It's patently impossible to categorize producer and songwriting journeyman Joe Henry's always-changing output; it's close enough to call each one of his albums a unique tour through the songbook of American styles, with the story accompanying each stop on the tour coming through Henry's own perspective and prodigious gifts. And Blood From Stars is no different. This time around, his sightseeing partners include Marc Ribot (on both guitar and, perhaps surprisingly, coronet) and his own 17-year-old son Levon Henry, an award-winning saxophonist in his own right. The sights seen include jazz, soulful pop, an inimitably contemporary take on the influences of '40s and '50s crooners and lounge-and-cabaret sounds and, especially, the blues, whose raw emotion, dynamism and inescapable shuffle inform most of the CD's tracks. The result is a moving, cinematic listening experience that only backs up what fans have known for years now - that Joey Henry is both a dream-team collaborator, and one of America's greatest living musicmakers. - Portnoy Jones