Baja Sessions
Chris Isaak'sBaja Sessionswas inspired by a surfing trip the singer took with his band to the Baja California section of Mexico. As the salt in their hair dried in the sun, the four musicians sat around with acoustic guitars and a small drum set, and played some tunes from Isaak's previous albums, some of his unrecorded originals, and some of his favorite old songs by the likes of Roy Orbison, Gene Autry, and Arthur Lyman. The quartet so enjoyed the laid-back, mostly acoustic, Spanish-tinged flavor of these vacation jams that when they got home to the Bay Area, they recreated them in the studio.Baja Sessionsis like an Unplugged album, except the sun-drenched, south-of-the-border mood gives these remakes a far fresher twist than most such projects.--Geoffrey Himes