JOHN SCHUMANN & THE VAGABOND CREW: Lawson (Bombora).

THE former Redgum leader's Henry Lawson project is anything but the dry, reverent Aussie folk that may have been expected. Instead, he exhumes the Bush bard with colourful arrangements and melodies that enrich Lawson's words, also paying tribute to a previous generation of rock artists by inviting Russell Morris, Mike Rudd and Broderick Smith on board as guest vocalists. A splendid crew of session players, including Toby Lang, Paul Cartwright, Rob Hirst and producer Kerryn Tollhurst, breathe life into these interpretations.

JEFF CRAWFORD