Mike Doughty

Since Mike Doughty's solo recordings are fairly straightforward, hearing him blow through four selections in this spare set-up is light on revelations, but the exclusive session gives a new environment to four of Doughty's sharply tooled songs. He starts with two off the recent Golden Delicious before pandering to the Greys Anatomy crowd with "Looking at the World From the Bottom of a Well." Doughty's leathery vocal makes all of it sound fresh, but the magic dust is sprinkled on by keyboardist John Kirby, who digs in with a soulful touch on the Rhodes piano.