Louisiana Red has lived the Blues. And Louisiana Red not only plays the Blues, he lives it through his guitar and his singing. Strongly influenced by Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins and Arthur Crudup, he has long ago found his own voice, his own style, his own form of expression.

The current blues scene in the U.S. and Europe is characterized by a wide variety of styles and musicians. However, as the years go passing by there are fewer and fewer artists left that were active during the formative years of blues music, those who participated in the development of the music.

Thus, it is all the more important and cause for celebration that there are still artists such as Louisiana Red.

Louisiana Red has lived the Blues. And Louisiana Red not only plays the Blues, he lives it through his guitar and his singing. Strongly influenced by Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins and Arthur Crudup, he has long ago found his own voice, his own style, his own form of expression.

When Red performs, the songs are often only launching pad for expressing his immediate feelings in the almost lost tradition of spontaneous composition that goes back to the original Delta Blues artists, and even further to the West-African griot bards.

In a career spanning over half a century, Louisiana Red has played with just about every major bluesman you can name, some of the most memorable encounters being his jams with B.B.King and Muddy Waters.

But it doesn't matter who he plays with or where he appears - Louisiana Red brings the same intensitiy and enthusiasm to every stage he appears on, whether in front of 10,000 people at a festival or 100 people in an intimate club.

Louisiana Red's albums have been called masterpieces by critics, and in 1983 he won a W.C. Handy Award as best traditional blues artist. After living in Germany for 20 years, he has made several triumphant comeback tours in the United States.

But if you ask Red about it, he won't tell you much about his success. He'll much rather talk about his latest CD project, about a new song or a new guitar lick. Because Louisiana Red is constantly creating, always searching for another expression of his blues. For once, the hyperbole is justified: Louisiana Red is the Blues.

• Blues