**1/2 Alvin Youngblood Hart

START WITH THE SOUL

(Hannibal)

Fans of Hart's gifted approach to acoustic blues may be disappointed by this ambitious album, but he deserves praise for its scope and imagination -- and for his own courage. At worst, the CD descends to bar-band hackery: the Jersey rock of "Fightin' Hard" and a mediocre cover of the Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose's "Treat Her like a Lady" are hurdles. Yet they're countered by the provocative, anti-racist roots rocker "Manos Arriba" and daring music like "Once Again" -- which straddles the worlds of Tom Waits and B.B. King -- and the edgy jazz instrumental "Porch Monkey." When Hart gets back to blues-ness, it's in the prickly-riffed "A Prophet's Mission" -- a visionary reimagining of Howlin' Wolf's signatures -- and the dirty-ass workout "Will I Ever Get Back Home," a purer extraction of Mr. Burnett's style. There are other clunkers, but Hart's knack for lyrics celebrating the pride and strength of the individual man (African-Americans in particular) in the course of life's trials gives the album a steely backbone. And his bag of electric guitar riffs, from Hendrix-ian wah to grimy power chords, is satisfying.

--Ted Drozdowski