Chicago Line

by William Ruhlmann John Mayall's first new studio album to be released in the U.S. in more than a decade shows that his current crop of Bluesbreakers -- Coco Montoya, Walter Trout, Bobby Haynes, and Joe Yuele -- who have been together longer than any previous outfit, play like a seasoned blues band, sparking each other (especially guitarists Montoya and Trout), and never falling into complacency. Mayall presides over the music without dominating it, which makes The Bluesbreakers more of a group than they've been since the '60s.