Bob Neuwirth"s long and fitful career is built around ragged but soulful folk-based recordings that are marked by an ingrained extemporaneous spirit. Neuwirth, after all, is a dyed-in-the-wool troubadour who"s more interested in capturing the moment than artfully shaping his songs. Which makes Havana Midnight so unexpected and rewarding. Here the roughhewn folkie finds himself keeping company with Cuban composer/arranger Jose Maria Vitier, who gives Neuwirth"s wistful, weary tunes a subtly ornate stateliness and rhythmic underpinning. The beauty of Havana Midnight is that Neuwirth"s music is given a grace and elegance that, on the surface, ought to be constricting, but instead is entirely liberating. --Steven Stolder