in what, even for our technologically advanced age, is an uncommonly bright and detailed stereo mix. Trey Hensley shines on “Lovin’ in My Baby’s Eyes,” which Mahal, generous mensch that he is, lets him sing.

Swing Fever

Rod Stewart with Jools Holland

The concluding track, a “Tennessee Waltz” in 4/4 time, encapsulates both what works and what doesn’t on this big-band collaboration between rock’s most ageless singer and England’s answer to Paul Shaffer. What works? The energy. If you have dancing shoes, prepare to don them now. What doesn’t? The energy. A 4/4 “Tennessee Waltz” makes no sense—that is, unless you want to replace its sadness with high spirits, which also makes no sense. In short, the album is sometimes too energetic for its own good. A suggestion for the inevitable Volume 2: Since “Oh Marie” is the jivingest thing here, how about a whole album of Louis Prima?

Encore

No musician is currently making better use of Bandcamp than Phil Keaggy. His “Acoustic—Live!” subsection alone contains 135 albums, documenting the years 1976 to 2023. The latest is Asheville, NC: The Cove, 10/22/2023. About the venue: Also known as the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove, it hosts a monthly event called “An Evening Event at the Cove,” at which, for just $64, you can “enjoy friendly conversation over a fine buffet dinner, followed by an uplifting concert program.”

Attendees got their money’s worth last October. For an hour and 38 minutes, one of the world’s greatest guitarists delivered a 16-song set, playing and singing as if he were half his age at the time (72). Among the highlights: rediscovering the “MacArthur Park” riffs in “Rejoice,” the “Dear Prudence” melody in “Where the Morning Dawns,” and “Sweet Home Alabama” in “So Long Ago.” His next Cove appearance is this November. As of this writing, it’s not sold out. —A.O.