Black Coffee.

Even though the members of live in the sprawling city of Atlanta, they increasingly resemble a band born and raised in the Mississippi Delta. Tom Gray's grainy voice and the way his slide guitar lines interweave with those of Delta Moon co-founder Mark Johnson give the band a rustic style that's believable if not particularly authentic. Regardless, the band has created an impressive catalog of swampy blues with rock, soul, gospel, and folk strains of with Black Cat Oil, their seventh release, another impressive entry. The approach is somewhat more stripped down with the ever-present standup bass delivering a more organic groove, especially on the title track which, with its interlocking guitars, voodoo overtones, and humid, summer's night vibe, is as good a capsulation of this group's technique as anything they have recorded……

Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil. But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.

The always eclectic Maria Muldaur, whose previous albums have paid tribute to Shirley Temple and blues women of the '20s, takes another musical detour in this collection of songs associated with Peggy Lee. In addition to her cool, sexy, relaxed voice, Lee was arguably more talented than other vocalists from her era. As a songwriter she co-penned some of her own material, including the swinging "I'm Gonna Go Fishin'" with Duke Ellington, which features the witty double entendres that spice several other songs. Muldaur possesses a similar ability to purr ("Some Cats Know") or sizzle (an opening tour de force of "Fever" and "Black Coffee") without breaking a sweat. So this collection of 12 tracks, backed by a talented yet restrained eight-piece band, is a natural extension of her vocal strengths. The stylish, retro arrangements include vibes and big-band-styled horn charts that sound as authentic as if they were recorded in the '30s. Even though there are some finger-popping swing numbers (a zippy duet with Dan Hicks on Ted Shapiro's "Winter Weather" is especially peppy), a late-night, languid blues-jazz vibe dominates.