This former “Midnight At The Oasis” singer continues her roots renaissance of the last decade with this, the second in a tribute to pioneering blueswomen of the pre-war period and the more-or-less sequel to 2001’s Grammy-nominated Richland Woman Blues, which covered much of the same fertile musical ground.

If anything, this new CD is even more dedicated to the distaff legends of the blues, and that means much more Memphis Minnie (five songs, to be exact) as well as some Bessie Smith (“Empty Bed Blues”) and a few obscurities like “Long As I Can See You Smile” and “Ain’t What You Used To Have.” She’s not bound to formula, though: this set is about celebrating the female spirit in these original recordings, and so when she finds a male song she can interpret in just that way—say, Blind Willie Johnson’s “Take A Stand”—she’ll do it. Which is good, because the last thing these songs need are another layer of well-intentioned museum dust. Besides, Muldaur’s been singing the blues since she was a Greenwich Village folkie; she’s not some archivist trying to dress up in period costume. She feels this stuff.

Along for the ride this time, once again, are Tracy Nelson, Alvin Youngblood Hart, and Dave Matthews (yep, the famous one) proving that he knows his stride piano. New to the proceedings is Taj Mahal, who sits in on guitar and banjo while providing the only possible male counterpart to Maria’s winking sensuality on the duet “Ain’t What You Used To Have” and providing an extra layer of vocal truth on the closing “Take A Stand.” The experience of making Richland—and its response—seems to have encouraged Muldaur in her new(er) career, which means that when you take into account song selection, performance, flow, instrumentation, an attitude, this sequel actually turns out to be slightly better than the original. Buy this one now before your Grammy-watching dilettante friends get it.