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Where The Light Is: Live In Los Angeles is a unique live album from John Mayer. It was recorded on December 8, 2007 at The Nokia Theater - since renamed The Peacock Theater - and released in the summer of 2008. It's a double CD that runs for more than two hours. The gig was split into three separate sets highlighting the different bands Mayer employed to show off his multiple musical personas. He opened with a brief, five-song, all acoustic set featuring two guitarists from his touring band. Songs included nice versions of "Neon," "Daughters," and a very cool cover of Tom Petty's "Free Fallin" that was released as a single and went double platinum in Australia and gold in the United Kingdom. The second set of seven blues-oriented songs was performed by The John Mayer Trio featuring Pino Palladino on bass and Steve Jordan on drums. Their moment in the sun isn't quite as satisfying as their earlier, critically acclaimed...

Neither his breakthrough CD, Room For Squares (2001), nor its followup, Heavier Things (2003), provided any indication that John Mayer was capable of playing top-notch, blues-rock guitar so, to fans of those pop-oriented, singer-songwriter releases, the discovery may have come across as quite of a shock. When Mayer appeared on albums alongside all stars such as Eric Clapton, B. B. King, John Scofield, Herbie Hancock, and Buddy Guy and announced that he wanted to change his musical direction many of us were stunned. Fortunately for us his roll of the dice proved to be a winner. On Try! Mayer's band included studio stalwarts Steve Jordan on drums and Pino Palladino, who later replaced John Entwhistle in The Who, on bass. The set includes reworkings of a couple of Mayer's earlier songs ("Daughters" and Something's Missing"), a hot version of the Ray Charles classic, "I Got A Woman," a Jimi Hendrix tune, "Wait Until Tomorrow," and a f...

Here are the best CDs of a very weak year. 1. The Corrs - Home When an artist plays music they love instead of going for the gold the musical world is always a better place. By letting their roots show through with Home The Corrs became the Irish folk-rock band they always should have been from the beginning. By doing so I have a sneaky feeling they also became the band they always wanted to be. I never thought I would love a Corrs CD, let alone place one at the top of my list, but as my original review indicates Home deserves this lofty position. 2. Blackthorn - Push & Pull I'm not Irish but something about Irish rock always grabs me and the fifth CD by Blackthorn, a local Philadelphia band, is no exception. Despite a major loss created by the departure of Paul Moore, their former lead singer and their best and most prolific composer, Blackthorn not only survived but proved they are as good as ever. Blackthorn's combination of songs about the Irish-American exper...