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Booker T. Jones, ‘The Road from Memphis’ (ANTI-)

Going back to Booker T. and the MG’s, Jones has been a sideman to the stars, funkifying everybody from Otis Redding to Neil Young. This late-career gold watch puts Jones himself front and center with a supporting cast featuring the Roots, Sharon Jones, Yim Yames, and the National’s Matt Berninger. Jones’ wiseacre Hammond organ is as inimitable as ever on cool instrumentals (“Rent Party,” Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy”) and guest vocal tracks; he almost makes Lou Reed sound funky (“The Bronx”). No mean feat.