Magic Slim & The Teardroprs - Blue Magic (2002)

Magic Slim (Morris Holt) is best known for carrying on the Windy City tradition of back-to-the-basics blues bar bands, blasting out a quintessential sound that the music's legends would appreciate and that its newest fans can still enjoy. With Blue Magic, Holt and the Teardrops take a few steps outside their home turf for a New York City session with several surprises. Although most of the material is Holt's, the new album features several conspicuous exceptions, such as an intriguing attempt at country legend Merle Haggard's "I Started Loving You Again." But it's producer Popa Chubby's updating of the Bobby Rush gem "Chickenheads," popularized by Holt's fellow Chicago stalwart Mighty Joe Young, that is the most adventurous experiment. With the band sitting out, Popa Chubby takes over all the rhythm duties and adds sampled loops to the mix. Its reconfiguration is counterbalanced by the group's experienced, no-nonsense take on the Howlin' Wolf classic "How Many More Years." Magic Slim's trademark guitar vibrato is similarly balanced by his gruff vocals and the Teardrops, minus brother Nick Holt but still including guitarist Michael Dotson, consistently demonstrate themselves capable of transforming any studio or stage into a first-class Chicago blues bar. --Michael Point