Some artists just naturally carry around the big respect stick. Pretty much no matter what they do or how often they do it, you simply know it’s gonna be good. Case in point? Steve Winwood’s latest, and first in five years, Nine Lives (Columbia).Starting his career in The Spence Davis Group as a runny-nosed, 15-year-old punk, Winwood has been doing it the right way ever since. That includes stops with Traffic (“Dear Mr. Fantasy”), Blind Faith (“Can’t Find My Way”) and his own solo career (“Higher Love”).

Nine Lives follows closely the attitude he set on his last album, About Time, which is that he’s now less formulated and has become both focused and centered and lets the song play its way out. Not so much jam band, but more secure in his musicianship.

He’s always been a great B3 organ player, and thankfully it’s displayed here in abundance. You get a lot of it here, along with those great soul man vocals. It’s funky stuff, especially with percussionist Karl Van Den Bossche laying a formative foundation for the band and Tim Cansfield’s tasteful guitar work to play in.

Standouts include the back porch Southern foot tapper “I’m Not Drowning,” “Other Shore,” the much hyped Eric Clapton guitar-fueled “Dirty City,” the Latin-drenched “Hungry Man,” the guitar hook heavy “Raging Sea” and my favorite here on the album, “Other Shore.”

Some guys deliver the goods whether they release an album every 14 months or every five years. Steve Winwood’s Nine Lives is a very welcome and much needed album that is as good as anything he has ever given us throughout his career.

I’ve never considered Madonna simply a pop star. How can you limit her as just a singer when she’s starred in movies, published not only erotic but also children’s books and strives to transcend every medium available. She’s done it all.

Jack-of-all-trades, master of none best describes her latest, Hard Candy (Warner Bros.).

It’s better than Confessions on a Dance Floor and not as selfish as American Life. Hard Candy is probably the most unbelievable of them all. The 12 tracks here will get anyone up off their butts and dancing, not because of Madonna, but more in spite of her.

If producers like Pharrell and Timbaland could make Justin Timberlake seem cool, they can easily make Madonna hip.and they do. Pharrell, by the way, has become this generation’s Quincy Jones. That guy can make records regardless of who he’s handcuffed with, and he does it again with Madge.

Still, I have a hard time buying a 49-year-old Madonna doing this stuff, just as I have a hard time watching Sean Connery picking up Katherine Zeta-Jones in the movie Entrapment. If I want to see a 49-year-old woman singing songs she shouldn’t be singing, I can go to karaoke at Magoo’s in West Allis anytime.

An album that’s just as beautiful today as it was when it was originally released is getting its expanded due. Carole King Tapestry: Legacy Edition (Sony/Legacy) is two CDs, the first being the original album digitally spruced up to give the record its 2008 due. Just as important is the second disk that has King performing the album in its original running order, with only her piano as a musical accompanist recorded live back in the day.

King, a prolific writer who has written everything from “The Locomotion,” and “Up on the Roof” to “One Fine Day” and “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” was arguably never better than on Tapestry.

She was the first woman to take home four Grammys in one night for record, album, pop vocal and record of the year for Tapestry. It spawned the hits “You Need a Friend” and “(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman” for James Taylor and Aretha Franklin.

Produced by Lou Adler for his Ode Records, the album was a marvel at the time. Surrounded on the charts by the likes of the Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers, Grand Funk’s E Pluribus Funk, The Doors LA Woman, Led Zeppelin IV, Jimi Hendrix’ Rainbow Bridge and The Who’s Who’s Next, Tapestry elbowed its way into selling over 10 million albums and paved the way for piano playing songwriters like Alisha Keys.

Besides the live second CD, other neat stuff includes a killer booklet with time-related photos, a Harvey Kubernik essay and song-by-song tidbits by Adler.

Standouts on an album of standouts include “So Far Away,” “Smackwater Jack,” “Tapestry” and “It’s Too Late.”

I love this Elvis guy. I’m talkin’ the Elvis Costello one, the guy with the released just to vinyl Momofuku (Lost Highway). Don’t fret; it’ll be out on CD by the time you read this. While working on Jenny Lewis’ upcoming solo record, Costello got his band The Imposters gathered up and spent six days in the studio. Momofuku is the result.

For a guy who has made albums with a diverse list of artists like Burt Bacharach, Allen Toussaint, Brodsky Quartet and The Metropole Orkest, this is pretty much an Elvis Costello record. You know, the kind with that sarcastic wit accompanied with that snapping band of his. That, and the fact that this record has such a loosey goosey attitude.

Backed by his Imposters, standouts include “Pardon Me Madam My Name is Eve,” “Stella Hurt,” “American Gangster Time,” “No Hiding Place” and, my favorite, “Go Away.”

His best since 2004’s Delivery Man.

(Bob Hanson)