10 Live Albums You Should Own

In no particular order, but all great albums...

• Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis - Live In Swing City (Swingin' with Duke): brilliant musicians playing music that is beyond timeless to utter perfection.
• The Black Crowes - Before The Frost ... Until the Freeze: Just something about this disc keeps me coming back again and again. Its really good. Especially the middle with The Band Played On, Where Love Lives and Lazy Antelope. I could listen to those three tracks for days...
• Brad Mehldau - Live in Tokyo: Just the man, playing piano. Monk's Dream and Someone to Watch Over Me are great, but the near 30-minute Paranoid Android defines Mehldau's passion at interpretation and performance.
• Bruce Hornsby - Here Come the Noise Makers: Great songs from top to bottom, never mind the stout musicianship.
• Phish - Live Phish Vol 5:  Phish is an all time love, and always will be I think. I've heard hours and hours of their concerts, but Vol 5 is probably my favorite collection. Silent In the Morning into Possum is a great way to start a day. Run Like an Antelope finds its rhythm beautifully. And of course the Tweezer sandwich.
• Rodrigo y Gabriella - Live in Japan: Once you hear these two, and then see them play, you can't help but be addicted. They have so much energy and life in their performance, and their skill at the instrument is almost beyond category. 
• Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis - Two Men with the Blues: Just go listen to it. If you don't like it, I think you might be dead inside.
• John Mayer - Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live In Los Angelas: So yeah, I like me some blues. This CD is really 3 bands... 1st is Mayer playing solo acoustic guitar showing off what made him famous, 2nd is the John Mayer Trio playing electric blues with chops that make you understand why he's so regarded as a guitar player, 3rd is the band Mayer put together for Continuum where he still brings the blues along. The 2nd set is really why you check this out. The guy covers Hendrix, and has the chops to truly pull it off.
• The Dropkick Murphys - Live on St. Patrick's Day: One of my favorite band's in their element, showing off what makes them so damn good.
• Kaizers Orchestra - Live at Vega:  Doesn't matter that its not in English. Doesn't matter that its a band you've never heard of. Go watch them live on YouTube. Be converted to the congregation. God I can't wait to see these guys play in the states. If you dig DKM or Flogging Molly, these guys will knock your socks off.