With a recording career spanning 3 decades, this beloved artist has presented a seamless merger of folk intimacy and jazz elegance that has been matched by few. Although she was considered a folksinger for her early period, she confounded the pigeonhole by favoring a heartier, earthier delivery that derived its strength from confronting her feelings rather than merely expressing them. Her Caribbean roots underscored much of her early material, from the palpitating pulse of Cool Blue Stole My Heart to the contagious reggae beat of Rosie. But she is revered most for her acoustic guitar-based confessional ballads: her soaring signature tune Love and Affection, the gospel-flavored Down to Zero. These are all here, plus Me Myself I, Willow, Show Some Emotion, All the Way From America and more.

Armatrading,Joan