Cyndi Lauper: Memphis Blues

Since her beginnings as flame-haired pop diva, Lauper has steered a canny career course, producing slick MOR records while diversifying into film, TV and theatre. An album of blues standards on which she's backed by such august names as BB King and Allen Toussaint could be viewed as a calculated move for roots credibility, but Lauper relishes her role and handles most material with aplomb. Whether crooning on Lil Green's "Romance in the Dark" or lung-busting on "Rolling and Tumbling", she brings conviction and character, and when she flounders – say, trying to compete with Charlie Musselwhite's harp – an invincible band keeps her afloat.