The situation in Louisiana these days is reflective of the blues industry so rooted in that state and its neighbours, Mississippi and Texas: water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink.

In other words, for every good blues disc, there are about 10 mediocre or downright awful ones coming down the pipe. Surprisingly, some of the better ones we're seeing are from independents, not major labels.

But no one would ever accuse Rounder Records of being a "major" label. And they've been putting out darned good blues for a couple of decades now, as anyone who bought their two-CD mixed box set a few years back can attest.

Enter Johnny Adams, stage right, sort of. Adams died from cancer back in 1998 but, before doing so, cut nine excellent discs that blended jazz, gospel and R&B. Wisely, Rounder has decided to take the best of his blues tracks from each disc and compile them into one package.

The payoff is an instant classic, full of his controlled belting and peppered with neat guitar licks by Duke Robillard and Walter "Wolfman" Washington.

By taking a selection of just 12 cuts, Rounder has wisely stayed away from littering the landscape with covers we've all heard a thousand times. That may come at the expense of marketing possibilities, but it also means an all-original disc ... even if it is a rehash.

Blues rocker Cathy Jean is infuriatingly fascinating. Your first impression would be that she has realized the selling power of sex: this disc is littered with photos of the statuesque singer in a variety of skimpy outfits.

But it becomes obvious from her lyrics that her very genuine liberal sexuality comes from a very conflicted place. She sings about the joy of turning guys on in strip clubs, then metaphorically cowers in the corner with a song about being unloved as a little girl with Coke-bottle glasses on Four Eyes.

Sometimes, this results in deeply personal, poetic work. It's best exemplified when she sticks to blues and jazz, and some songs are really fun: So Proud, for example, is a song about her man's ... um ... unit, and Deeper continues her fascination with male endowment.

But one track later, Not Pretty gets into her serious, scarring battles with self-image and acceptance. And to some extent, like many people who've delved into the sex industry, she naturally resents men for their objectification of her. She is nobody's baby doll, cover art notwithstanding, and her lyrics can be clever, exciting, funny and disturbing.

A lyrical case in point is The Judge: "I'm going about my day regularly / and as usual I keep to myself quietly / when some fool pukes his testosterone at me." She then gets into a variety of nasty ways of killing the smarmy individual.

And although she obviously enjoys her power over men, she's also revolted by it, stating that her outward appearance hides a person who is "jaded and scarred indefinitely."

"I am shameful embarrassed horrified and panicked / appalled and damaged and guilty as sin / humiliated degraded ridiculous and sick / and I never want to hurt you again," she sings.

There are also multiple explorations of faith and why she feels deserted by her higher power; bisexuality and stress; and friendship and fidelity.

The disc only falls down in song selection. When she sticks to blues, the musical arrangements seem to work well. Some of the "blues rock," however, comes off as closer to Pat Benatar than blues.

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