This eclectic collection mixes some down-home country blues tracks with some decidedly uptown jazzy takes on the blues, and the result is an oddly effective set, with such varied performances as
John Lee Hooker's rough and ragged "Louise,"
Jack Teagarden's swinging "St. Louis Blues,"
Sister Rosetta Tharpe's crisp guitar on "Trouble in Mind,"
Joe Turner's easy and elegant "Rainy Day Blues," and
Josh White's subdued and nuanced "Jelly Jelly." It works in a gray, rainy day kind of way, although one has to wonder a little bit how
Bing Crosby (singing "Basin Street Blues") wandered into this room.