Black 47, soon to mark its tenth year, stays on the road most of the year. In its decade as a group, Black 47 has performed approximately 1,500 gigs from coast to coast and back again. Based in New York City, the band makes an annual rite of appearing live in the Big Apple on St. Patrick's Day.

Black 47's new CD, "Live in New York City" (Gadfly Records), presents a solid idea of the excitement to be found when this great group appears before an excited collection of its avid fans. The results are pure magic. The dozen tunes on the CD represent some of the band's fan favorites.

Opening with Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds," the group roars through a delightful set that includes eight of lead vocalist Larry Kirwan's compositions, which run the gamut from funky to romantic, old fashioned stompers to anthems that will make all listeners claim an Irish heritage.

Black 47 is delightful, a band at its best when appearing in front of a raucous but adoring audience. "Live in New York City" captures that special feeling. And the best news is that a second CD from that same concert will be released in the future.

Steve Blackwood plays the villainous Bart in the long-running daytime soap opera, "Days of Our Lives." He also appears on such TV shows as "NYPD Blue" and "The Nanny." And now it turns out that Blackwood has a possible future as a recording artist.

His new CD, "I Don't Worry ‘Bout a Thing" (Chartmaker Records) demonstrates with authority that Blackwood is comfortable in the presence of good jazz music. With an unusual voice that has more than a bit of unusual quality to it, Blackwood has honed his chops in Los Angeles night clubs over the past few years. He has studied well and sounds completely at home in this pleasing set of standards.

The album opens with "Black Coffee," perhaps the weakest arrangement on the CD. Things improve immeasurably with "Stompin' at the Savoy," "My Baby Cares Just for Me," and "Just in Time." I really liked Blackwood's version of "All of Me" and he winds up the album in fine style with a pleasing "Bye, Bye Blackbird."

The back quartet includes Jane Getz on piano, Jeff Kaye on trumpet, Fritz Wise on drums and Darek "Oles" Oleszkiewicz on bass.

Chick Corea long has been a helpful figure in the jazz world, offering unknown players a chance to make their mark in music. Corea's current group Origin features the brilliant bass work of Israel's bassist phenomenon, Avishai Cohen.

Now Cohen steps into the spotlight with a stunning second album that makes his promise seem even brighter. "Devotion" (Stretch Records) contains 14 tracks of truly magnificent music.

Cohen was raised in Jerusalem. Now 28, Cohen has put together a solid program for his second release. He wrote 11 of the 13 tunes. Cohen brings to jazz the influences of his own life, including near-Eastern modes, Sephardic melodies, Latin grooves, blues and the string quartet. Best of all, no matter what the influence, the sounds are unmistakably jazz.

Growing up in Israel, Cohen listened to a lot of classical music. When the family moved to St. Louis when Cohen was 13, he took up the electric bass. His teacher introduced him to the work of Jaco Pastorius and Stanley Clarke.

After moving back to Israel in 1986, he found the music of John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, and Thelonious Monk.

Cohen has listened well. His talents on display here are many. On this album, he's heard on acoustic and electric basses, piano, synthesizer and percussion. His supporting players include Jason Lindner on piano, Jimmy Greene on saxes and flute, Steve Davis on trombone, Amos Hoffman on guitar and oud, and Jeff Ballard, drums and percussion.