Philadelphia Folk Festival - 40th Anniversary
Naturally, this remarkable four-disc set celebrates 40 years of the  Philadelphia Folk Festival, but it also serves as a compelling and diverse  history of modern folk music itself. The performances included here run the  whole gamut of the genre: from early-1960s recordings by authentic purveyors of  traditional blues and country such asRev. Gary Davis,Mississippi John Hurt,  andDoc Watson, to urban  revivalists likeRamblin' Jack ElliottandPete Seeger, to protest  folkies such asPhil Ochs, to  confessional singer-songwriters, folk-rockers, pristine-voiced divas, bluegrass  pickers, Celtic, Eastern European, and Latino preservationists, and everything  in between. Among the many highlights of this 58-track set are a solo blues by  youngBonnie Raittfrom 1970,Odetta's passionate 1977  reading of her self-penned "Hit or Miss," theRicky Skaggsband tearing  through a fiery instrumental in 1996,Richard Thompson's  emotional 1996 solo performance of "Bee's Wing,"Steve Gilletteand Cindy  Mangsen harmonizing exquisitely in 1996, and a stunning 1962 banjo display fromBill Keith. Younger  artists like bluegrassersNickel Creek, biting  songwriterMary Gauthier, and rousing  Eastern European dance band Harmonia seem ready to carry the torch.--Marc  Greilsamer