For someone as talented as Washington ’s own Donal Leace, it’s hard to believe he only releases an album about once a decade, if that. His first release, half of a live LP recorded at Washington ’s Old Shadows club and on which he shared billing with Carol Hedin, was recorded in 1962. And thanks to his friendship with fellow Washingtonian, Roberta Flack, who was hot at the time, Leace released an album on Atlantic Records (also Flack’s label) in 1972.

But he did in 1992 and “Leace On Life” is its title. This album is not so much a folk album as an acoustic showcase for Leace’s eclectic style, which ranges from jazzier (”Time After Time”) to African to traditional (”The Water Is Wide”) to topical and original (”What’s Wrong With My Brother?”) to a cover of the 1974 national hit “Eres Tu” by the Spanish group Mocedares.

This pleasant and quite album has more of the feel of Roberta Flack than a standard folk LP but is eminently listenable and enjoyable, with soft keyboard and saxophone on some cuts and an occasional pedal steel guitar. Josh White Jr. and Bill Banoff lend some background vocals. I wonder what he’ll release in 2002.

– Bud Newman