J.D. Souther’s voice is still the smooth, mellow marvel that made his solo albums such delights for the country-rock crowd back in the '70s. For 2008’s If the World Was You, Souther recorded the album live in a studio surrounded by a solid backing core of drummer Jim White, pianist Chris Walters, bassists Dan Immel and Jim Mayer, trumpeter Rod McGaha, and flautist and saxophonist Jeff Coffin. Banjoist Bela Fleck also drops in, and several vocal choirs provide the harmonies (see “Rain”). The absence of the usual Southern California suspects guarantees a very different album than even his previous one, 1984’s excellent Home by Dawn. Souther wrote all the songs here, with “I’ll Be Here at Closing Time” coming closest to his familiar catalog. Songs such as “House of Pride” and “Journey Down the Nile” bring a Latin music touch and a world beat sense (“The Border Guard”). “Brown (Osaka Story),” “In My Arms Tonight," and “A Chorus of Your Own” shift toward nightclub jazz. The 13-minute closer, “The Secret Handshake of Fate,” isn't the sound of a man playing it safe.