New Roots Guitar from Elvis Costello, Levon Helm, Ronnie Earl, Jimmy Vaughan, Mick Fleetwood, Otis Taylor, Hubert Sumlin and More

Here’s our recommendations:

Levon Helm, Electric Dirt (Vanguard)

This sequel to Helm’s Grammy winning 2007 acoustic Dirt Farmer finds the Band drummer and singer totally plugged in with producer Larry Campbell of Dylan’s group and Jimmy Vivino of Conan O’Brien’s house band wielding guitars. Vivino and Campbell trade licks on a beatific “Move Along Train.” Along with the Staple Singers’ classic, Helm visits the catalogs of Muddy Waters, the Stanley Brothers, and Randy Newman on this amiable ramble through blues and gospel.

Elvis Costello, Secret, Profane & Sugarcane (Hear)

Elvis heads to the hills and valleys of the South for this excellent homage to the folk sounds of rural America. But he takes some detours with songs inspired by the life of Hans Christian Anderson and the Bing Crosby waltz “Changing Partners.” With Jerry Douglas adding stellar, understated dobro and the king and queen of Americana — Jim Lauderdale and Emmylou Harris — on backing vocals, and producer T-Bone Burnett at the helm, this disc is the first close-to-the-bone acoustic album he’s made since 1986’s King of America, which featured James Burton on guitar.

The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band, Blue Again (SLG/492/Tallman)

Drummer/bandleader Fleetwood returns to his roots to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Fleetwood Mac with this live set. With “Rattlesnake Shake,” “Stop Messin’ Around,” “Looking for Somebody,” “Albatross,” “Black Magic Woman,” “and “Love that Burns” dominating the set list, this is also a tribute to the band’s original creative force, Les Paul slinger Peter Green, with Green disciple Rick Vito capably tackling Greenie’s role.

Ronnie Earl, Living in the Light (Stony Plain)

Strato-master Earl has one of the greatest, most instantly recognizable tones in modern blues. And hearing him stretch strings on instrumentals like the wailing, deeply emotional “S.O.S.” is one of the style’s true pleasures. Add guest Kim Wilson on vocals for three tracks — including a groundbreaking blues composition about the Holocaust (“Child of a Survivor,” which Earl is) — and the sum is another exceptional work by this distinguished artist.

Otis Taylor, Pentatonic Wars and Love Songs (Telarc)

When creative iconoclast Taylor writes an album of love songs, rest assured there’s nothing uncomplicated about them. But they are beautiful, right from the opening track, which twines jazz piano, cornet, hand drums, and Taylor’s droning acoustic guitar to capture passion’s allure. Blues-rock legend Gary Moore guests against type, playing acoustic guitar. His haunting, flamenco tinted leads coupled with Cassie Taylor’s equally beguiling voice on “Sunday Morning” has already made this song a staple of Americana radio.

Mark “Porkchop” Holder, Fry Pharmacy (myspace.com/markholdermusic)

The former Black Diamond Heavies guitarist now plays solo, and that’s how he recorded this album — live in Nashville’s retro-perfect Fry Pharmacy studio playing a National Polychrome Tricone resonator guitar with a harmonica in a neck brace, and a suitcase and a tambourine under his feet. Holder’s covers and originals both sound like refugees from the era of Robert Johnson and Son House, which, of course, some of them are. But Holder invests his tradition-rooted music with his own charismatic urgency.

Omar Kent Dykes, Big Town Playboy (Ruf)

With Jimmy Vaughan and Austin’s Derek O’Brien on guitars, and Lazy Lester and James Cotton on harmonica along with singer Lou Ann Barton completing the roster of ringers, this sequel to Dykes’ 2007 Jimmy Reed Highway preserves that tribute disc’s old-school electric blues vibe. And it expands the repertoire to include chestnuts by Slim Harpo, Lightnin’ Slim, Ivory Joe Hunter, and John Lee Hooker.

Louisiana Red, Back to the Black Bayou (Ruf)

At age 76 the dirty blues moaner who was born Iverson Minter remains a swampy dynamo. With the dust of the ages in his voice and the echo of history in his distorted picking and grinding slide, he is a formidable flashback to the time when blues string-benders were just plugging in and letting their open hearts speak. This live-in-the-studio set captures all that.

Zora Young, Sunnyland (Airway)

Chicago blues belter Young’s tribute to the late piano giant Sunnyland Slim is just as much an ode to the very much alive six-string legend Hubert Sumlin. The former Howlin’ Wolf sideman lends his patented slippery fingered playing to more than half of these 13 numbers, and lends his voice to “You Said You Were Leaving” and “Looka Here Baby,” which makes Sunnyland essential for Sumlin’s legion of die-hard fans.

Buckwheat Zydeco, Lay Your Burden Down (Alligator)

After 30 years of touring, Creole accordionist and singer Stanley Dural’s Buckwheat Zydeco band still has some surprises left. The first on their latest disc is a revamp of Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks” with guest Sonny Landreth. And the shocker near the end of the album is an R&B-ified cover of Captain Beefheart’s “Too Much Time.”