John Hammond”Trouble No More” PointblankIntensity has long...

John Hammond

“Trouble No More”

Pointblank

Intensity has long been John Hammond’s hallmark in the blues world. This 30-year veteran’s solo-acoustic shows typically take you to extremes of moaning anguish and hammering rhythmic drive that are beyond the reach of most fully armed electric blues bands.

But with “Trouble No More,” Hammond takes a break from ultra-intensity and honors the idea that a wry attitude toward the human comedy is as much a part of the blues outlook as the hard-edged expression of devastating hurts and primal drives.

Only three tracks are acoustic. There’s a yodeling duet with slide guitar honcho Roy Rogers, and a hilarious bit of Mose Allison-penned braggadocio featuring support from Canned Heat’s bassist, Larry Taylor. Hammond’s quietly devastated solo take on Willie McTell’s “Love Changin’ Blues” offers the album’s deepest emotional probing.

Elsewhere, he gets comfortable and expert backing from Little Charlie and the Nightcats, the Sacramento band that counts Thomas Pynchon among its fans, judging from several appreciative nods in his most recent novel, “Vineland” (not that it has anything to do with the blues, but the same book contains a hilarious scene in which a posse of teen-agers on roller skates swoops down on South Coast Plaza to pull off a big jewelry heist).

Underscoring his interest in looking at the comic side of life’s setbacks, Hammond tackles “Fool’s Paradise” and “Trouble Blues,” both from the repertoire of Charles Brown, a master of hangdog humor. Hammond pays tribute by echoing Brown’s coy, cottony, winking tone of voice, and the master himself is there to receive the homage, plinking along on piano.

Amid all the fun, the McTell song is the album’s highlight. Hammond renders its lament about being sexually rejected in a soft, stricken voice, accompanying himself with wobbling slide guitar that evokes the staggering severity of the blow. In his six-minute performance, Hammond says more about the high emotional stakes of sexuality than Madonna, that supposed expert on all things carnal, has managed to express in her entire career.

John Hammond plays Friday, June 3, at 7 and 9 p.m. at the San Juan Capistrano Regional Library, 31495 El Camino Real, San Juan Capistrano. $5. (714) 493-1752.