Koko Taylor

Taylor's first album in three years illustrates the difference between blues as (theoretical) pop music on Chess and blues as (theoretical) art music on Alligator. There's a certain hothouse quality to this album--it's devoid of endearing, enriching commercial vulgarities. But both band (featuring Mighty Joe Young and Sammy Lawhorn on guitar and the endearing Abb Locke on saxophone) and material (from Taylor and Dixon through Elmore James and Magic Sam and Ruth Brown to Otis Spann's unnecessarily theoretical "Blues Never Die") range beyond Chess's commercial strictures, which more than makes up. (Grade: B+)