Heart in the right place
First,I have to admit a thing or two: I absolutely love Muldaur's last two acoustic blues albums,second I frequently listen 1920s blues queens on my I-pod (I collect with interest & enthusiasm their original music) so naturaly I was very excited and curious about this album.It might be that I'm too familiar with originals but I have impression that while Muldaur honestly loved & enjoyed previous two albums,this is done for the sake of finishing the trilogy.The magic is present only on duet with Bonnie Raitt who gracefuly harmonises from behind and dont push herself too much in front,excatly as young Muldaur did on her 1968 recording of the same song with great late Sippie Wallace.Althought Muldaur herself have talent,ability,attitude and formal connections with some of 1920s blues stars,somewehere at the back of my mind little voice tells me its still a little white girl trying to be big black mama - I don't love Muldaur any less for it,since there's nobody else who does this anyway,she's clearly on a mission to keep the torch going on - but somehow it would make more sense to hear Etta James or Koko Taylor with this kind of material.For heart in the right place and her enthusiasm,four stars anyway.

A Valentine to Bessie, Sippie, Ma, et. al.
For those of you have may have wondered what has become of Maria Muldaur since "Midnight at the Oasis", 33-or-so-years-ago, this c.d. provides the answer. She has become primarily a blues singer. Her voice and (judging by the photo on the c.d. cover) her appearance have become deeper and chestier with the passing years. The back of the liner notes contains an unsolicited review by blues singer Victoria Spivey of the "rising star", Maria d'Amato, ca. 1964. As a valentine to that act of kindness, Ms. Muldaur nee d'Amato records this album of tunes done by Ms. Spivey, Ma Rainey, Alberta Hunter, Bessie Smith and Sippie Wallace.

This is truly a re-creation, complete with orchestrations that sound straight out of Louis Armstrong's "Hot Seven" combo. Imagine if those great singers could have recorded in the digital age, and that's kind of what you have here. Ms. Muldaur sounds great, and this c.d. is guaranteed to make you smile. Two especially noteworthy "smiles" occur on Sippie's "Separation Blues," done here as a duet with Bonnie Raitt. These two old blues-rockers from the '60's sound wonderful together. And the other is the wonderfully bawdy "Handy Man," perfect background music for the next episode of HBO's "Cathouse"!

If you like old blues, you can't go wrong--unless you're a purist who objects to anybody trying to recreate Bessie Smith, et. al. I'm not a purist. Recommended. RC

Maria, Queen of the Blues
Having been a fan of Maria Muldaur since the jug band days, I can truly say that this is her best yet. Her voice on this set shows a rougher, more mature Maria, giving her blues a more authentic feel, with the James Dapogny Chicago Band a perfect foil. Dapogny, a Jelly Roll Morton authority, also has been adept at recreating arrangements from original 1920's and 30's recordings. All the songs on this set are from that period.
Maria's vocals are dead-on. As we derive from her liner notes, she had hands-on lessons and support from Victoria Spivey and Sippie Wallace. She does them proud here on every track.
One of the highlights is her duet with Bonnie Raitt on "Separation Blues", but listen to the interplay between Rob Bourassa's guitar and Kim Cusack's clarinet on "Handy Man". Cusack's solos throughout are tasteful and perfect. Jon-Erik Kellso, too, is fine, both in his lead trumpet role and all solos.
All in all, a fine disc. I can't think of a better set of vocal blues from the period to have come out in many years. Maria Muldaur rings true on every track.
DJ Carleton
Chalumeau Chauvenist

Hospitality I Have Surely Found
"Naughty, Bawdy & Blue" is a delightful blues fest. Muldaur acts as musicologist in addition to performer. The booklet has bios for Ma Rainey, Victoria Spivey, Sippie Wallace, Bessie Smith, Mamie Smith, Ethel Waters, Alberta Hunter & Sara Martin. Muldaur's duet with Bonnie Raitt on "Separation Blues" is a delightful showstopper with the band in full Dixieland mode, "For years you dogged me round, but now's the time for me to get you told what's on my mind; I'm going away; please don't ask me to stay." "New Orleans Hop Scop Blues" is another Dixieland diamond with Muldaur's voice sounding every bit like the CD title, "New Orleans is a great big old Southern town where hospitality I have surely found, the population there is very very fair with everything they do." The CD concludes with a Ma Rainey tune that's like a sunny day blues, "Everytime I get a letter, it's always bad news; Everytime I see the mailman, yonder comes the blues." Other tracks like "Handy Man," "Smile," & "One Hour Mama" are also excellent. Muldaur's blues bio is good reading. This set finds her knee deep in the blues. It's riveting listening. Enjoy!

The double entendre as art
Back in the early part of the last century, when recorded music was a novelty and songs were sung live and not on radio, audiences were more intimate. There was a genre of music, of songs, which relied on double entendre for lyrics, and wit was a virtue. But it was still the blues. Just about every song on this CD, sung in the whiskey smoke of Muldaur's voice, has lyrics that can be taken more than one way, and full-throated blues you could use to wrap fish. If this is the kind of thing you like to hear, I can't recommend this CD highly enough. Now it's not the kind of thing that's for everybody, and you want to use this kind of CD like you'd use jalapeno's on a pizza - sparingly and to good effect. But man it's good.