Sun. Nov. 23

 Praise for Willie Nile? Sure. You heard it back in the '70s when the New York singer-guitarist-pianist was touted as another new Dylan or Springsteen. And you can hear it now, too. Director Jim Jarmusch says Nile’s last studio CD, “Streets of New York,” “may even be his best record yet.” Bono calls it “great” and both Lou Reed and Lucinda Williams echo U2’s singer. Little Steven – you may know him as the late Sil in “The Sopranos” – Ian Hunter and Graham Parker are all aboard the Nile train too. And Nile himself is pretty much looking at where he is now as a career renaissance point. “This record did really well,” he says, “and was really fun to make. In those days with all the hype – the next big thing – it’s so unrealistic. My interest is not in being an American Idol. It’s writing songs and having enough people hear them to allow me to keep making records. And as an independent, the advantage is what majors see as a failure can be a great success. You can make more money going your own way.” The powerful songs he’s coming up with? “Could be the seasoning, as you learn and grow. Songs are flowing more than ever. That’s not the case with a lot of artists we know and respect. Not everybody can maintain.”
Nile, who played a terrific gig last year here, returns to Club Passim Sunday Nov. 23 with drummer Frankie Lee. Nile says at this point in time, in his mid-50s, he’s “having such good fun. The show is pretty raucous, totally rocking.” Which is to say that, although the album is electric and the show will be acoustic, Nile will be bringing the fire. He's touring behind a live album, "Live From the Streets of New York." Starts at 7:30 p.m., $20 show.      With songs like “The Day I Saw Bo Diddley in Washington Square,” Nile’s last studio album is clearly his New York album – not though, analogous, to Lou Reed’s album called “New York.” (Nile’s friendly with Reed, but hasn’t heard the album.) One song not exactly about New York is “Cell Phones Ringing (In the Pockets of the Dead).” Certainly, you initially think 9/11. But here’s Nile’s story: “I wrote it for victims of the Madrid 2004 train bombing.” Backstory: “I live in the Village and (on 9/11) I heard the second plane hit. I lost a good friend. I was also on first flight out, as I was doing a tour of Spain. I remember how compassionate people were for the (New York) victims in Spain. And in 2004 I remembered those people. I saw the headline, ‘190 Body Bags With Cell Phones Ringing’ and it gave me a chill. And it made me angry. This is my way of fighting back. It can work with one acoustic guitar.”
    Also, of note on the record, Nile’s cover of the Clash’s “Police on My Back,” done originally for writer Jimmy Guterman’s “Sandinista!” revisited album and a stark, poetic closing song called, “Streets of New York.”
This doesn’t pertain to what Nile is doing at Passim, but he’s also got a quintet going that plays smart children’s music, a la Dan Zanes. “We’re raising the bar,” Nile says. “It’s called the Dream Jam Band. We did a record to be released in the early fall. I’ve never been happier, more inspired. … The fire is still in my heart and soul. I take good care of myself, I’m having an absolute blast.”

47 Palmer St., Cambridge, 617-492-7679 clubpassim.org