Songs From the Gravel Road

Tyson could've played it safe on Songs from the Gravel Road by bringing in straight-up country pickers, but he decided to shake things up with the inclusion of respected jazz musicians, including Guido Basso on trumpet and Phil Dwyer on sax. As a result, straight-ahead country melodies like "So No More" become jazz-backed twang. That cut leads straight into a traditional cover of "One Morning In May", a song made famous by James Taylor; the tune is high on charm, complete with an exemplary fiddle solo and whimsical delivery. Tyson's great players also breeze through a host of other tunes, everything from songs infused with Spanish undertones ("Silver Bell", "Always Saying Goodbye") to a reggae track, "Range Delivery". That song is the disc's most charming cut, attributed in part to the tune's co-vocalist, Cindy Church (one fourth of the country group Quartette). There is nothing out of left field on the album, just an hour of country-laden comfort from one of Canada's most enduring roots legends. --Denise Sheppard