*** Van Morrison/Lonnie Donegan/Chris Barber

THE SKIFFLE SESSIONS: LIVE IN BELFAST 1998

(Virgin)

Skiffle is the pre-rock British folk music that's been described as a sort of jug-band, rent-party music -- it's a rag-tag, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink genre that evolved in the hands of people who often didn't have much more than a kitchen sink. And it's this spirit that animates Van Morrison's latest outing, a live disc collaboration with England's "King of Skiffle," Lonnie Donegan, and fellow veteran Chris Barber. Many of Britain's rock heroes from the '60s -- from Graham Nash to Lennon and McCartney -- launched their careers beneath skiffle's DIY banner. And so did Morrison, whose formative skiffle outfit was known as the Sputniks.

Unlike Donegan and Barber, Morrison moved on from skiffle a long time ago. But this is still friendly, familiar ground for Van, and he treats it as such. The disc jovially mines all of skiffle's musical veins, including Dixieland jazz, American country and blues, and old English folk, in an appropriately loose setting. Morrison's vivid voice is in fine form throughout, but he shows restraint in order to allow the madcap Donegan his time in the spotlight. And though Morrison brings star power and clout to the proceedings, The Skiffle Sessions is a team effort that at its best -- in the two opening tracks, "It Takes a Worried Man" and "Lost John," for example -- brings to mind a British version of prime Oak Ridge Boys or a proto-Band on a roll.

-- Kandia Crazy Horse