"The Pilgrim: A Celebration of Kris Kristofferson" is the second release from American Roots Publishing, the same organization behind the Stephen Foster compilation I wrote about last week, and it's a similarly successful tribute to a similarly great but somewhat undersung songwriter. The album is filled with country music stars -- Rodney Crowell, Gretchen Wilson, Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash, Shooter Jennings -- paying their respects to one of the masters of their form on his 70th birthday, and there are plenty of excellent performances here. The most affecting by far is Willie Nelson's take on "The Legend" -- elegant, effortlessly classy, Nelson can spin gold out of the most mediocre material, so what a pleasure he is to listen to when the material is golden to begin with.
-- T.B.
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