This three-disc set, recorded live on the Great Lawn of New York's Central Park in September, is a decent place holder for Dave Matthews Band fans until the next album. Those familiar with the band's live sets won't find many surprises here, but Central Park nonetheless catches DMB on an up night: Saxophonist Leroi Moore and violinist Boyd Tinsley turn out nimble, flamboyant solos on classics such as the rollicking "Ants Marching." The guest star is ex-Allman Brothers guitarist Warren Haynes, who contributes vocals and guitar to a mournful version of Neil Young's "Cortez, the Killer." When DMB stretches out, it focuses on group interplay rather than extravagant soloing, as on an eighteen-plus-minute version of "Two Step" that riffs on "New York, New York" before evolving into a low-key, jazzy jam. Though the quintet may be one of the most bootlegged live acts in existence, Central Park is the live DMB record nonfanatics would do well to start with.

“Too Close”

Next was formed in Minneapolis when the uncle of Terry "T-Low" and Raphael "Tweety" Brown, who was a gospel choir director, introduced the brothers to Robert Lavelle "R.L." Huggar. Sounds of Blackness singer Ann Nesby groomed the R&B group before handing them over to Naughty by Nature's KayGee, who wrote and produced "Too Close." The idea for the song was sparked "from a conversation we had with several girls at a nightclub," explained T-Low. "It's talking about the club scene, with guys getting out of hand and the female telling him to back up, asking, 'What are you doing?'"