It Ain't Nothin' But The Blues (Original Broadway Cast (Live))
"The blues is a chair . . . the first chair,"John Lennononce said, struggling to find an analogy for the genre's elemental place in popular music's scheme of things. Emblematic of pain, struggle, oppression, and ultimately triumph, the history of the blues has all the dramatic elements of a great play. But a Broadway musical show? Well, why not? What are conventions for, if not restless tweaking and reinvention, as the blues itself has ably demonstrated over the decades? The producers have gratifyingly imparted the adventurous spirit of their quadruple-Tony nominated show (including Best Musical) to its cast album, bringing in a mini-pantheon of blues greats old and new (B.B. King,Buddy Guy,Jonny Lang) for guest star turns, as well as the gospel mastery of the legendaryAndrae Crouch. Pushing the medium's envelope, they've also used the enhanced CD format to present a concise yet informative history of the blues in music, pictures, and words, the latter penned by show creator Ron Taylor and narrated by Taj Mahal and Whoopi Goldberg. Oh, that all history lessons were this well produced and lovingly imparted!--Jerry McCulley