KCNV (Las Vegas, NV)
- Johann Sebastian Bach: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Sleepers Awake) (German Brass) (A stately, appealing rendition.)
- Sergio Assad: Coral Reef (Recife Dos Corais) (Marc Regnier and Marco Sartor, guitars) (A warm, fast, spirited reading.)
- Brokedown Palace-Watkins Family Hour (Sara Watkins and Fiona Apple are excellent, as usual, on this impressive cover of a Grateful Dead tune. It's one of four strong 2015 releases I heard on KGNU today. Also recommended: "Early Morning Rain.")
- Morning Glories-Danielle Ate The Sandwich (A low-key acoustic charmer. The band's name is the type of indie moniker that would have made me curious if I'd seen it in KCOU's music library.)
- Rain Just Falls-Pine Hill Project featuring Lucy Kaplansky and Richard Shindell (A fine pairing of two consistently solid singer-songwriters. Also recommended: Kaplansky's "You're Still Standing There" and Shindell's "I'll Be Here In The Morning.")
- I'm Doing Fine-Allison Moorer (Sung with considerable conviction; I'm inclined to take the protagonist's word for it that she's fine.)
- My Promise-Earth, Wind & Fire (Released in 2013, this tune captures the spirit of the band's uptempo '70s hits.)
- Blues Guaguanco-Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (The energy level is in the stratosphere here...)
- Folhas Secas-Doug Beavers (...and it slows down into sublime mode for this elegant trombone and strings number. This is possibly the most beautiful instrumental released so far this year.)
- Farm, Ca.-Jana Hunter (Low-key vocals float over a spacey violin and guitar backdrop.)
- Surrey With The Fringe On Top-Craig Larsen (This is the coolest version of "Surrey..." I've heard; Larsen & company jazz it up and make it swing.)
- I Say A Little Prayer-Aretha Franklin (Dionne Warwick's version gets most of the radio airplay, but Franklin's powerful take is equally compelling.)
