Every generation since the 1960s has discovered Dr John and taken him to their heart. It's led to some wacky collaborations, not least Anutha Zone with a host of Brit-poppers (ah, where now Supergrass?) while everyone from Hugh Laurie to Spiritualised have lapped up his New Orleans piano grooves. This project with Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys has more going for it in that Auerbach is a long time lover of the blues. The resulting Locked Down features Rebennack heavily on vocals and organ, but less on piano or composition credit. Not surprisingly Auerbach tugs Rebbenack down a rock-blues path, recalling his Night Tripper, Gris Gris period. The results are some suitably scuzzy sounding funk blues, from the honking saxes of ‘Revolution’, replete with a raw political edge, to the zombie swamp thang that is ‘Eleggua’. The good time rolling, mardi gras celebrating Rebennack isn't that evident; instead Auerbach keeps the contemporary angst boiling on the voodoo groove of ‘Ice Age’ which rails against our soul-less times. Yet the 72-year-old Rebennack revels in it with a growling, apocalyptic vocals worthy of Captain Beefheart or James ‘Blood’ Ulmer. If you prefer your Dr John jazzier, with his piano to the fore, check out Duke Elegant. But if you want The Night Tripper re-invented as the voice of soulful vengeance and righteous anger for our crazed times, then Auerbach deserves much credit for this extraordinary, roaring testament.

Jazzwise talks to Dr John about the album

Your grand daughter introduced you to The Black Keys?

Yeah, I got to hear their stuff, then Dan rang. We played Bonnaroo, and we got to write a whole load of songs that aren't on Locked Down. I like his spirit, he's cool, I like it that he's into a whole lot of different stuff – that's what marks you out, being into other stuff. It's that Duke Ellington thing, there's only good music, bad music.

But he couldn't find you a piano?

I play upright on a couple [of tracks] Traditionally I hated that Far-farah-Farfisa organ, I ain't played it since I was with Doug Sahm, in the 60s? But yeah, we got something out of it.

And some righteous vocals?

Yeah, well, if you can get people to listen to ideas, to stuff you wouldn't normally listen to, that's great. If ‘Ice Age’ [an anthemic gris gris groove with a political edge] is what you get, that's fine, but there's other songs, other places to find too.

On ‘God's So Good To Me’ you sing God's been better to you than you have been to yourself.

Well, yeah, up to 22 years ago: there was some madness. But I don't do any drugs. I move more in the spiritual world these days, but you can't ignore the meat world. But if you can move between the political and spiritual, you're doing OK.

And how's New Orleans these days?

Well, the water's gone, some houses are back, but there's so many people I see, they have no homes to go to. New Orleans is sinking. People talk about the BP spill but they don't mention the other 7,000 spills. It's a man-made disaster.

Any chance of recording with Allen Tousaint again?

We're in touch, we talk, I've got a whole lot of different things going on, but if I was to mention anything, woah! I don't want to badmouth it, but there's always music.