NEW AND NOTABLE: upcoming albums

[Ruby]

There's a new A.J. Croce album due out this coming Friday - By Request. He hasn't made an album in a while and has had a great sadness recently - losing his wife to a sudden heart ailment. They'd been married 24 years. 

I quite like what he does, which is far from emulating his famous father but which upholds a certain standard IMHO, and which has a whole lotta soul. There's a polish and substance to his releases that somehow gives them stature. This new album is all covers, and that's the other thing I like about him - he's respectful of fellow artist's work and and appears to have innate good taste. I don't think he covers his father's work very often, but when he does, it's also done without reinventing or spoiling what was a good thing! Excellent keys player too. 

Here's his rendition of The Five Stairsteps' "Ooh Child" ...