This is honest and straight from the heart. Normally, discs that have the artist talking about the songs or the reasons for doing the songs will inspire many to pass over that spoken word part. This is not the case here — it is partially Terrance Simien’s voice, his obvious love and veneration for these people, and the sincerity of these emotions that comes through (besides, some of these vignettes draw wonderful pictures). Most important is the material presented, and this is done with that energy and feeling for which this artist is known. He takes songs from those who have inspired and/or helped him, and are no longer living, and he does them in a way that is a tribute to the artist and the song. There are many surprises, some concerning the artists, some concerning the songs he chooses by the artist, which may not be their best-known ones, however there is no surprise as to the quality of the music presented. He does such a fantastic job on Sam Cooke’s “Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day” that you may have trouble initially getting past it in on the disc, until you discover the gems following it. There is not a weak song here. This is that rare disc that transcends all genres of music and stands solid to repeated playing as it is music from the heart, and if anything, only gets better and better. [The album was also released with an additional, music-only disc supplementing the with-narration version.] – Bob Gottlieb