Personnel: Cissy Houston, Deirde Tuck, The Dixie Hummingbirds, Renelle Stafford, Von Eva Sims (vocals); Hucks Brown, Wallace Wilson, David Spinozza, Los Incas (guitar); Hugh McCraken, Jimmy Johnson , John Tropea, Pete Carr (electric guitar); Charango (flute); Larry Knechtel (piano); Neville Hinds, Ken Asher (organ); Russel George, David Hood, Jackie Jackson (bass guitar); Roger Hawkins, Steve Gadd, Winston Grennan (drums); Airto Moreira, Ralph McDonald, Denzil Laing (percussion); Patti Austin, Valerie Simpson, Phoebe Snow (background vocals). <p>Additional personnel: Phoebe Snow & The Jessy Dixon Singers. <p>Recording information: 1972 - 2006. <p>Are 36 songs enough to truly encompass the "essential" items in the catalog of a master craftsman like Paul Simon? Probably not, but it's a healthy dose, and a damned fine anthology regardless. Roughly chronological in sequence, THE ESSENTIAL PAUL SIMON focuses exclusively on the folk-rock hero's post-Garfunkel days, and follows his maturation as a songwriter and record-maker. In retrospect, it quickly becomes apparent that the cross-genre concoctions of his celebrated 1986 album, GRACELAND, had been part of his modus operandi all along: see the reggae lilt of "Mother and Child Reunion," the salsa flavor of "Late in the Evening," and the gospel glow of "Loves Me Like a Rock." Whatever the musical mode, every song on this satisfying collection is powered by Simon's rocket-science harmonic know-how and vivid poetic imagery, making this a powerful musical snapshot of an artist constantly in motion.