Andy Cohen + Eleanor Ellis + William Lee Ellis
Whistlin’ Past The Graveyard 
(Riverlark Music)
★★★☆☆

THIS unique offering brings together three of the finest performers on America’s acoustic music scene as they immerse themselves in the delights of old time blues, gospel, ragtime and country balladry.

Cohen and company first joined forces in the early 1990s to record the critically acclaimed Preachin’ In That Wilderness, and the long long overdue follow-up is well worth an hour so of anyone’s time. The trio’s choice of subject matter is nothing if not eclectic as they breathe new life into classic creations from the pens of legendary bluesmen such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton and the Rev Gary Davis alongside a fine cover of Steve Earle’s South Nashville Blues and an unexpected instrumental rendition of Scottish cultural icon Robert Burns’s Ye Banks and Braes.

The finished product should be required listening for Americana devotees everywhere.

Leon Russell with Mary Russell
The Paradise Years 1976-1981
(Cherry Red / Lemon)
★★★☆☆

CHERRY RED’s latest archive anthology draws on the assorted recordings that Leon Russell made for his own Paradise Records label during the 1970s and early ’80s.

The rather uneven contents include newly remastered solo offerings from Leon and his first wife Mary and Russell’s fine collaboration with New Grass Revival, The Live Album, which was captured for posterity at Perkins Palace in Pasadena, California in May 1980.

The latter is a particularly impressive piece of work, serving up the great man’s inimitable renditions of everything from Over The Rainbow to Hank Williams’s Jambalaya and two classic Rolling Stones creations, Wild Horses and Jumpin’ Jack Flash.

Johnny Winter
A Rock ’n’ Roll Collection
(Floating World Records)
★★★★☆

THIS passion-filled 2-CD set from the good people at Floating World Records shines a welcome spotlight on the visceral blues rock sound of Johnny Winter, the Texan guitarist and brother of “Frankenstein” hit maker Edgar.

The results of this engaging trawl through the Sony archives showcase some fine examples of the Grammy Award winning axeman’s legendary slide guitar work as Winter breathes new life into much loved old favourites from the rock and blues repertoire such as Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, Johnny B Goode and Jimmy Reed’s Baby Watcha Want Me To Do for your listening pleasure.

The album first saw the light of day in 1994 and if its reissue encourages a sizeable group of discerning music lovers to delve a little more deeply into this hugely influential performer’s richly rewarding back catalogue, then Floating World’s efforts won’t have been in vain.