Hit

Singer-songwriter-guitarist Boz Scaggs has kept a fairly low profile since his heyday in the '70s and '80s--a circumstance more than rectified with Greatest Hits Live, a great-looking, great-sounding concert recorded in San Francisco in 2004. For the most part, this is Silk Degrees-style Boz, drawing from a large catalog that favors ballads (some quite lovely, like "Harbor Lights," "We're All Alone," and "Look What You've Done to Me") and deft pop-R&B-jazz à la Steely Dan (albeit with more soul and less verbal wit and sophistication). But while "Lido Shuffle," and other expected hits are here, so are several grittier, bluesier moments, including Earl King's "It All Went Down the Drain" and extended versions of the big band blues "Runnin' Blue" and the slow lament "Loan Me a Dime" (a tune from Scaggs's 1969 solo album that featured great guitar playing by the late Duane Allman). With a fine band, 16 songs, a running time that approaches two hours, some of the best DVD sound you'll ever hear, and crisp, clear visuals, Greatest Hits Live is a portrait of a veteran, durable artist who's still in his prime. --Sam Graham