Carolina Chocolate Drops: Genuine Negro Jig | CD review

Young America's current embrace of what is now termed "old time" music – the jumble of blues, folk, country and jug band from the 20s and 30s – has scarcely extended to black musicians. This youthful trio are a notable exception. Their second album is a more playful, accomplished affair than their debut, applying banjo, fiddle and spoons to antique numbers but also turning Blu Cantrell's R&B hit "Hit 'Em Up Style" into a backyard stomp. Tom Waits's "Trampled Rose" doesn't fare so well but classically trained Rhiannon Giddens delivers a lovely, a cappella "Reynardine", extending the group's reach from Carolina to old England.