Following on the heels of New Orleans-born Royal Southern Brotherhood’s considerable success and coming at a time of raised visibility due to his father, Gregg, entering the twilight of his legendary career as the Allman Brother’s Band ship sails into the mystic, Devon Allman, 42 and long an accomplished musician of lone-wolf mentality, ventured far from his familiar Southern studios in Memphis and Mamou and headed to Chicago to record Ragged & Dirty.

Placing his guitar and vocal talents in the capable hands of Grammy-winning producer Tom Hambridge (Buddy Guy), Allman hired a crack band of players well-versed in the frenetic electric boogie of Chicago blues: bassist Felton Crews (Charlie Musselwhite), guitarist Giles Corey (Billy Branch) and keyboardist Marty Sammon (Buddy Guy).

Though dogged a bit by easy use of blues clichés of no-good women and poker games, Allman dives into waters dark yet pristine, deep but buoyant, over the course of the album’s dozen tracks as he delivers the revelation of an artist in full, self-assured command.

The opening track “Half the Truth” warms up with typical blues fare about a no-good woman before Allman lets his Gibson rip at the 1:20 mark with a howl so fierce, so strong, it demands attention. A delicate side surfaces in “Leavin’” with soothing acoustic-guitar strumming as Allman proclaims, “Leavin’ but I don’t know where.”A seemingly odd cover choice of the Spinners’ soul classic from 1972, “I’ll Be Around,” proves an ideal vehicle for Allman’s silky-smooth vocal side.

The standout here is the sprawling, nine-minute instrumental “Midnight Lake Michigan,” a blistering guitar serenade to devils and angels as brilliant as it is haunting—a duality realized only in artists of the highest caliber, of which Devon Allman now stands as one.