**1/2 Walter "Wolfman" Washington

FUNK IS IN THE HOUSE

(Bullseye Blues)

This is a mess of straight-up soul music the way they used to do it. Sweaty, live-sounding funk grooves, a busy brass section huffing and puffing, late-night love songs, and heartfelt vocals that follow no script because the Wolfman is just feeling it too much. But the veteran New Orleans blues man also tosses in a cheesy ballad or two and a little R&B lite on this, his first stateside release since 1991. The candle-lit highlight is Wolfman's take on Gamble & Huff's "Close the Door," originally a slow seduction production for crooner Teddy Pendergrass: Wolfman leaps from bass tones to falsetto moans as background singers chirp earnestly behind him. Elsewhere, Funk Is in the House features Wolfman's brittle and dynamic guitar work sparring with the well-tuned Roadmasters on several uptempo instrumentals, a fiery reading of Ray Charles's "Mary Ann," and a handful of originals.

-- Bill Kisliuk