For years, Aimee Mann's sweet voice and her dark and brilliant lyrics have obscured the opportunities for strong electric guitar play in her music. On Tuesday night at Avalon, those opportunities fully flowered under the fingers of sideman Julian Coryell.

From a thrilling, reverberating, show-ending solo on "Long Shot" that was not deterred by his breaking a string to the subtle slide atmosphere he created for "Voices Carry," the 'Til Tuesday tune that Mann selected for her second encore, Coryell was the story of the evening.

NEW ORLEANS - To get a clue into Angelique Kidjo, you only
had to witness her set at Congo Square, one of the big venues of this
city's annual Jazz and Heritage Festival, on the first Friday in May.

It wasn't just that she wheedled the burly security chief until he allowed fans to come up and join her. Kidjo commonly requires fans at her shows not only to dance, as she does endlessly, but to do so with her onstage.

NEW ORLEANS - Say a guy tells you about a guitar player you've never heard of. The guy says, "He's probably the most underestimated musician on the planet and also probably one of the most advanced."

Your first reaction might be, "Who does that guy think he is, Eric Clapton?"