Kevin Bronson on January 16th, 2009

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It’s hard to come up with a much better story than John Bigham’s resumé, but the veteran multi-instrumentalist — on his third album as the Soul of John Black — has conjured up a sensational narrative: It’s the tale of a pawn-shop Stella guitar with special powers, the unknown Chicago bluesman who wielded it and the musician’s tragic death in an alley at the hands of a mugger. From beyond the grave, the bluesman’s songs are channeled through Black John, Bigham’s alter ego.

Sounds like good stuff, right? It’s based on the 1976 blaxpoitation film “J.D.’s Revenge” (in which a hospital intern is possesed by the spirit of a dead gangster), and the album it inspired, “Black John,” is even better. The Soul of John Black’s album (due Feb. 17 on L.A. label Eclecto Groove) is an old-school cocktail of blues, funk and soul, with a twist of rock and country. Served cool.

• ||| Download: “Betty Jean”

Bigham, who’s played in the Miles Davis band, manned the guitar and keyboards for eight years in Fishbone and done session work for the likes of Dr. Dré, Eminem and Nikka Costa, clearly knows what he’s all about. “I don’t have to worry about all the restrictions you have as an artist,” he says. “I don’t have anybody telling me, ‘We want you to do this kind of music,’ or ‘We want you to go this way.’ Sure, I want everybody to be excited about it, but first I want to be excited about it myself.”

If his previous album “The Good Girl Blues,” was “all about hanging out with one woman,” Bigham let his mind wander for subject material this time. “I love everything about movies; there’s something about them that transcend time,” he says. “So I thought up Black John and all this stuff that could go down.”

The album, recorded with a host of musicians”  who’ve worked with the likes of Costa, Ben Harper and other heavy hitters, offers some ’70s radio nostalgia — Bigham gets a little Al Green in places — but also settles into some slinky party grooves that could background a nightclub scene in a contemporary movie. If it sounds as if Bigham has picked and chosen bits from his long career, well, that’s OK. “That’s just life experience,” he says.

||| Live: The Soul of John Black performs tonight at Cafe Boogaloo in Hermosa Beach and Saturday at the Mint.