Seventeen live performances on this blues compilation, drawn from 1990-1995 recordings that were done for the Folk Masters series distributed by ; all of these were recorded at either or . There's a lot of variety and numerous styles represented: work songs, folksy songsters, modern electric blues ( does an eight-minute ), Delta-styled blues ( ), piano jazz-blues, and more. It's adventurous enough to go off into some detours that aren't strictly blues, but certainly blues-related, as in the zydeco by , the a cappella vocals of , the jazz violin of , and the New Orleans trad jazz of and . Many of the performers were quite elderly when they made their contributions, and while it's great that there is a venue for these guardians of tradition, much of the disc is overly polite in execution. When come on with their unbridled chants on the energy and daring really pick up. The go-go music of , ., and 's with percussion performed largely on paint buckets and other found objects, is another ambitious detour worth applauding. ~ Richie Unterberger