I refrain from calling these "The Best of 2003" because the following list is but one man's biased opinion. I have culled these from the many good recordings that crossed my CD player this year. I'm sure I forgot to include a few notable recordings. All told, I estimate The Midnight Special received, and I listened to, at least 500 new recordings, of which about 200 made it into the WFMT library, and about 110 received airplay. I do not include reissues and most compilations among these favorites. As the cut-off date is November 1, some of the newest recordings will not be considered until next year.

If a good friend visited from out-of-town with only an hour or two to spare, and asked me to play my favorites from 2003, I would play the following, in this case in no particular order. By way of explanation, I have annotated the CDs on the list.

Enoch Kent: Songs of Love, Lust & Loathing (Second Avenue SAS2009)
Raised in Scotland, ensconced in Canada, cohort of Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger during the classic days of The Singers Club in London, Kent applies his majestically craggy voice to original and traditional tunes with equal ability. The diverse mix of songs on this CD goes straight to the heart and mind. There’s great wisdom in his performance and you can sense a bit of twinkle in his eye as well.

Pete Morton: Swarthmoor (Harbourtown HARCD 044)
Pete’s first CDs were rock. With each CD he has jettisoned a bit more of the unnecessary frenzy until this CD, which reveals the naked diamond. It’s just the voice and guitar of someone who has earned a place among the best singer-songwriters of the 21st century. The songs on this CD cover an amazing array of topics from politics to love, tragedy and comedy. All of his songs, no matter how dark, have a silver lining of optimism. His expressive voice serves his songs well.

Peggy Seeger: Heading For Home (Appleseed APRCD 1076)
You might say Peggy is an artist who needs no introduction. Yet, here she revisits many traditional songs from her vast repertoire with finer voice and deeper appreciation than any of her previous recordings. She can make a traditional song sound timeless, yet as current as if written yesterday. She also includes one moving, bittersweet original song about growing old. This is the recording you want to play for a younger singer and say: “This is the way traditional music remains alive.”

Mrs. Ackroyd Band Les Barker: Yelp! (Mrs. Ackroyd DOG 017)
I rarely include humorous CDs among my favorites because they age so quickly. However, this miraculously mirthful disc combines clever word play, parody, and drolly delightful performances into a barrel of long lasting laughs. In addition to skewering some well-known traditional songs and a Bill Staines classic, conning Pete Morton and Steve Tilston into performing parodies of their own songs, as rewritten by Barker, is the coup de grace.

Michael Smith: Such Things Are Finely Done (Tales From the Tavern 019)
Michael Smith can go a decade without recording and then spits out a flurry of CDs, some heavily produced rock. A venue in California persuaded him to perform audio verité, just Smith and his guitar in front of a live audience. Smith ranges from his classic songs such as The Dutchman, and I Brought My Father With Me to some newer tunes and a few of his previously unrecorded humorous songs. Wait until you hear The Princess and the Frog and Famous In France. He’s in good voice, nimble guitar and wicked wit in this recording. I’ve heard him better in performance, but this CD is the best documentation of his genius.

Finest Kind: Silks & Spices (Fallen Angle FAM 05)
This is the third CD from Shelly Posen, Anne Downey and Ian Robb as Finest Kind. They quite simply are. Great harmonies enhance a range of traditional Anglo/Irish tunes along with some contemporary fare including The Times They Are A’Changin’. They sing with passion and precision and infuse their music with light.

Martin Simpson: Righteousness & Humidity (Red House RHRCD 169)
Without a doubt one of the world’s best guitarists, Simpson is often overlooked as one of the world’s best interpreters of songs, both vocally and instrumentally. He also is a very accomplished writer. All is in ample evidence on this recording, including his own moving song Love Never Dies and an entrancing performance of Gallivan Burwell’s The Devil’s Partiality. This is intelligent musicianship at its finest.

Ekstrom & Quinn: Front Page Follies (self issued)
The next person who laments that Tom Lehrer stopped writing and recording I’m going to force this CD into their player and press play. Peter Ekstrom and Michael Quinn are every bit as clever as Lehrer in his That Was The Year That Was days. This CD sounds like Tom Lehrer meets Flanders & Swann. Their satire is brilliant, scathing and catchy. You’ll have trouble getting their songs out of your head. Be warned, this is old-fashioned left-wing satire, and they’re not beyond goring some sacred cows.

Grace Griffith: Sands Of Time (Blix Street G2-10078)
Griffith possesses one of the most beautiful voices in folk music and seeks unusual material and unique arrangements, aided and abetted by her talented friend and fellow musician Marcy Marxer. This CD is full of remarkable gems sung in glorious voice and widely varying arrangements. The beauty of this CD is made all the more poignant by the Parkinson’s disease that is taking its toll on Griffith’s music making abilities, making this, perhaps, her final recording.

Jonathan Byrd: The Waitress (self)
I’m not sure this is Byrd’s first recording, but it’s my discovery of the year. Byrd is right up there with the best of them with a twist and turn of phrase, a facile use of language and the ability to tell a story straight into your heart. This is an unforgettable CD. Of course, anyone who writes a six minute song about midnight radio is all right with me.

Tom Russell: Modern Art (Hightone HCD8154)
Tom Russell has been at his craft for a long time allowing him to come as near perfection as possible as a singer-songwriter. He divides this CD between originals and covers, and his taste in other’s music is as outstanding as his own compositions. He sings magnificently and knows how to tell a story. Virtually all of the songs on this disc are story songs ranging from baseball hero Mickey Mantle to Mohammed Ali to Michael Smith’s fictional Dutchman to life in Tijuana.

Danú: The Road Less Traveled (Shanachie 78057)
In a year with several better than usual Irish and Celtic releases, such as those from Solas and Teada, this one shines. The sublime vocals by the group’s new singer, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, capture the essence a song whether a traditional shoemaker’s lament or a contemporary mystical song. Several outstanding singers have attempted covering Richard Thompson’s Farewell Farewell, but this is the first exquisite interpretation since Sandy Denny first recorded it over 30 years ago. The instrumentals are dynamite as well with the typically superb musicianship of this group.

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