Over the course of two remarkable studio albums, Cold Is the Night and The Gift, Joe Louis Walker has established himself as one of the most talented members of the new generation of blues musicians brought up on a hybrid diet of Chicago blues, pop gospel and classic soul and rhythm & blues.

Live at Slim's: Volume 1, recorded last year at Boz Scaggs's San Francisco blues joint, demonstrates the full range of Walker's abilities as a singer, guitarist, songwriter and showman. To start things off, Walker blazes through a spirited "I Didn't Know," ringing off a firebrand solo in which each note gets squeezed for maximum rhythmic impact even when he is playing at dizzying speed. On the sultry "Don't Play Games," Walker showcases extraordinary acoustic-slide technique and Delta-blues-style syncopation between guitar and vocals.

After Texas singer Angela Strehli joins Walker for a steamy duet on the R&B classic "Don't Mess Up a Good Thing," Walker turns up the heat on a series of his own compositions: "Ridin' High," "Fuss & Fight," "One Time Around" and "Don't Know Why." The combination of his terse, Hubert Sumlin-inspired single-line soloing and his raveup gospel shouting whips the audience into a frenzy. Huey Lewis steps in for some lively harmonica accompaniment on "Bit by Bit (Little by Little)" before the set ends with a cleverly arranged version of the Clifton Chenier zydeco anthem "Hot Tamale Baby," which Walker wraps around a Muddy Waters slide-guitar riff.

The harshest criticism leveled against West Coast blues players – Walker lives in Oakland – is that their laid-back style lacks the personality and fire of classic blues. In Walker's case, Live at Slim's disproves that theory once and for all. (RS 601)

JOHN SWENSON