is one electric, eclectic, eccentric blues guy.

With sturdy oaklike roots deep in rock and blues with chops to match, he's produced a relentlessly fiery stream of music since about 1990, when Ted Horowitz formed a band and acquired a new name.

He's a rocking bluesman (if you need a stereotype) with whose music the word "relaxed" has not been easily associated.

One of the earliest models for this kind of music was Jimi Hendrix, whose music, while unlike traditional blues, owed a huge debt to the blues that came before. Hendrix had more roots in the blues than his acid fans probably ever realized.

And coincidentally enough, Chubby's (That doesn't sound right. Should it be Mr. Chubby?) newest recording is a tribute to Hendrix, live performances that reflect the incendiary nature of the music of both. Not to digress, but when Hendrix incorporated lighter fluid into his act, he gave new meaning to the term "incendiary performance." Sort of a perverse canned-heat effect.

No matter. Chubby has titled his two discs "Electric Chubbyland," (after the Hendrix Experience "Electric Ladyland") and they are a worthy tribute to this spiritual mentor. They get four BlueNotes stars.

Chubby draws the Hendrix songbook through his own bluesy filter, adding fatter, richer notes to the Hendrix sting. They're exuberant performances, and you can't help but know they're fueled by Chubby's love for the music as well as the audience. Nothing to indicate that lighter fluid fueled anything here.

I hadn't listened to this much Hendrix in any form for a long time, and it was fun to explore it again. It may not be exactly the same as a Hendrix experience, but it adds a modern blue hue that I liked.

It would make an excellent soundtrack for those Sixties flashbacks.

First Published: August 1, 2007, 1:15 a.m.