Mix it Up, the new album from the Washboard Chaz Blues Trio, is a bittersweet affair. The CD is guitarist Roberto Luti’s last album with the band. He was deported to Italy after overstaying his visa, and though he is replaced for now by St. Louis Slim, he’ll be missed because Mix it Up is the sound of a well-oiled machine. Instead of sounding like three instruments, the trio sounds like one complex instrument, one that recalls a fight between Sarge and Beetle Bailey in the comic strips. Instead of an arm or leg emerging from the dusty ball of cartoon bodies, a harmonica part jumps out for a moment before disappearing back into the ball of sound, then moments later, the same thing happens to a slide guitar lick or the bell on Chaz Leary’s washboard. Everybody plays rhythm, everybody plays lead, and new songs by the band, harmonica player Andy J. Forest and Alex McMurray sit comfortably next to songs by Bill Broonzy, Furry Lewis and Skip James. And it’s more rhythmically diverse than you might think. The scritch-a-scratch of the washboard can sound same-y, but as a test, I fast-forwarded through the album and each track’s rhythm is different and spry, thanks to the bounce in Chaz’s sound. The album’s not a major statement, but it is music for your dancing pleasure, and it achieves that goal admirably.