Last Time Around – Live At Legends is a fitting farewell to the late, great Junior Wells and his partnership, friendship and kinship with Buddy Guy that lasted decades. The album is a historic release in many ways. It reunites two blues legends who began their unique association in the 1950s. The album was recorded live in March 1993 at Buddy Guy's world-famous Chicago blues mecca Legends, and it's an acoustic document of many classic songs that made both Wells and Guy legends in their own right, such as "She's Alright" and "I've Been There," along with other classic blues standards such as "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Key to the Highway," all delivered with a looseness and power that define both Guy and Wells. It also marks the last time the two ever played together.

This 45-song, two-disc collection is subtitled "two decades of killer fretwork", and never was a set so aptly described. Chess Records was the home to seemingly every hot guitar player in the Chicago area, and many of them make their appearance here. Besides the usual label guitar hotshots (Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy, Lowell Fulson, Earl Hooker, Otis Rush, Robert Nighthawk, Little Milton), space is given to sideman work from legends like Hubert Sumlin and Robert Jr. Lockwood and great one-offs by lesser-known artists like Jody Williams, Danny Overbea, Eddie Burns, Joe Hill Louis, Morris Pejoe, Lafayette Thomas and others. It seems as if everyone recorded for Chess at one time or another, also explaining the inclusion of tracks by John Lee Hooker, Albert King, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Lonnie Brooks, Hound Dog Taylor and Elmore James. If electric blues guitar's your thing, then look no further than this fine two-disc compilation.

This is B.B. King's most delightful recording of the '90s. He duets with other blues greats, including Koko Taylor ("Something You Got"), Buddy Guy ("I Pity the Fool"), Etta James ("There's Something on Your Mind"), Ruth Brown ("You're the Boss"), and his dear friend John Lee Hooker ("You Shook Me"). The peaks come in his guitar shootout with Texas Telecaster slinger Albert Collins on "Call It Stormy Monday" and his high-spirited run-in with Katie Webster, who steals their performance of "Since I Met You Baby" with her saucy asides.

Grammy-winning comeback set that brought Buddy Guy back to prominence after a long studio hiatus. Too many clichéd cover choices – "Five Long Years," "Mustang Sally," "Black Night," "There Is Something on Your Mind" – to earn unreserved recommendation, but Guy's frenetic guitar histrionics ably cut through the superstar-heavy proceedings (Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Mark Knopfler all turn up) on the snarling title cut and a handful of others.

Buddy Guy mostly indulges his histrionic side throughout this high-energy set, first issued in France and soon picked up for domestic consumption by Alligator. Stone Crazy! is a particularly attractive proposition for rock-oriented fans, who will no doubt dig Guy's non-stop incendiary, no-holds-barred guitar attack and informal arrangements. Purists may want to look elsewhere.

This soundtrack to the movie features an astonishing array of blues artists from three generations. Recorded during one long night at NYC's Radio City Music Hall on Feb. 7, 2003, the electricity is in the air and on stage. While it may not have been the finest blues show in history, the collection of founding fathers such as David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Buddy Guy, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Larry Johnson, Hubert Sumlin, Solomon Burke, and the ubiquitous B.B. King along with their spiritual offspring (Gregg Allman, John Fogerty, and Steven Tyler) and some usual suspects like Bonnie Raitt, Robert Cray, and Keb' Mo', makes it arguably the most significant blues session ever captured on film. Beginning acoustic, the double disc builds momentum and volume as we hear the blues mutate to electric and finally hip-hop with Chuck D. exploding on a rap version of John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom".

Cut at the 1974 Montreux Jazz Festival with Stones' bassist Bill Wyman anchoring the rhythm section, the set captures some of the ribald musical repartee that customarily distinguished the pairing of Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, though they certainly break no new ground as they roll through their signature songs.

The 1996 concert video A Tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan gathers Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, B.B. King, Art Neville, Dr. John, and brother Jimmie Vaughan to celebrate the talent and life of the modern electric blues guitar virtuoso. Double Trouble and the Tilt-a-Whirl Band support these stars as they interpret Vaughan's songbook in an 80-minute concert; brief interviews with the featured artists enrich the proceedings with even more respect and affection. Highlights of Vaughan's performance on the PBS series Austin City Limits hit home just how great a talent was lost when he was killed in 1990. Ultimately, though, A Tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan focuses on the uplifting memory of his warmth and musical gifts, keeping them alive with the help of his very able friends.

As the main songwriter for Chicago's Chess label, bassist/singer Willie Dixon was one of the most influential and prolific figures in blues. Although he often served as a session player for other well-known musicians, his soulful presence was always felt, as revealed on this excellent 18-track collection which features Dixon performing with Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Magic Sam, Otis Rush, and other blues luminaries.

The Godfather of contemporary blues, who took modern Chicago blues and embellished it with the bite, fire, and flash of rock & roll, Buddy Guy had not yet broken through in America (although he was much appreciated in Europe) when he recorded three albums for JSP Records between 1979 and 1981, including this, the middle one, which found Guy working with a solid session band of guitarists Doug Williams, William McDonald, and Phil Guy, saxophonist Maurice John Vaughn, keyboardists Gene Pickett and Eddie Lusk, bassists Nick Charles and J.W. Williams, and drummers Merle Perkins and Ray Allison. It's vintage Guy, and shows the raw but applied talent and showmanship that would eventually bring him the large American audience he so justly deserved in the 1990s. A 2008 re-release added three bonus tracks.

The Godfather of contemporary blues, who took modern Chicago blues and embellished it with the bite, fire, and flash of rock & roll, Buddy Guy had not yet broken through in America (although he was much appreciated in Europe) when he recorded three albums for JSP Records between 1979 and 1981, including this, the middle one, which found Guy working with a solid session band of guitarists Doug Williams, William McDonald, and Phil Guy, saxophonist Maurice John Vaughn, keyboardists Gene Pickett and Eddie Lusk, bassists Nick Charles and J.W. Williams, and drummers Merle Perkins and Ray Allison. It's vintage Guy, and shows the raw but applied talent and showmanship that would eventually bring him the large American audience he so justly deserved in the 1990s.