Johnnie Bassett & The Blues Insurgents - Cadillac Blues (1998)

Two in a row for Johnny Bassett and his fine band, the Blues Insurgents. They are the keepers of the flame of straight-ahead, postwar blues. Bassett, musically, is a direct descendant of B.B. King circa 1965, with his pure, clean tone and long, flowing guitar lines uncluttered by electronic devices. Vocally, he sounds like Mose Allison and Johnny Adams in an untrained way. His band is very tight and unusual because, along with trumpet, tenor sax and drums, it includes organ, which also plays the bass parts. If this disc has any faults, it may be that Bassett delivers a couple of the hurting songs with too much positive emotion, which seems at odds with his lyrics. A very satisfying disc of shuffles, down-in-the-alley slow blues and funk.