Toshi
Toshi rocks! While fusing the soul-stirring spirit of gospel with the  folkier strains of social conscience, the expansively ebullient Reagon and ace  producer Craig Street  (Cassandra Wilson,Joe Henry) have forged a  fresh sound that is both contemporary and beyond category. "Mountain Top" and  "Ballad of the Broken Word" suggestTracy Chapmanas anIndigo Girl, but such an  equation fails to account for the irresistibly engaging pop of "Slippin' Away"  and "The Ones Who Love You," the rock propulsion of "I Hate/I Love," and the  languid, intimate transformation of theCars' "Just What I  Needed" (in stripped-down duet with Marc Anthony  "Chocolate Genius"  Thompson). Reagon's vocal warmth throughout reflects a big heart, while her  razor-sharp band cuts a series of indelible grooves. Reagon's musical  development continues to honor her familial legacy (mother Bernice Johnson  Reagon isSweet Honey in the  Rock's matriarch; godmother Toshi Seeger isPete Seeger's wife), but  here she's claiming some artistic turf that is all her own.--Don McLeese