These Songs For You, Live!

Voices such as Donny Hathaway's come along maybe once a decade. Before his brief but influential career was cut short by suicide in 1979, Hathaway proved himself a maestro of protest soul who effused equal amounts of political anger and romantic tenderness. Hathaway's "Someday We'll All Be Free" became something of a black national anthem, and his 1969 hit "The Ghetto" is a pan-black bottom hit that resonates to this day. 'These Songs for You, Live!' displays the passion and charm that have inspired artists from Alicia Keys to D'Angelo. And what emerges most is Hathaway's irrepressible charisma and talent. In his hands, even "Yesterday" became a blues lament nonpareil.