Fairly or not, Blackshaw has come to represent the "academic" side of the acoustic guitar (as opposed to the raw American Primitive sound of the late Jack Rose), so it's a surprising and somewhat ballsy move to put aside the full, resonant sound of a 12-string acoustic for the staccato feel of the electric guitar, with all the rock baggage that instrument carries.

NPR: First Listen: James Blackshaw, 'All Is Falling'

Mr. Stills was already an extraordinary acoustic-guitar player, and his increasingly fierce electric guitar would push CSN toward rock without the group abandoning its unparalleled vocal blend.

WSJ: Carry On, Stephen Stills | By Jim Fusilli

But such concerns were quickly dispelled once the folk-rock trio's trademark intricate vocal harmonies and acoustic and electric guitar parts were enhanced by the JLCO's tight ensemble playing and skilled soloists such as saxophonists Sherman Irby, trumpeter Marcus Printup and trombonist Vincent Gardner.

WSJ: Crosby, Stills and Nash get jazzy with Marsalis