Nils Lofgren & Friends: Live Acoustic (2006)

Music. Nils Lofgren is an exceptional solo talent -- his cascading harmonics can make his six-string guitar sound half the time like a 12-string guitar, and that's just the acoustic set. And then he starts jamming -- and then he plugs in! Nils is more than a minstrel and triple the troubadour that the uninitiated might expect, even knowing his 25-year history with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. One bluesy jam was the best I've heard this side of Saturday Night in San Francisco with John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, and Paco de Lucia. This concert at the Birchmere in Alexandria, Va., is good at its lowest moments and exceptionally great at its highest. Instant Watch access does not include the behind-the-scenes features but the concert presentation runs 97 minutes. 4 stars.