Tab Benoit, Night Train to Nashville (Telarc, 2008)
Honeyboy Edwards, Roamin' and Ramblin' (Earwig, 2007)
JW-Jones, Bluelisted (Northern Blues, 2008)

Here we go again with a batch of blues albums from all over the map. Authentic old time blues from an authentic living legend, New Orleans blues from a younger guitar hero, and the rockin' blues of a Canadian bluesman.

"Let's kick it off...wit' sumpin' like this!" the guitar riff begins, the drums, bass all chooglin' along, then Tab Benoit's growl as he sings "I'm a night train, rollin' nine hundred miles..." I assure you, you can "hear [him] comin' " and he "won't stop til the mornin' light." His stinging lead guitar accents the rhythm of his solid and more-than-competent band. And that's just the first song! There are 10 more!

Born in 1967, in Baton Rouge, he's the middle-aged man in this set...middle-aged at 41. And he wears his influences on his sleeve. And his originality pours out of every tune.

"Solid Simple Things" has echoes of Fats Domino's rolling shuffle. Guitar driven, it's a rocker in the grand old tradition. Benoit changes styles on his Fender Thinline Telecaster, from pure blues to countryish picking. Oh, and then there's the keyboard work of Nelson Blanchard. Alternating betwen piano and organ, he doesn't miss a trick. The back-up band is Louisiana's LeRoux. Apart from Blanchard, there's Tony Haseldon (guitar, banjo), Jim Odom (guitar), Leon Medica (bass), David Peters (drums) and Mark Duthu (percussion). And they seem to be able to handle everything Tab throws at them. "Darkness" is a slow blues, "Too Sweet For Me" is a shuffle featuring Kim Wilson on vocals and harmonica.

Jim Lauderdale joins in on the country blues of "Moon Comin' Over the Hill." In its second verse, this one turns into one of those syncopated N'awlins songs. What a groove! Then it's back to solid blues for "Lost in Your Lovin'." Jimmy Hall joins with harmonica and vocals on a hat trick of bluesy tunes including "Rendezvous With the Blues," a slow one called "New Orleans Ladies" and the boogie "Muddy Bottom Blues." Great stuff.

Now for the living legend. It's 93-year-old David "Honeyboy" Edwards. Acoustic Delta blues, pure and simple. Even though the picture on the insert shows him playing an electric guitar, this is an unplugged collection, and all the better for it. This is the kind of material you just don't hear any more. Sometimes solo, other times accompanied by Bobby Rush or Sugar Blue (among others), Honeyboy shows just how sweet it is to sing the blues.

The songs are pretty much your standard shuffles and boogies, but they are played with a vigor and intensity that belie the age of the perpetrator! OK, so he misses a note here and there, it doesn't mean a thing, because it outright swings. Whether driven along by Rick Sherry on washboard, or Kenny "Beedy Eyes" Smith on drums, or simply by the guitar playing of Edwards and Rush, the tunes move. Edwards' voice sounds a bit weak on the new tracks, but remember, he's over 90 years old. So the producer has included some earlier tracks for comparison, like "The Army Blues" from 1942, which traces Honeyboy's lineage right to Robert Johnson's door.

Nineteen tracks, every one a keeper, building right to the climax with 1975's "Jump Out," which features Walter Horton on harp! Awesome. Don't miss this one.

Finally it's JW-Jones and his new album Bluelisted. This one rocks out more than the others; it's another generation of blues. Still rooted in the Honeyboy 12-bar tradition, but also linked to the rock'n'roll of other forefathers like Chuck Berry, Jones leads his fine band and a handful of guests through a baker's dozen-plus of finely honed originals and well chosen covers.

The covers include a couple of relatively obscure Riley King tunes (that's BB to you) and one from Richard Berry, the composer of "Louie, Louie." JW handles them like the young pro he is and lays claim to them. The record flows with a rock steady elegance, filled with solid grooves and some snazzy guitar from JW. Oh, and there are guest stars too. Alligator records' Little Charlie Baby adds guitar (and harp on "Out of Service Blues"), Junior Watson joins on guitar for five tracks, including the opener (which features all the guests), "Double Eyed Whammy." Listen, too, for the slick rhythm section of drummer Richard Innes and Larry Taylor on bass.

Wrap all that in some crisp production from Jones, add his own mellow vocals, then package it in a nifty sleeve designed by A Man Called Wrycraft, and you've got another fine blues release from Northern Blues. Another one that "kicks it off, with sumpin' like this!"

[David Kidney ]