Legacy
Guy Davis started his performing career as an actor--he was Dr. Josh Hall onOne Life to Livein the 1980s and he playedRobert Johnsonin the off-Broadway playTrick the Devil--and his first recordings, while quite good, sometimes sounded as if he were just playing the role of a bluesman. OnLegacy, Davis's seventh CD, his honey-and-gravel voice has mellowed, his intricate guitar picking has sharpened, and all traces of his earlier staginess have gone. When he playsMississippi John Hurt's "Pay Day" orLightnin' Hopkins's "Come Back Baby" he brings an authority to the music that only comes from deep understanding. And his own songs, such as the moody and moving "I Just Can't Help Loving You" or the jittery, banjo-driven  "Red Goose," show that he has assimilated the old styles and has found a way to bring them into the modern world without sounding like a mere imitator. OnLegacy, Guy Davis serves notice that he isn't merely acting as a bluesman, but that he is emerging as the genuine article.--Michael John Simmons