Katie Webster

Webster's legend has never connected on record, and by coming down heavy on the soul standards retro-rocking blues fans yammer for, her much-praised label debut The Swamp Boogie Queen sold her short. Boogie as in woogie, not as in bar band, is her gift--a rolling piano style she certainly didn't invent and just as certainly owns--and here the experts get it down. The quintessential tough-talking woman with sexual needs and a heart of gold. (Grade: B+)