Texan James McMurtry is a keen observer and a clever storyteller; he uses wry wit, lush orchestration and a dash of twang to portray his subjects. He turns sophisticated guitar playing and intricately woven melodies into simple, beautiful folk songs: sad and funny tales of bygone days and hopeful futures.

On Where'd You Hide the Body, his third album, McMurtry gathers an ensemble of fellow Lone Star luminaries, including guitarists David Grissom and Steve Bruton, and Bad Livers' Mark Rubin on tuba. Their accompaniment intensifies McMurtry's sparse acoustic guitar and softens his deadpan delivery. With the help of producer Don Dixon, McMurtry highlights the instrumentation where it best punctuates the idiosyncrasies in his characters: The pomp of Rubin's tuba plays off the quirkiness of "Iolanthe," a song about a charming misfit; the bright chorus vocals of Arnetta M. Crooms, Erica Bratton, Donald Lawrence and Dixon invigorate the faith-finding "Rayolight"; Bruton's wah-wah guitar and Dixon's organ add a sense of frivolity to "Fuller Brush Man."

McMurtry may have had guidance in articulating his ideas from father Larry McMurtry, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lonesome Dove, but James' vision seems just as schooled in instinct and street-life vigilance. His words evoke slightly tattered images that mesh cynicism and optimism: dust bowls, Sunbeams, rooftop dances. Like any attentive writer, McMurtry makes the listener contemplate the characters, but the unassuming power of his music transports his narrative from the intellectual to the visceral. James McMurtry can compel you to boogie while you consider the plight of his characters. (RS 716)

KIM AHEARN