In the first half of the year, I’ve been listening to three CDs quite a bit, all beautifully executed but quite different from one another. They are easily three of the best records from the first six months of 2010 and three you should give a listen.

The Chieftains’ San Patricio gives a featured billing to Ry Cooder, an occasional collaborator with the Irish group who writes, plays, sings, produces and arranges on this unusual yet intriguing mix of Celtic and Mexican music based on a fictionalized version of the story of Irish soldiers fighting with the Mexican army.

San Patricio is somewhat reminiscent of Santiago, another Chieftains’ effort from 1996 on which they blended Celtic sensibilities with Galician music from northwest Spain.

The group showed the direct link between the two musical heritages while including collaborators Cooder, Linda Ronstadt and Los Lobos, among many others.

The music on San Patricio is joyous, celebratory, heartfelt, forboding and ultimately upbeat and forward moving. The highlights are many, including the opener La Iguana with sensuous vocalist Lila Downs, who also appears on El Relampago; Ronstadt’s tender La Orilla de Un Palmar; the Cooder compositions The Sands Of Mexico and Cancion Mixteca (Intro) along with the song proper by Jose Lopez Alavez; March To Battle (Across The Rio Grande), which features a narration by Liam Neeson; and traditional numbers that feature Los Folkloristas and Los Camperos deValles.

It’s all a rich tapestry of the blending of these two musical styles that share so much in common.

The Irish soldiers, led by Captain John Riley during the war with Mexico (1846-48) were discriminated against and treated brutally by the American troops. So much so they defected to join a people with whom they had much more in common.

Although the thread of story on this record is entirely fictitious, there is no doubt music must have been a big part of the Irish soldiers’ experience as it is imbued so deeply in both cultures. A wonderfully realized example of what we now call World Music but is simply an inspiring work under any title.

Kala Farnham’s Naked Honest, a follow-up to 2008’s Raincloud available at CD Baby, took me by surprise when it was released. I wondered why she decided to record a live album. I was expecting another studio venture with a more sophisticated sound to show off her rapidly developing songwriting, masterful classically oriented piano playing and enchanting voice.

But after hearing it, the choice made perfect sense. This was how I first encountered Farnham, by chance in a live venue, and these beautifully recorded tracks from two gigs at Blue Back Square in West Hartford, Conn., and one at Java Madness in Wakefield, Mass., capture the essence of Farnham’s charm far better than her first outing. Her live performance was what caught my ear on first listening and this CD does the same.

There are some tunes from Raincloud, including the title track, but most of it is new material, at least from around the time of these recordings. All of Farnham’s best qualities are on display here. Her playing is nothing less than dazzling and her songwriting keeps getting better and better. Farnham’s personal, heartfelt lyrics and emotional, proficient voice are enchanting. That these are live performances makes it all the more impressive.

Riverboat is of special note, with a short yet memorable chorus line. Her knack for constructing a song around a gorgeous, melodic refrain is also exemplified in Earthbound, which hearkens in part to the talking-singing style of singer-songwriters from the early 1970s.

The title track is another highlight with impetuous, running piano figures underpinning the melody, while The Hill, in 3/4, makes for a nice rhythmic break with an almost churchy quality. The concise Songbird in a 6/8 jazz waltz feel displays an expansion of her musical landscape, while the compelling performance of Wrong Time is the strongest of her older songs.

There is much to explore and discover in Farnham’s music on this disc. She is very active this summer on the live circuit in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Check out one of her shows. Dates are available here. And there is always new music here and here.

The third in this improbable and eclectic trio is Jeff Beck’s most recent offering, Emotion & Commotion. This is an exercise in alternately tender and fiery performances, many with orchestrations. Don’t let that put you off. The orchestra bits are all tastefully handled by producer Steve Lipson.

Beck uses what has been his band for the past several years on much of the album, although he has formed a new touring band to promote it, with the exception of retaining keyboardist Jason Rebello. It appeared Beck would never need another rhythm section to replace extraordinary drummer Vinnie Colaiuta and bassist Tal Wilkenfeld, but he has in his live band. At least they play on Emotion.

He also recruits familiar vocalists from past collaborations: Imelda May for Lilac Wine and Joss Stone on There’s No Other Me and I Put A Spell On You. Add in Olivia Safe on Serene and Elegy For Dunkirk and you have an album with more vocals than anything Beck has produced in decades.

From the opening strains of Corpus Christi Carol, the listener senses this will be with an album with a lot of the lyrical, tender side of Beck’s playing, but there is enough heat in the mix as well, starting with Track 2, Hammerhead, a wah-wah infused shuffle workout that puts the orchestra through its paces as well as the core band of Wilkenfeld, drummer Alessia Mattalia and Rebello.

Throughout Beck’s pyrotechnics, there is always that wonderful sense of melody that places him high above any other contemporary guitarists. Every solo whether on a ballad or an uptempo tune always displays a concise, perfectly formulated statement that still retains an improvisatory abandon unmatched on the fusion scene today.

Over The Rainbow features Beck’s signature style of lightly tapping strings high up the neck and utilizing his tremolo bar and volume control to enhance the sonics. Nessun Dorma, Elegy For Dunkirk and Serene emphasize Beck’s mastery of this technique along with his melodic lyricism.

Imelda May, more noteworthy for her Rock-A-Billy style, does a beautiful job on the quiet Lilac Wine. Joss Stone, in contrast, provides some soulful, uptempo fire on Spell On You and the quasi-reggae There’s No Other Me.

Seek out the deluxe edition of Emotion, which will probably cost you no more than the regular release. It includes a DVD with six tracks from Beck’s performance at the Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007.

This record, in itself, provides an eclectic mix. In total, these three titles do the same with a wider scope. Three albums that might be unlikely companions on any CD shelf, but all must be heard because they represent some of the best music this year has offered.