Joe Henry’s producing an album by Dr. Gregory House?

I know Joe Henry, producer of Elvis Costello, Allen Toussaint, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Loudon Wainwright III, Mary Gauthier, and Over the Rhine, is full of surprises.

But this? This may be the biggest surprise of all.

In the professional diagnosis of the music industry, Hugh Laurie … has come down with a bad case of the blues. … Warner Music Entertainment said on Monday that it had signed up Mr. Laurie … to record an album of New Orleans blues.