Let Me Play with Your Poodle

The album is dominated by the sights and sounds of Ball's native Louisiana, from the culinary delights of Clarence Garlow's "Crawfishin'" to the ironic history of Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927." Ball is now based in Austin, however, and she is backed by some of the finest blues musicians in Texas, including Clarence Hollimon, who plays guitar on "I'm Just a Prisoner," and Doyle Bramhall, who sings the duet vocal on "How Big a Fool." Ball doesn't possess the strongest voice in the blues world, but few revivalists can match her instinctive grasp of rhythmic phrasing. --Geoffrey Himes