Album: Carolina Chocolate Drops, Genuine Negro Jig (Nonesuch)

This North Carolina band have a great live reputation.

The only problem is that – as with their previous release – the production is a tad dry, so the old barn you want to picture them cooking up a banjo, fiddle and guitar-led storm in simply isn't evoked.

This minor reservation aside, though, there's a fine selection of traditional tunes here (plus a couple of originals and Tom Waits' "Trampled Rose") which further cement this African-American trio's mission to prove that "old-time music" can still be a vital force.