Album of the Day

The New York Rock and Soul Revue is such a nondescript name that you could be forgiven for flipping right past this album – but look carefully at its credits. Organized by Donald Fagen, the one-off concert LIVE AT THE BEACON features performances by Boz Scaggs, Phoebe Snow, Michael McDonald, Charles Brown and Eddie Brigati of The Rascals, among others. Cut on March 1 and 2, 1991, at the famed Manhattan venue, this set includes some outstanding covers (“Knock On Wood,” “Lonely Teardrops”) along with some of these artists' greatest hits (Fagen and one-time Steely Dan member Michael McDonald team on “Pretzel Logic,” for instance). The backing band is hot, the recording is pristine and everyone sounds like they're having a blast on LIVE AT THE BEACON, which is finally available again on vinyl as part of Rhino's “Start Your Ear Off Right” campaign.