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The title of Buddy Guy's latest album says it all: The Blues Is Alive and Well. The legendary blues artist's 18th solo LP and follow-up to 2015's Born to Play Guitar showcases his raw and unadulterated sound, its 15 tracks a true pleasure for aficionados and genre newcomers alike. The record is arriving on the heels of a spate of high visibility for the 83-year-old performer: at the 2016 Grammys, he picked up a trophy for Best Blues Album, honoring Born to Play Guitar, and that same year he hit the road opening for Jeff Beck. In addition to bringing the house down for a recent sold-out performance commemorating the closing of New York City's B.B. King's Blues Club and Grill, he recently appeared on David Letterman's Netflix talk show My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. A truly restless and energetic performer, The Blues Is Alive and Well is the latest triumph in an already-legendary career.
It is hard to believe that at 38 years old Jonny Lang has already had a successful career for two decades. Easier to believe when you learn he released his first platinum record at 15 – an age when many young people are just beginning to play music. Lie to Me revealed a talent that transcended the crop of blues prodigies floating around in the late ‘90s. No flashy re-hasher of classic blues licks, even at that early age Lang was a full-blown artist with a style of his own. Also, setting Lang apart from the wunderkind crowd was a 15-year-old voice that sounded like a weathered soul shouter. Actual life experience was yet to come and has been subsequently chronicled in a series of five uniformly excellent recordings. What began as a bluesy sound, influenced by electric pioneers like Albert Collins, B. B. King, and Buddy Guy, evolved over those recordings into a modern R&B style closer to Stevie Wonder and contemporary gospel music. Lang's distinctive, blues-inflected licks appeared on every album, but became one element in a sea of passionately sung and tightly arranged songs.