*1/2 North Mississippi All Stars

SHAKE HANDS WITH SHORTY

(Tone Cool)

This is supposed to be good -- two sons of famed Memphis producer Jim Dickinson working the Delta blues into the new century. And good for you -- a suave new hip-hop blues jam for the fresh 21. Well, maybe. No question, the brothers Dickinson (Luther on vocals and guitar, Cody on drums) can play. No doubt they know their music. And almost certainly they mean well. Same with their supporting cast.

But what does it mean, these 10 reworked folk/blues classics? What is added to "Drop Down Mama" or "KC Jones" or "Someday Baby"? Texture and attitude, decoration. The blues, like a prayer wheel, promise the release of the bad stuff, even if only for a moment. And the blues -- the good ones, anyway -- hurt in that moment, before they're gone. The North Mississippi All Stars take the form of the blues and stretch it out, both in their approach and in the duration of some songs. But Shake Hands with Shorty sounds like a largely technical exercise, though certainly fun. Maybe in the go-go double-ought, that's all there is. No more pain, no more sorrow. But I've been to Memphis, and I'm fairly sure there's more these likely lads left behind. I want that part, too. Then I'll be impressed.

-- Grant Alden