Various Artists - Folk, Jazz & Poetry

All Music Guide

Another flawless compilation from the Irma label, Folk, Jazz Poetry picks up the thread from earlier discs like Make Music and As We Travel, assembling a finely nuanced collection of spacious, mellow soul that's hip and savvy enough to encompass everything from Maria Muldaur's "Midnight at the Oasis" to Stereolab's "Percolator." You've got to admire the creativity and record collection vast enough to connect the dots between Sergio Mendes, Michael Jackson, and Terry Callier -- by all rights a collection this far-reaching should be a mess, but these 14 songs interlock like the pieces of a puzzle, creating a uniform mood and ambience perfectly aligned with the promises inherent in the disc's title.

- Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide