As a Chicago born and bred reviewer, I have always been a fan of the blues artists that have called Chi town home. And there is no better representative of the sound than bluesman "Otis Rush," who has been a presence since '56. What he hasn't been, is recording his own albums, at least for the past four years, outside of re-releases of older material, all on indy labels. Now The House of Blues has brought us a new album filled with revivals of classic blues music, played by Otis in his inimitable style.

Known for his lefthanded, upside down guitar play (using a right-handed Gibson), Otis delivers solid licks full of intensity that show he's a master of the craft, with eleven slices of prime blues. He reprises his own first hit, "Keep On Loving Me Baby," and adds a new one, "Any Place I'm Going." He revives such classics as "Sam Cooke's" "Laughin' and Clownin'," the perfect song to showcase his intense vocals, while "Lloyd Price's" "Have You Ever Had The Blues," "Nappy Smith's" "The Right Time" and "Little Milton's" "Walking The Back Streets and Crying," are full of the vibrato-rich guitar play that defines the "West Side" style.

The opening cut, producer Willie Mitchell's "You Fired Yourself," gets you hooked from the first guitar riffs. Otis' "I told you so" vocal expression sets the tone for the whole album. Kudo's to the producer for knowing his own music enough to pick out this song for Otis to do. Turn up the volume you're in for a treat, for this is also a technically clean disc.

Want to hear a guitar talk to you? Listen to the opening of "Keep On Loving Me Baby," and compare it to the vocals from Otis that follow. The inflection in his voice is the same you heard from his guitar a moment before. Otis once said you didn't have to have the blues to play them and you certainly don't have to have them to listen to them.

So give yourself a "Rush" and you'll be glad to say "I Got The Blues."