Longtime Chicago-style blues purveyor Johnny Sansone easily could cut a record that coasts on his formidable harmonica skills, which nod to the twin Walters -- Big and Little -- so prominent in the city's sound. Rather than fence himself in as a mere stylist or parrot traditional blues standards and practices, Sansone wisely has let his adopted environment influence both his playing and his songwriting. On Watermelon Patch, the results are unmistakeable: that sound you hear is one of barriers being torn down, as the ebullient Sansone incorporates elements of trad blues, zydeco, and roots-rock into a formidably listenable mish-mash of cultures.

Backed by a who's who of native talents, including Jon Cleary, Joe Krown, Kenneth Blevins, Dave Ranson, Joe Cabral, and Derek Huston, Sansone delivers a rocking set of originals that showcase his lickety-split accordion skills ("Think of Me," "Mon Fleur") and the steady ebb and flow of his harmonica playing ("Pig's Feet and Tail Meat," "Watermelon Patch," "Upside of Low Down"). Sansone and company sidestep the showboating tendencies of less-disciplined craftsmen, directing their chops in service of the songs.

True to that humble credo, the shing star of Watermelon Patch is Sansone's self-assured songwriting. The first half of the disc barrels along at a sturdy pace, with rootsy toe-tapping numbers such as "Think of Me" and the zydeco-braised "Comin' For Sure" setting a breezy, rocking tone. A couple of harmonica-driven instrumentals shift the mood as needed, and the closing "Neutral Ground" flows with an easy roots-rocking grace worthy of Blevins' once-and-future employer, John Hiatt. Patch's 13 tracks show Sansone building his own house on a foundation of regional influences, and there's not one seed to spit out.

Kevin F. Moreau