In Brief

** 1/2 Jennifer Batten, “Above Below and Beyond,” Voss. The best albums meld artistry and technical craftsmanship so seamlessly that they become indistinguishable. Here, Michael Jackson’s “Bad” tour guitarist overwhelms with the latter, but her flash and substance on the moody “Cruzin’ the Nile” and a “Flight of the Bumble Bee” fretboard workout make this a better bargain than plunking down hundreds of dollars for guitar lessons.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).