A trip back in time ... or is it?

When Cleveland native Marc Cohn released a luminous piece of pure pop songcraft called "Walking in Memphis" in 1991, he earned a Best New Artist Grammy and a permanent place in American musical consciousness. His tough 2007 album "Join the Parade" revived his career, and now he's back with "Listening Booth: 1970"–not a nostalgia trip but a fresh look at some songs of that era. There are a few hits among them, like “Wild World” and “The Tears of a Clown,” but most are neither standards nor obscurities–songs that have new things to say in Marc's hands and voice: the Grateful Dead's “New Speedway Boogie,” Simon & Garfunkel's "The Only Living Boy in New York," and Van Morrison's “Into the Mystic" are on the album, and he even finds a new direction in soft rock like Bread's "Make It With You," performed on the album as a duet with India.Arie. This is more than a listening booth, and more than a trip back in time–it may be the most important release of its type since Rod Stewart's similar albums of a few years back.