iSound

THE BLUES CONTINUALLY REINVENTS ITSELF. Just when it seems that no new ideas exist in this deceptively simple genre, the blues inspires vivid, vital variations. Such creative flashes are especially frequent in the cultural crucible of New Orleans, where innovation and tradition swirl like molten metal. Vu-du menz Corey Harris and Henry Butler joined forces in the Crescent City--Butler is a native, while Harris spent five seminal years there--and their powerful new album exudes plenty of New Orleans' pungent, pervasive funk. Besides honoring such Big Easy icons as Professor Longhair, Eddie Bo, and James Booker, this eclectic duo also explores and interprets the classic guitar-piano sound of Tampa Red and Georgia Tom, Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell, and Casey Bill Weldon and Black Bob.

Both Harris and Butler come to this collaboration as successful solo artists. Corey's three previous albums established his reputation as an acoustic-blues interpreter and a mature songwr...