*** Carey Bell

GOOD LUCK MAN

(Alligator)

Not only are most of the formative Chicago blues players gone, but the generation that learned directly from them is also dwindling. The state of harp is especially dire. Junior Wells lies in a coma. James Cotton still blows with vigor, but his throat's been savaged by illness. Which leaves Carey Bell to carry on both blowing and singing, harp and soul.

The best tunes on his latest are all beauty and sadness. "Teardrops" is especially tender, with Bell's harp choking on the song's soured romance and waxing eloquent soliloquies of heartache to the subtle accompaniment of a band of Chicago session aces. There are plenty of hard-grooved numbers like "My Love Strikes like Lightning" and the shuffle "Good Lover" to lighten up the heavy blues. The instrumental "Double Cross" teams a chipper melody with good ol'-fashioned virtuosity. But it's in entries like "Hard Working Woman" (about a woman leaving an abusive relationship) that Bell rings out best, his deep voice and full-bodied harmonica plumbing the ache. Throw in the more up-tempo "Love Her, Don't Shove Her" and you find Bell also espousing a fairly progressive agenda for a 60-year-old bluesman.

-- Ted Drozdowski