*** Alvin "Youngblood" Hart

TERRITORY

(Hannibal/ Rykodisc)

The blues, at its best, can grab your spirit and put you in a trance that taps the very essence of the human condition. Or it can make you jump and shout and forget about everything except having fun right now. Alvin "Youngblood" Hart does both on Territory, the wide-ranging follow-up to his award-winning country-blues debut, 1997's Big Mama's Door. Hart plucks a variety of antique string instruments with authority and verve while offering up growling, moaning, half-enunciated vocals as colorful as a park full of autumn leaves. A native Californian who has spent time working on Mississippi River and playing on the streets of Chicago, the 35-year-old provides more diversity this time around than on his debut -- from brooding psychedelic ruminations and stuttering garage-band excursions to simple and intoxicating acoustic blues, with influences as diverse as Leadbelly, Bukka White, the Rolling Stones, and Frank Zappa. The self-taught Hart is growing quickly from a great young country bluesman to a songster of range and vision.

-- Bill Kisliuk