In Brief

Reverence for the Singing Brakeman is so high that even Bono, in the strings-backed “Dreaming With Tears in My Eyes,� turns in his most straightforward vocal since, well, ever. And most of the cast, from Alison Krauss to Jerry Garcia to organizer Bob Dylan stick to basic variations of nostalgic Dixie swing, which is fine--the songs are classics. But only down ‘n’ dirty John Mellencamp (“Gambling Bar Room Blues�) and jazzy Van Morrison (“Mule Skinner Blues�) give any new spins.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).

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Hear the Music

* Excerpts from these albums and other recent releases are available on The Times’ World Wide Web site. Point your browser to: http://ukobiw.net./soundclips