Babs woos Brooklyn

Barbra Streisand Back to Brooklyn Columbia B+

Barbra Streisand opened a world tour at Brooklyn’s Barclay Center on Oct. 11 and 13, 2012, the first time she performed in her hometown since she became a star. On this DVD/CD combo release (also available separately), Streisand has great support from a 65-piece orchestra and several guests - operatic pop trio Il Volo, trumpeter Chris Botti and Streisand’s son Jason Gould, a fine singer in his own right.

The program includes many Streisand classics, such as the wondrous “The Way We Were,” “People,” “The Way He Makes Me Feel” and some fabulous standards. Joined by Botti, Streisand soars on a medley of “What’ll I Do” and “My Funny Valentine.” Botti’s arrangement and his playing are superlative. Also strong is a bewitching “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.”

Now in her 70s, the singer brings a lot of life experience to the concert stage and it shines brightly in her somewhat diminished, but still formidable voice.

Hot tracks: “What’ll I Do/My Funny Valentine,” “The Way We Were,” “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from Funny Girl.

• ELLIS WIDNER

Leo Welch Sabougla Voices Big Legal Mess B+

So the story goes that octogenarian gospel singing bluesman Leo Welch called up the Oxford, Miss., offices of Big Legal Mess hunting a record deal. An intern tells the Bruce, Miss., logger that the label, part of the Fat Possum Records family that unearthed Junior Kimbrough and R.L. Burnside, isn’t really into that kind of music anymore.

And, according to the story, someone in the office overheard the conversation, grabbed the phone and asked Welch to drive up to Oxford for an audition, which goes swimmingly and ends with Welch being signed on the spot.

It certainly makes for good copy; the album’s not bad, either. The 81-year-old Welch’s debut is a gritty and glorious collection of Delta gospel blues. Welch isn’t a guitar master like Skip James or Mississippi John Hurt, and his voice probably isn’t as strong as it once was, but Sabougla Voices, which features a full band and backup singers on most tracks, grooves with a full-on Holy Ghost fervor and makes you look forward to Sunday morning just as much as Saturday night.

Hot tracks: “You Can’t Hurry God,” with its barreling piano; the somber “Mother Loves Her Children.” - SEAN CLANCY

B.o.B Underground Luxury Atlantic B-

B.o.B arrived as a crafty, pop-leaning rapper-producer, scoring big hits with Bruno Mars on “Nothin’ on You” and Paramore’s Hayley Williams on “Airplanes.”

But the follow-up failed to click, so now we get Underground Luxury - where he mostly dumbs down his sound to its most formulaic and crass, while cultivating an anti-hero persona. He shows some style in “Headband” and some soul-searching in “Coastline,” but mostly it’s about buying stuff, using women and putting out half-baked conspiracy theories, then wondering why people think he’s a jerk.

“I guess I bit off more than I could chew,” he laments in “Nobody Told Me.” Guess so.

Hot tracks: “Headband,” “Coastline.” - GLENN GAMBOA, Newsday

Sierra Boggess Awakening: Live at 54Below Broadway Records A-

Probably best known to wider audiences as Christine in the 25th anniversary Phantom of the Opera special performance, Broadway star Sierra Boggess presents this live cabaret performance about inspiration.

Boggess has a light, trilly, sparkly soprano and a decent belt, and she shows off both in a set that’s extremely eclectic. In addition to a few show tunes, a Dolly Parton song and old standards, she also throws in a couple of arias from La Boheme.

Like others in the 54 Below series, the album is peppered with stories and reminiscences. She’s appealingly goofy as she tells about her experience meeting Barbra Streisand, but touching when talking about her grandparents.

Boggess shows off her comic chops and her impressive range to the hilt in “The Ultimate Medley With Apologies to ALW,” in which she sings several Andrew Lloyd Webber songs in hilariously inappropriate styles, including a spot-on pop-star take on Phantom and an operatic Jesus Christ Superstar.

Hot tracks: “I Don’t Care,”“The Ultimate Medley With Apologies to ALW,” “You’ll Never Know.” - JENNIFER NIXON

Thomas Rhett It Goes Like This Valory B

A few months ago, the title track to this full-length CD was released as an early single. Thomas Rhett’s song felt like warmed-over Luke Bryan and country music doesn’t need another male opting for the tight pants/no brains crown.

Though newcomer Rhett has released the full album, I’m not ready to take back what I said, but I am ready to say that this country hunk (and son of singer/songwriter Rhett Akins) might have more going for him than first surmised. There are some interesting curve balls tossed on It Goes Like This. “Sorry for Partyin’” shows off a nice eye for details and some actual regret - an emotion not often called up by Nashville’s young guns.“Front Porch Junkies” is more out there - blues harmonica and arena stomp mixed with attitude.

The title track still strikes me as a market-share grab and Rhett doesn’t have it in him to shake up country even a little bit. But he hasn’t let Nashville completely steamroll him and that is to his credit.

Hot tracks:“Sorry for Partyin’,” “Front Porch Junkies.”

• WERNER TRIESCHMANN