Get a jump on upcoming shows with these CDs

Following are reviews of recent CDs by artists coming to the valley in the weeks ahead.

John Hiatt, “Same Old Man” produced by Hiatt (New West)

John Hiatt has his cranky side. But there’s no surer way of perking him up than to put a guitar in his hand, and get him singing — especially singing about music itself. “Memphis in the Meantime,” “Ridin’ With the King,” Master of Disaster” — all music-oriented, all Hiatt at his best and most uplifting.

So it’s a good sign that “Same Old Man” opens with “Old Days,” in which Hiatt imagines himself hanging backstage with Mose Allison, Sonny Terry and Gatemouth Brown. He’s got a smile in his voice, thinking back on when the music world, and the sounds themselves, were new and weird, and it sets the tone for the album. The album, which leans toward the folkier side, finds Hiatt apparently in love, and on the title track, happy to be aging. Even if he’s got “a few less brain cells, a lot less hair,” he’s still got his love of music.

John Hiatt & the Ageless Beauties perform Sept. 4 at Belly Up.

Jerry Douglas, “Glide” (Koch Records)

Jerry Douglas long ago took the dobro out of the realm of strict bluegrass, and he has seemed on a mission to show just how many places the instrument fits. “Glide,” which features mandolinist Sam Bush and bassist Edgar Meyer — both known for their adventures in string music — continues that march outward.

Start with “Sway”: With its jaunty brass, it’s Bourbon Street all the way. But the neat thing about the instrumental track is that even Douglas’ solo intro evokes New Orleans. Same with “Route Irish” — the rhythms and arrangement are Celtic, but no more so than Douglas’ dobro parts. “A Marriage Made in Hollywood” makes a stab at something close to mainstream country, with vocals by Travis Tritt; the one other vocal song, “A Long Hard Road,” written and sung by Rodney Crowell (and with Douglas making a rare singing contribution, on backing vocals), is closer to folk-country. The instrumental “Home Sweet Home,” a trio featuring banjoist Earl Scruggs and guitarist Tony Rice, is proof that Douglas hasn’t moved so far away that he can’t say something in the old-timey string language.

As the title suggests, Douglas’ moves into these various corners are consistently smooth.

Jerry Douglas performs Sept. 1 in Jazz Aspen’s Labor Day Festival.

Nomo, “Ghost Rock” produced by Warn DeFever (Ubiquity)

When last we saw Nomo, at the 2007 Jazz Aspen June Festival, they were firmly in the guise of an Afrobeat band, albeit one from Michigan. On “Ghost Rock,” that categorization is exploded by a blast of electronica. But where electronica is generally thought of as mechanical music, Nomo, which participated in Jazz Aspen’s JAS Academy a few years ago, uses its Afrobeat background — horns, polyrhythms — to warm things up, and make a natural-sounding fusion of jazz, African and electronic music.



Nomo is at Belly Up on Wednesday, July 30.

stewart@aspentimes.com