The oddly spelled cELLAbration pays tribute to Ella Jenkins, singer, writer and children’s songs collector for almost 50 years. Jenkins has apparently collected a few grown-up fans, and they’re a talented bunch. Tom Paxton, Pete Seeger, Riders in the Sky, Bill Harley, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Tom Chapin, John McCutcheon, Cathy Fink, and Marcy Marxer perform selections from Jenkins’ vast repertoire, and it’s a good bet they’ll get your kids singing and moving.

They might also prompt children and adults to do a little thinking, not in a preachy way—Jenkins would never approve—but simply and with subtlety. Take “The World Is Big, The World is Small,” sung by Seeger, who at 85 has been around even longer than Jenkins. “The world is far, the world is wide/But there’s many different ways to see the other side ... You can travel on a bus, you travel on a train/You can travel in a song, you can travel in a name.” But of course! Songs and names reflect their place of origin.

Nobody will object if the kids just want to sit and listen. There is a lot to hear and enjoy, from a sprightly instrumental version of “Turkey in the Straw” by McCutcheon, Fink, Marxer and others, to a beautifully harmonized “Did You Feed My Cow” by Sweet Honey in the Rock.

-Martin F. Kohn, Knight Ridder Tribune

Keith Urban - Be There

3 stars

Aussie heartthrob Urban’s third solo album is his best yet. Though he hasn’t completely abandoned the bland ‘70s and ‘80s pop-rock that spoiled his first two solo efforts, Urban balances things nicely with the spirited and Celtic-flavored “Days Go By” (which just hit number 1 on Billboard’s country chart), a heartfelt cover of Rodney Crowell’s “Making Memories of Us” and inspirational disc closer “These Are the Days.”

The artist’s trademark banjo flourishes are abundant throughout, and there are intriguing hints of bluegrass and alternative country scattered here and there. “Be There” isn’t likely to make any 2004 best-of lists, but it’s a step in the right direction for an artist who has allowed his talent to be compromised far too often by the Music Row machine.

-Greg Crawford, Knight Ridder Tribune

Ben Harper and The Blind Boys Of Alabama - There Will Be A Light

3 stars

When the legendary gospel music group the Blind Boys of Alabama set out to record a new album, it brought in roots rocker Ben Harper to produce and play on a few tracks. The vibe was so strong in the studio that the Boys and Ben decided to throw their original plans out the window and instead do a full-blown collaboration.

There Will Be A Light is filled with songs of spirituality and hope, the best of which are the exultant, uptempo “Wicked Man” and the fervently rendered country folk standard “Satisfied Mind.” A few tunes sound a bit underdeveloped, with lyrics that simply repeat or make unsubstantial variations on the song title (“Church House Steps” and “Church On Time”).

But even when some of the material is sub-par, the energy and passion of Harper and Blind Boys vocalists Clarence Fountain, Jimmy Carter, and George Scott remain a revelation.

-Martin Bandyke, Knight Ridder Tribune

Elvis Costello & The Imposters - The Delivery Man

4 stars

Mixing soul, country and rock ‘n’ roll with a fragmented, elliptical narrative about a man named Abel (a.k.a. the Delivery Man) and the effect he has on the lives of three women, Costello has fashioned a raw-boned, emotional affair with the help of his superb band and a few extra-special guests.

Longtime sidemen Steve Nieve, (keyboards) Pete Thomas (drums), and more recent recruit Davey Faragher (bass) pummel their way through the noisy album opener “Button My Lip,” then just as easily ease up on the weepy ballads “Country Darkness” and “Either Side of the Same Town.” Lucinda Williams has the role of bad girl divorcee Vivien on “There’s a Story In Your Voice,” while Emmylou Harris portrays Vivien’s best friend Geraldine, a pious war widow, on “Heart Shaped Bruise.”