SANDY CARROLL, Just As I Am--Check out the song titles on Sandy Carroll’s new album and you would be forgiven for thinking you had stumbled onto a spiritual or gospel outing: the album takes its title from an original song that nonetheless invokes the powerful hymn of invitation millions have heard choirs sing at Billy Graham Crusades; the first song is titled “Blessed Be,” others—“Waiting for the Storm,” “Runnin’ Out of Grace”—appear to have spiritual overtones, whereas “Help Mother Nature” surely evinces a heightened environmental consciousness. Well, yes and no. Salvation, however, is a persistent theme throughout.

DUKE ROBILLARD, Low Down & Tore UpNow up to his 18th album for Stony Plain, Duke has delivered one of his finest efforts yet in revisiting some of his favorite blues styles of yore in Low Down & Tore Up, an occasion for him to show off his abundant artistry as a musician, singer and producer all at once.