Van Morrison performs in 2018; courtesy. I’ve invented a moment in musical history that I like to envision over and over again: It’s New York, late summer, 1969 in the penthouse of A & R Recording studios. Producer Lewis Merenstein is at the board with a couple of engineers.…

After 39 studio albums, Van Morrison manages to blend jazzy covers and soulful originals for his latest offering, The Prophet Speaks. Where roughly half of the album is an ode to classic artists like J.D. Harris and Sam Cooke, the rest takes Van Morrison back to his own roots. Even…