Review: Various—Preachin' The Blues-the music of Mississippi Fred McDowell

Delta bluesman Mississippi Fred was a huge pillar in what we call Delta blues. He had a rhythmic, modal slide guitar and low rumbly vocals joined with an uncanny ability to describe life in the words of a song. His performances crossed stylistic borders and mixed genres as he strode over a world of blues, gospel, folk and nascent rock. All the while, he garnered the adulation of the likes of the Stones, Bonnie Raitt and even today's North Mississippi Allstars. Fred would be pleased that his legacy is inspiring a whole new generation of bluesmen. That's what Preachin' the Blues is all about. A heart-felt thank you by interpretation from some of today's finest blues artists: Louisiana based Kenny Neal, Anders Osborne, Brian Stoltz (the Funky Meters), Tab Benoit and Johnny Sansone joined traditionalist Paul Geremia, piano-meister Dave Maxwell, Canadian blues rocker Sue Foley and megatalent Charlie Musselwhite in a variety of ensembles from man and guitar to four piece band, as they breathed, picked, blew and sang the work of Mississippi Fred McDowell. The songs you know, including "Kokomo Blues," "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning," "I Rolled and Tumbled" and "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," are performed with reverence, heart, soul, purity and heat. —Mark Gresser