Koko Taylor, Old School

But not too old school, thankfully. Yes, her raw, brawling vocal style is a throwback, making her virtually the only living link to husky-voiced, no-nonsense blues pioneers like Bessie Smith. This was Koko's first album after seven years of medical problems, and there's no denying she came back strong. But there's also no denying that while tracks like "Gonna Buy Me a Mule" and "Bad Avenue" wholeheartedly embrace the aggressive Chicago electric combo sound — the latter threatens to out-Muddy Muddy–there's just enough blues-rock in the guitars, especially, to anoint her a link of another kind as well: Koko makes that 50s-60s Chicago sound seem contemporary, just as she can make contemporary blues sound classic. Guitarist (and co-producer) Criss Johnson must have been chewing nails while he was learning these songs; his work is that sharp and nasty. But there's no doubt who the star is: Koko, who wrote five of these songs and was usually careful not to be overly obvious with her choice of remakes, growls and moans and sighs and cries and lays down the law like a woman who will not be denied, age and illnesses be damned. And in songs like "Better Watch Your Step" and "Don't Go No Further," she'll tell you so herself.