A half-dozen cool things in music, from two points of view:
Gary Marvin Davison of Northfield:
1 Cricket Blue, "Serotinalia." The first full-length album by this poetic gem of a duo (Laura Heaberlin and Taylor Smith), I discovered it while visiting Vermont. Their intricate melodies are carefully crafted to match lyrics manifesting verbal skills honed as English majors at Middlebury College.
2 Common, "A Beautiful Revolution, Part I." Another explosion of thoughtful social commentary by an artist who was capable of reciting more than 20 minutes of spoken-word poetry with not a single line repeated at a video event headlined by Barack Obama for high school seniors when COVID first derailed in-person graduations in spring 2020.
3 Simba Castano and Vanna Rose Dunnom, "Ode to the 21 Coptic Christians." This is among the many spoken-word gems from Castano, who emerged from a hard-knock life at the urban core to blend insightful poetry with compelling melodies, as Dunnom sings Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" here.
Jon Bream, Star Tribune critic:
1 Taylor Swift, NYU commencement. Speaking in Yankee Stadium after receiving an honorary doctorate, she humored the grads with bits of her flawed life story and proffered wise and profound advice: "My experience has been that my mistakes led to the best things in my life. … Getting back up, dusting yourself off and seeing who still wants to hang out with you afterward and laugh about it — that's a gift."
2 "Naomi Judd, River of Time Celebration," CMT. A combination of a TV music special and a celebration of life held at the rose-festooned Mother Church of Country Music, this program honored the Country Hall of Famer who recently committed suicide. The emotions were overwhelming, and the vocal performances were heartfelt, especially from Little Big Town, Emmylou Harris with Allison Russell, Carly Pearce and Brandi Carlile with Wynonna Judd, who truly rose to the occasion vocally, spiritually and emotionally.
3 Trombone Shorty, "Lifted." Playing with his 11-piece band on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," Trombone Shorty indeed lifted spirits with his electrifying New Orleans funk, the title track to his new album.
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