Cliff of course is Clifford Antone, the proprietor of Antone’s, Austin’s “Home of the Blues” club, and the man behind the label of the same name. As the title indicates, Cliff’s Picks is very much an Antone Record’s dog and pony show, mixing blues legends (Matt Murphy, Eddie Taylor, Barbara Lynn, Pinetop Perkins) with younger artists like Sue Foley and Toni Price. Also sprinkled in are performers like Kim Wilson, Doug Sahm, Doyle Bramhall, and Marcia Ball (with Miss Lou Ann Barton and Angela Strehli) who can be considered Austin institutions. Not surprisingly, all the artists found here have played at Antone’s club at one time or another. Of the legends, Eddie Taylor’s signature “Big Town Playboy” still swings; Lazy Lester’s contribution, “Irene,” is great gritty swamp pop; and Zu Zu Bollin’s “Hey Little Girl” is a marvelous Texas shuffle. Unfortunately, Cliff picked James Cotton’s rendition of “Stormy Monday” and Perkins’ “Ida B,” two songs over six minutes long that could turn an insomniac into Rip Van Winkle.

Price, a Nashville import, turns in a credible version of the Le Roi’s “Chain of Love” while Canadian Sue Foley contributes a gloomy “Gone Blind.” The late Sahm rocks awhile on “She Put the Hurt on Me,” giving the Otis Redding song a rocking New Orleans flavor. Speaking of the Crescent City, Wilson covers a Guitar Slim obscurity, “If I Should Lose You,” with Duke Robillard contributing on guitar. The Ball/Barton/Strehli inclusion is the Ike and Tina nugget “I Idolize You” which rings true. Bramhall reprises Stevie Ray Vaughn’s style on “Too Sorry” and indeed it is.

The CD also includes a recent interview with with Antone (one of his artists recently dubbed him as “The Robin Hood of the Blues,” referring to his recent brush with the F.B.I.) and he explains why he selected these 14 tracks. While there are a couple of duds here, overall it’s a good representation of what the Antone’s label has been up to for the past 15 years and an introduction to the Austin blues scene.