Every other blues/roots label from MCA/Chess to Arhoolie is celebrating some kind of anniversary or birthday (I don’t remember Excello or Duke observing any similar landmarks), so why not Blind Pig? A three-CD set that roughly retails for the price of a lone disc, it’s a great value and a good introduction to the San Francisco-based label. Compared to other contemporary blues labels like Alligator and Rounder, Blind Pig has adhered to more of a revolving door policy, as few of its artists have had more than a couple of releases with an oinker on the back cover. Likewise, Blind Pig doesn’t rely on a staff producer, so there’s rarely a seaminess that often creeps into some labels’ releases.

All of Blind Pig’s current pig guns join the celebration including Arthur Adams, Deborah Coleman, Big Bill Morganfield, Debbie Davis and Popa Chubby, the latter currently hot with the clever How’d A White Boy Get the Blues? There’s several old school blues vets on the roster as well—as George Smith, Muddy Waters, Magic Slim, James Cotton, Pinetop Perkins and Johnny Shines all contribute tracks. (Hey, Edward, did you forget the Boogie Woogie Red LP?) Material was well chosen as decent tracks were included from CDs that overall were overall a hard listen. Of regional interest, John Mooney, Chris Thomas King and Chubby Carrier are allotted tracks. While 95 percent of this is a blues collection, there are touches of gospel, rockabilly and zydeco for a change of pace. The third CD in the set is a CD Rom which includes interviews and performance clips from several artists including Muddy and Popa Chubby. Plenty of fine listening here, there’s a lot to like here.