"Hail, Minnesota!"

Choral Arts Ensemble, Michael Culloton, artistic director

Rochester's own Choral Arts Ensemble covers an impressive array of work by Minnesota composers on this disc, which pays homage to the state's sesquicentennial last year. Two of the seven pieces from Dominick Argento's "A Nation of Cowslips," a setting of poems by John Keats, are among the highlights, which also include a glowing piece by the dean of Minnesota choral directors, Dale Warland, and "Hymn to the Eternal Flame," a hauntingly beautiful work by Stephen Paulus that features Naomi Kvittem. The text is by another Minnesota artist, poet Michael Dennis Browne.

The selections are eclectic, from light verse to hymns, but Culloton and his chorale offer first-rate performances and the recording quality is high. The ensemble is celebrating its 25th anniversary this season and as this album attests, it's one of the Rochester area's cultural crown jewels.

($15, call 252-8427 for information on how to order.)

-- Jay Furst, Post-Bulletin

"Black Gives Way To Blue"

Alice in Chains, (Virgin/EMI)

Alice in Chains fans will never get over Layne Staley. To them, the iconic Seattle band died along with its enigmatic lead singer, who suffered a fatal drug overdose in 2002.

In many ways it's true -- Staley was irreplaceable -- but the textured bluesy metal he created with guitarist Jerry Cantrell is intact on AIC's first effort since his death, "Black Gives Way To Blue."

Cantrell's guitar playing is still a thing of beauty, utilizing stark acoustic guitar against hard riffs and cutting solos, and new member William DuVall, who plays guitar and shares vocals with Cantrell, thankfully never succumbs to the temptation of trying to mimic Staley.

Cantrell and DuVall attempt to answer any criticism on disc opener "All Secrets Known" with the chorus, "There's no going back to the place we started from."

On the heavy side are "Check My Brain," the diverse "A Looking In View," and mid-tempo cuts "Lessons Learned" and "Private Hell." They also offer dark acoustic tracks in "Your Decision" and the eastern-flavored "When The Sun Rose Again."

The disc is strong throughout and reminiscent of the 1992 classic "Dirt" -- but something is indeed missing. Staley's tortured persona was a big part of Alice in Chains' identity and, sadly, such a loss is something even a great band can't recover from.

-- John Kosik, Associated Press

"The List"

Rosanne Cash, (Manhattan)

The title of Rosanne Cash's new album refers to a list of "100 Essential Country Songs" that her father, Johnny, gave her on her 18th birthday. This album contains her renditions of a dozen of them, although, as she has noted, the selections really cover a broad range of roots music.

Hank Snow's "I'm Moving On" -- slowed down, bass-heavy and horn-accented -- gets a radical makeover that works. Generally, however, the arrangements by Cash's producer-husband, John Leventhal, stick closer to the originals while still managing in most cases to make familiar material sound fresh.

Bruce Springsteen doesn't click with Cash on "Sea of Heartbreak," but Elvis Costello, Jeff Tweedy and Rufus Wainwright fare better in their harmonizing cameos. Curiously, Cash sings such selections as "Long Black Veil" and "Girl From the North Country" from the original male point of view, putting some emotional distance between singer and song that you don't get in, say, "Heartaches by the Number" or "She's Got You."

-- Nick Cristiano, The Philadelphia Inquirer

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