Music Reviews

Jenny Lewis began her career as a kid actress in TV series such as Roseanne. But in the '90s, she began singing instead. Reviewer Meredith Ochs says that Lewis' third solo album, The Voyager, offers music much like its title: It takes you on a trip from start to finish.

Fifteen different musicians from five different ethnic groups have gathered to create music under the name Kasai Allstars. Banning Eyre reviews Beware the Fetish, the latest album from the collective, which hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

On The Late Show, a set of previously unheard solo music from 1979, the jazz pianist employs techniques like suspenseful dropouts. He had a rare ability to sound archaic — and way ahead of his time.

"Cowboy" Jack Clement produced and wrote songs for the likes of Johnny Cash and George Jones. On his final album, the late visionary reclaims some of those tunes and makes them his own.

Jenny Lewis achieved musical fame as part of the indie band Rilo Kiley, which broke up in 2011. Her third solo album announces a new chapter in her career — and perhaps her life.

On an assured debut, Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio pivots from jazz's bygone eras into the hyperlinked modern age and back again.

Keyboard player Walter Martin is best known for his part in the indie band The Walkmen. After the group took a break last year, though, Martin ventured into kids music.

The musician born Marcos Garcia was known for years as a member of the Afrobeat ensemble Antibalas — but one day, he began tinkering with his daughter's Casio keyboard.

Whether he's producing, leading a band or on his own, White continues to evolve with each project. His first solo album was the sound of heartbreak, but the new Lazaretto feels more like isolation.

Songs feels like the work of an artist who's still figuring out who he is, where he wants to go, and what he wants to elaborate upon — or invent anew.