IF THE Heritage Blues Orchestra haven’t already been booked to perform on Later… With Jools Holland then its programmers need to take note.

The five-piece, who came to prominence with their debut album And Still I Rise in 2012, meet the show’s criteria for excellent musicianship and an in-depth knowledge of roots music. Described as a “more potent Carolina Chocolate Drops,” they’re touring a set of African-American music that ranges from chain gang and prison songs through to swamp blues.

The set’s an exercise in heritage consciousness-raising throughout, with Chaney Sims delivering a spine-tingling version of Leadbelly’s a cappella Go Down Hannah and a potent, honking blues on Big-Legged Woman, while Vincent Butcher’s harmonica on I’m Going Home on the Northern Train is about as far removed from Dylan’s neck-brace playing as can be imagined.

It’s an impeccable musicianship that works to stirring effect on gospel-blues closer In The Morning but sometimes the musicianship can be the band’s undoing.

C-Line Woman demands dirt and primal grime but Junior Mack’s guitar work is over-fussy and Grammy award-winning drummer Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith’s solos sometimes come across as an exercise in form over soul.

The most powerful moments are often the most basic, with the jazz-blues of St James Infirmary being just voice and Bill Sims Jr on piano and Delta Slide performed solo by Junior Mack on acoustic guitar.

At such moments the energy of the originals get a stirring update.

Review by Susan Darlington