Guitarist Eric Sands of the group Man of Fire told me, "I was interested in the whole seven-string guitar thing and started doing some research on the Net about it. I found a site called "The Ibanez JEM and Universe Collectors Site"

Sands saw the site has had many visitors, which gave him the idea "to make something tangible which embodied the sentiments of the people hanging around that site. I thought it would be cool to see what ordinary people are doing with Ibanez JEM and Universe seven-string guitars." Sands suggested a compilation CD, enlisting the help of Glen Cianciulli, a webmaster in New Jersey. The latter helped Sands recruit Ken Burtch, a guitarist, who posted a notice on his site.

"Responses started coming in from around the world," said Sands. "Glen, Ken and I formed a board to judge the tapes and to organize production of the CD. The end product has players from all over the world, including France, the U.S. and Australia." It took just nine months to complete the project, "just like having a baby," he said.

Steve Vai, who designed the guitars, agreed to put a link on his Web site and his assistant, Rich Pike, reviewed the album in Steve Vai's Newsletter. More reviews are scheduled in Guitar Shop magazine and the Polish guitar publication Gitara I bas.

The CD contains 14 tracks, beginning with two excellent compositions by Sands, backed by drummer Mark Dixon on "Moe," and by Jeff Hodges on keyboards and electronic percussion on "Hanglider." Other bands come from Texas, Spokane, Wash., Atlanta, Paris, France, and San Diego, Calif.

It's an excellent album, with great sounds abounding in nearly every song. Sands believes that "never before have players come together from all over the world to produce a CD whose details and decisions were made solely by e-mail."

It's a strange world we live in, readers.

Sands's group Man on Fire has a new album out on October Records . Lead vocalist Jeff Hodges bears a striking vocal resemblance to Geddy Lee. The musicianship is professional. Although not my cup of tea, Man on Fire has received good reviews from magazines in Italy, England, The Netherlands, and Portugal, as well as in the states. One critic calls the band as playing "an intelligent array of musical landscapes (that) wouldn't look out of place in a recent Rush album."

The adage "Sincerity is important; once you can fake that. . ." doesn't apply to Etta James. After a long career in R&B, interrupted by a few years when she faded from the limelight, James returned in full force a few years ago with pop/jazz albums that achieved critical raves and sturdy sales.

At long last, she turns back to the genre for which she's best suited, the blues. In her spectacular new CD, "Life, Love & the Blues" (Private Music 01005-82162-2) James performs a well-chosen set of songs in the inimitable style which has brought her a legion of admirers across the globe. This lady can sing!

Opening with "Born Under a Bad Sign," she then moves smoothly into a dazzling, heart-wrenching rendition of Johnny "Guitar" Watson's "I Want to Ta Ta You, Baby." The Al Green hit, "Here I Am," receives a soulful reading and Marvin Gaye's magnificent "Inner City Blues" never sounded better. She moves into a groove with Willie Dixon's classic, "Spoonful," which was brought to public attention by Eric Clapton. Another Dixon delight, "Hoochie Coochie Gal," shows that James is comfortable with the genre. For me, the highlight of the album is her terrific take on Sly Stewart's hit, "If You Want Me to Stay."

The backing musicians include Donto James, Sametto James (Etta's offspring), along with Dave Mathews, Mike Finnigan on the magnificent Hammond B-3 organ (which must have been created to play the blues), Tom Poole, Bobby Murray and Josh Sklair. Also contributing are Jimmy "Z", Leo Nocentelli, and Lee Thornburg.

Etta, you're wonderful!

Listening to the new retrospective from the 15-year career of the delightfully odd blend of noisy rock and World music that is Boiled in Lead reminds discerning listeners that this Minneapolis band has too long been overlooked and underrated. The new CD, "Alloy" (Omnium OMM 2017) follows the group from its early days, with songs that comfortably fit into a solid melding of traditional folk with bits and pieces of rock's influence.

As the album moves from a 1986 demo of "The Dreadnaught" to a couple of acoustic live cuts from 1994, listeners get the opportunity to appreciate how diverse and talented this group has been from its inception. Not quite a folk band, not quite a hard rock group, Boiled in Lead offers something increasingly difficult to find in today's music: the ability to surprise. Through more than 70 minutes and 19 cuts, the album contains samples of earbending delights distilled from five previous albums and eight live demonstrations of this wonderful group in action.

One critic in San Francisco writing for SF Weekly described Boiled in Lead accurately as "taking licks from everywhere in the world . . . and giving the resultant mess a vicious . . . kick in the butt."

Since 95 percent of everything is lousy, discovering the good stuff is one of the major pleasures handed to a music reviewer. Although I've been depressed for years about the decline of what passes for today's country music, occasionally a newcomer steps forward to offer hope. Such is the case with John Flynn, who in his third, self-titled album (Sliced Bread SB71160) gives notice to the country and folk contingents that he's not to be denied.

Besides a serviceable voice, Flynn has genuine prowess in writing. His 11 compositions roam the canvas, from emotion-laden love songs, to comedy, to a delightful album closer in singing collaboration, a charming little ditty called "Two Letters." With ace producer Ben Wisch (Kathy Mattea, Marc Cohn and Patti Larkin) at the helm, the album delivers prime time entertainment.

Most impressive are Flynn's way with lyrics. He's been quoted as being influenced by Kris Kristofferson, John Prine and Jimmy Webb, and that ain't bad company to associate with. A product of Philadelphia (hardly a hatching nest for country warblers), Flynn serves notice that he's ready, loaded, and aiming his big guns at the top of the charts. Get out of the way, country pretenders. Here's the real deal, in like Flynn.