Grade: A-

CD » " Preservation: An Album to Benefit Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program " is a loving tribute to the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, the French Quarter band notable for its 1961 founding and for playing in a weather-beaten, unpainted venue with no A/C and little seating beyond a handful of benches and a few cushions. Tom Waits, Andrew Bird, Brandi Carlile, Ani DiFranco, Steve Earle, Merle Haggard, Jason Isbell, Jim James, Del McCoury, Buddy Miller and Paolo Nutini are among the musicians who traveled to New Orleans last year to record traditional jazz with the band. The entire collection combines impeccable, deeply felt instrumentation along with creative, innovative artists who pay homage rather than overburden classic songs. This is nearly as good as jazz gets.

-- David Burger