Ben Harper with Charlie Musselwhite: Get Up - review

Listening to Ben Harper can be like watching a slick film about the blues, with period authenticity like scratches and black-and-white footage added in post-production.

Well, dust my broom, this project with veteran blues harp legend Musselwhite is a Harper reboot that piles on the dynamic tension while paying tribute to past blues groovers like John Lee Hooker.

Occasionally, Harper can still sound once removed, like a crowd-pleasing blues musicologist, but, aided and abetted by Musselwhite’s truly gritty solos, the anger and conviction in these songs transcends mere blues facsimile.