An old clichÉ asserts that "the blues will never die." But in between faddish revivals – which usually start with the mass-culture endorsement of established figures like the Blues Brothers, Stevie Ray Vaughan or even Lee Atwater – this seminal American music does tend to slump into a seriously low profile. It's kept alive during such lean periods by a dedicated core audience. Undaunted by the music's slim sales, equally dedicated small labels remain committed to quality blues material, as is shown by this fine trio of recent releases.

Pianist Pinetop Perkins began playing Mississippi juke joints in the late 1920s. He went on to work with such legends as slide-guitar genius Robert Nighthawk and harmonica trendsetter Sonny Boy Williamson and spent the Seventies with Muddy Waters in what Muddy touted as one of his very best bands.

Today Perkins is still going at full speed. The varied career adventures of this ebullient octogenarian are delightfully presented on Portrait of a Delta Bluesman, as a peak-form solo performance is interspersed with spoken reminiscences of Perkins's life, times and big-name blues buddies like Howlin' Wolf and Sunnyland Slim. Perkins belies his years with deft, assured keyboard work on classic boogies, jump tunes, deep blues and urbane ballads. He sings with relaxed charm, and his memoirs are simply priceless.

The late Magic Sam was a brilliant guitarist and a soaring, urgent vocalist. Dead from heart failure at the untimely age of thirty-two in 1969, Samuel Maghett was a pivotal figure whose memorable originals, like "All of Your Love," expanded the parameters of the blues with fresh melodic lines and rich, modern-sounding chord voicings. By transcending the twelve-bar song structure, Maghett made a major break from the Fifties style of Muddy Waters, Little Walter and Jimmy Rogers. This paved the way for such soul-drenched blues stylists as Jimmy Johnson and Lonnie Brooks, as well as contemporary songsmiths like Robert Cray.

Magic Touch captures all this transitional talent in an incandescent live set recorded at a Chicago tavern in 1966. Maghett's innovations are immediately obvious on his full-tilt renditions of "I've Been Down So Long," "All of Your Love" and the riveting "I Just Can't Please You." The more conventional blues songs, like "Hate to See You Go" and "Just Like a Fish," are highlighted by dramatic vocal ascents, while Maghett's exquisitely phrased guitar solos blend single notes, suspenseful silences and frenzied, climactic clusters. There's also a churning shuffle on "Tore Down" and some vintage Sixties funk on "Back Stroke."

Bassist Mack Thompson and drummer Odie Payne Jr. hang with Maghett on every note, while the rowdy crowd offers encouragement. Sam's colleague Shakey Jake slows the pace on several cuts with unremarkable vocals and harp playing, though he does reinforce the album's authentic live ambience.

"B.B." Odom's Goin' to California also captures the gritty excitement of a live blues-bar set even though it's a studio session. Odom died just before this album's release, in something of a metaphor for a career spent mainly as a fixture at Buddy Guy's Checkerboard Lounge, in Chicago. At that hot spot this unheralded yet accomplished blues singer gave his all, night after night, to warm up the crowd for the main attraction.

Odom's performance on Goin' to California is equally intense; he makes overdone blues standards sound fresh, and he shines brightly on originals like the rollicking "Come to Me." Odom is backed by an inspired and grooving band led by the masterful, no-nonsense guitarist Steve Freund and the soulful organist Michael Fonfara. This is music from deep in the trenches, played by one of the many unsung, hard-hitting bands that help keep the blues so vital, even when it's not in vogue.

Portrait of a Delta Bluesman is available from Omega Records, 27 West Seventy-second Street, New York, NY 10023, or call (212) 769-3060; Magic Touch is available from Black Top Records, P.O. Box 56691, New Orleans, LA 70156, or call (504) 895-7239; and Goin' to California is available from Flying Fish Records, 1304 West Schubert, Chicago, IL 60614, or call (312) 528-5455. (RS 659)

BEN SANDMEL