Throughout the America's Music Legacy series, we've heard and seen musicians paying homage to the blues. Gospel (white or black), rock & roll, and country... all lean on the blues as their foundation. No matter how far away from the source material, western popular music has some basis in blues. You don't always hear it overtly, but it's always there. The artists on this showcase, America's Music Legacy: Blues, remind us how diverse blues can be as an art form, ranging from horns to vocals to electric guitars. If the roots of popular music are in blues, the roots of blues are in vocals. Artists featured here live like B.B. King, Joe Williams, and classic singers shown on film like Bessie Smith, Big Joe Turner, and Jimmy Rushing, all remind us what the horn players are emulating. The keening sound of King's electric guitar is like the range beyond his voice, on both ends of the spectrum, while Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson on alto could be a disembodied singer shouting the blues in front of a backing band. The entire spectrum of blues music is here, a treat for fans of the modern styles.

The material collected here includes real classics like "Stormy Monday," "Everyday I Have the Blues," and "Ain't Nobody's Business," plus other originals you probably haven't heard before. Brock Peters of To Kill A Mockingbird (if you're a Baby Boomer) and Deep Space Nine (if you're younger...) does a nice job as host, adding a relaxed but elegant tone to the proceedings. The best moments of America's Music Legacy: Blues are the team-ups, when B.B. King and Linda Hopkins team up for "Everyday," or when Buddy Guy and Junior Wells take on "Who's Lovin' You Tonight." There's even an All-Star Band featuring Gerald Wiggins, Teddy Edwards, Andy Simpkins, Paul Humphreys, and Harry "Sweets" Edison, performing "Jamming the Blues." The blend of horn players, big bands, and vocalists makes this an interesting collection, one that any blues fan will appreciate.

This isn't intended to be more than a trip down memory lane, but you'll get film clips of roots artists like Count Basie and others to round out these modern performers. It's a great showcase with awesome musicianship, capturing some of the greatest living artists at that time doing their thing on stage. There's something timeless about the blues that transcends even the cheesy '80s, and America's Music Legacy: Blues is one of the better entries in the entire series.