Gary Dretzka

Ali Farka Toure with Ry Cooder Talking Timbuktu (Rykodisc) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR) 1/2 American guitar wizard Ry Cooder is the Rand McNally of music. Fast on the heels of last year's Grammy-winning...

Ry Cooder `Geronimo: An American Legend' soundtrack (Columbia) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR) Not many people will buy a ticket for a movie solely because they're likely to hear a good soundtrack. But if...

Various poets Howls, Raps & Roars (Fantasy) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR) Michael McClure, Ray Manzarek Love Lion (Shanachie) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR) Need a groovy CD to pop into your Toyota's sound system to set the...

Steve Young Switchblades of Love (Watermelon) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR) Yikes! How's this for a pitch: Steve Young is "darkly southern, deeply American, fused with a Zen spirituality, and is-quite simply-one of the...

Shaver Tramp on Your Street (Zoo/Praxis) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR) 1/2 For all you young 'uns who think the School of Texas Songwriting opened its doors sometime around the start of the last...

Rick Danko, Jonas Fjeld, Eric Andersen Danko/Fjeld/Andersen (Rykodisc)(STAR)(STAR)(STAR) 1/2 In his liner notes to this delightfully unassuming "super session" of veteran artists and kindred spirits, critic Robert Palmer cautions against...

Joan Baez Rare, Live & Classic (Vanguard) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR) 1/2 If the boxed-CD-set phenomenon is to become anything more than an expensive commercial cliche, artists and labels will have to do...

Various artists Tougher Than Tough: The Story of Jamaican Music (Mango) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR)(STAR) Along with Rhino's Otis Redding box and Atlantic's "Sounds of the South," Mango's "Tougher Than Tough" shares top...

Pogues Waiting for Herb (Chameleon) (STAR)(STAR) 1/2 Even absent their spiritual leader, the Pogues are an exceptionally interesting and entertaining musical congregation-this much was obvious in their rollicking concert at...

Various artists `True Romance' movie soundtrack (Morgan Creek) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR) The movie "True Romance" was a trashy treat for fans of stylized violence and way-over-the-top acting: The compactly frightening interrogation by...