Thirty years on from his death, Paul Robeson is best remembered as the black American singer, actor and athlete who spent his life fighting racism and was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. Leon Bibb, the singer and father of contemporary blues star Eric Bibb, was a close friend of Robeson, and this tribute matches old Robeson favourites against new songs and settings by Eric.

The new material is pleasant, if worthy, while the old songs range from Eric's easy-going harmonica-backed country blues treatment of Home in That Rock, to some fine, sturdy and no-nonsense singing from his dad. The selection covers the full range of Robeson's repertoire, from spirituals to socialism and sentimentality, and the gospel favourites like Motherless Child or the union anthem Joe Hill are predictably more interesting than yet another reworking of Shenandoah or Danny Boy. One is left wanting to hear how Robeson himself used to treat them.