Mississippi John Hurt

For some reason folk specialists hold these clear if casual tapes in low esteem, but I think they stand with his other Vanguard music. Recorded in a Manhattan hotel in February and July 1966, shortly before he died, they capture the same playful warmth and quiet rhythmic assurance that marked all his work. These aren't qualities especially well-served by youth, which is one reason Hurt exerted instant artistic authority when he was rediscovered in 1963 at age seventy-one. From "Funky Butt" to "Shortnin' Bread," this is a man who was always ready to meet his maker. (Grade: A)