Marcia Ball

Just 54, Long Tall Marcia Ball has been pumping out her mighty mixture of boogie woogie and New Orleans-flavored music for some 30 years now. On this, her 10th album, she’s changed gears a bit. Ball can still deliver the goods, as she easily demonstrates here on a few peppy songs. But the soulful singer/pianist—who wrote six of the 14 numbers—has taken some of the speed off in favor of more probing examinations of affairs of the heart, chief among them her “Give Me a Chance,” a gospel-like plea to her “one true love.” Like Ball, Alligator Records has moved beyond what they used to advertise as “Genuine Houserockin’ Music” to find a wider market.