John Hammond - Rough & Tough

John Hammond sits down with a guitar, a harmonica and a bag of well-loved blues on Rough & Tough, presented here on 180-gram vinyl.First released in 2009 on Chesky Records, the album captures the veteran bluesman solo, recorded in a New York church whose natural acoustics wrap around every note. Hammond, son of the legendary record producer of the same name, has spent decades championing the country and Chicago blues he fell for as a young man, and this set finds him in commanding form.My Mind Is Ramblin' opens the record with stomping energy, and his take on Blind Willie McTell's Statesboro Blues rattles along with gleeful drive. Get Behind the Mule nods to his long friendship with Tom Waits, given a gritty, swampy reading, and Muddy Waters' I Can't Be Satisfied closes things on a raw, rough-hewn note.There is no band to hide behind, just voice, fingers, harmonica and wood, and Hammond makes it sound full and alive. You can hear the room around him, which is exactly the point of a record like this.For blues lovers who crave the music at its most direct, it is a vivid, close-up portrait of a master still at the top of his game.