New Orleans has always produced a musical blend that's even tastier than the blue-plate special at K-Paul's Cajun Kitchen, and Katie Webster is one saucy pianist-vo-calist who knows how to dish it out.

Whether it's the barrelhouse boogie-woogie of "Black Satin," the worldly rolls and fills of "No Bread, No Meat" or the melodic striding that underscores Webster's world-weary rap on Joe Tex's "Hold On to What You Got," Webster is a woman who knows how to let her fingers do the talking.

And no wonder. She's a one-time protégée of Otis Redding – that's Webster plinking away on the legendary New Orleans singles "Raining in My Heart" and "Sea of Love." On The Swamp Boogie Queen, Webster turns the latter into a slow testimonial as the piano ebbs and flows beneath her: she's got a deep, lived-in voice that turns road-worn numbers like Redding's "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)" and Johnnie Taylor's "Who's Making Love?" into pure sonic dynamite. On "Somebody's on Your Case," the forty-nine-year-old vocalist puts Bonnie Raitt – no slouch herself – through the paces.

Fabulous Thunderbird Kim Wilson and Robert Cray are among the other guests on The Swamp Boogie Queen, and from the sound of things, it was one hell of a party. (RS 544)

HOLLY GLEASON