This week's Roots CDs reviewed

DON HENLEY

The Very Best of Don Henley Geffen Records***

Wow, that must be some hole in his pension plan! Along with endless last chances to see The Eagles, Don Henley throws in a collection of his solo tracks to haul in a few more dinero. Leave aside the title (what's the difference between the best and the very best?) and this collection is clearly the work of a master songwriter. Among the 14 tracks here are songs that time has not served well, but when it comes to ballads of love, loss and redemption you won't find better than The Heart of the Matter.Henley carved out a solo career from The Eagles – no small achievement considering the distinctiveness of his voice – with his edgy, intelligent take on matters private and public, as with Dirty Laundry, New York Minute and The Boys of Summer.Certainly Henley's work deserves to be more than just an footnote to The Eagles story. www.donhenley.com

Download tracks: The Heart of the Matter, Dirty Laundry

JOE BREEN

ALISON BROWN

The Company You Keep Compass Records ****

La Jolla, California and the wilds of Connemara may share scant common ground, but Alison Brown – Compass co-founder, West Coaster and jazz banjo player – turns expectations on their heads yet again with this collection. Brown's dexterity stretches from composition (at its vertiginous best on The Clean Plate Club) to lightning finger- picking that would challenge the attention of the wiliest three-card trickster. Yet this technical brilliance doesn't distract from the organic thrust of a collection that features her regular accompanist (and husband), Garry West, on bass, and the truly renaissance mandolin player, fiddler and percussionist,

Joe Craven. As for the Connemara connection, it's a cover of Máirtín O'Connor's sublime The Road West – not as cathartic as the original but curiously engaging all the same. www.compassrecords.com

Download tracks: The Clean Plate Club, Under The (Five) Wire

SIOBHAN LONG

BAP KENNEDY

Howl On Lonely Street Discs***

For anybody of 50 or thereabouts, the moon landing of Apollo 11 was just one of those magical times when the world turned its head in unison. Forty years ago, Bap Kennedy was a wide-eyed seven-year-old in Belfast who went to sleep that night with the voice of Mission Control’s space cowboys in his ear and America in his heart. This is his tribute to the men and the moment, along with the sweet Bob Marley-influenced title track and the Jimi Hendrix classic Hey Joe (with fellow Northerner Henry McCullough contributing an outstanding guitar display). Many of these songs have an air of gentle regret or reflection, as Kennedy imagines the thoughts of these pioneers as they stepped out into the unknown. Well supported by wife Brenda on backing vocals and Pete O’Hanlon on just about everything else, this is an understated, unusual and thoughtful collection. www.bap kennedy.com

Download tracks: Ballad of Neil Armstrong, Howl On, Cold War Country Blues

JOE BREEN