You wouldn’t call David Bromberg a blues artist per se—he’s always assimilated to numerous genres—but since day one of his career, the blues have never been further than a lurk away. The Blues, the Whole Blues and Nothing But the Blues is an album Bromberg’s had in him for so long that it’s only remarkable it took four decades for him to make it. On this Larry Campbell-produced collection, Bromberg—splitting his time between electric and acoustic guitars, and joined by a peerless team of players—has his way with music originated by the likes of Robert Johnson and Sonny Boy Williamson but also reaches beyond the obvious contenders. John Willie Henry’s “You’ve Been a Good Ole Wagon” builds on a whimsy endemic to much of Bromberg’s work, and Bobby Charles’ “Why Are People Like That?” is all New Orleans sass and brass. At the other extreme, when Bromberg takes on Ray Charles’ “A Fool for You” solo—just voice and guitar—he has never sounded as open or as pure, and for the traditional “Delia,” he and Campbell keep it to the basics—just the two of them—the latter jabbing with jagged slide licks. The title track and a couple of Bromberg originals, sequenced together at the end, send a triple-punch reminder on the way out that Bromberg is a hell of a bandleader as well as a nonpareil musician.