A classic blues singer from the 1920s,
Edith Wilson
had not recorded since 1930 when she made this excellent set for Delmark, which was reissued on CD in 1993.
Wilson
had been active in the interim as a singer and actress and as
"Aunt Jemina"
during the 1950s up until 1965. Although her voice had naturally deepened,
Wilson's
basic style was unchanged, and at 69 she still sounded pretty strong on this collection of blues-related material. Her two overlapping backup groups had three horns (including trombonist
Preston Jackson
and usually
Franz Jackson
on clarinet and tenor), pianist
Little Brother Montgomery
, guitarist/banjoist
Ikey Robinson
and a rhythm section. Among the songs that
revives are "Mistreatin' Blues," "He May Be Your Man," "My Handy Man Ain't Handy Anymore" and "Put a Little Love In Everything You Do." She would recorded one further album (for Wolverine) in 1974 and a couple isolated tracks in 1976 before her death in 1981. Recommended. ~ Scott Yanow