Muddy Waters brought Mississippi Delta blues to Chicago’s South Side in the 1940s, and if he wasn’t the only bluesman to ride the train to the Windy City, he made a greater impression than most. Marking the probable centennial of his birth, Muddy Waters 100 brings together surviving members of his band—including guitarists John Primer and Bob Margolin and harmonica master James Cotton—with such younger musicians as Keb’ Mo’ and Shemekia Copeland. The trans-generational concept establishes the idea that the blues is a torch that can be passed from old to young on credible new renditions of “Got My Mojo Working,” “Mannish Boy” and other Waters’ numbers. A host of admirers crowd the CD, including Johnny Winter, who recorded his part weeks before his death. A fine essay by Waters’ biographer Robert Gordon puts the music in context.
