Bernard Allison

This live album, culled from a public-television broadcast recorded in 1999, features a reasonably smoldering performance by expatriate blues guitarist Bernard Allison, who now lives in Paris. Allison sings in a characteristic growl that’s somewhat of a blues cliché, but this ain’t a singer’s record. The attraction here is guitar, and Allison’s clean Stratocaster lines sometimes soar with piercing ardor over a Hammond B-3 and band, while at other points they percolate quietly. Of the set’s seven songs, three were written by Allison’s father, the late bluesman Luther Allison; one of those, “Bad Love,” stretches for 14 minutes. (A cover of Buddy Guy’s “Leave My Woman Alone” rambles on for 18 minutes.) Definitely someone to watch.