**1/2 Chico Banks

CANDY LICKIN' MAN

(Evidence)

Like the blues' other great "candy licker," Marvin Sease, newcomer Chico Banks promises the ladies a tongue lashing they'll never forget. But most of us are likely to remember this vocalist/guitarist's debut album for his eloquent six-stringing. Banks plays like a fusion of Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert King, and Ernie Isley -- using his gently dirty tone and enough overdrive to keep his Stratocaster's notes sweetly singing. His own voice is just as honeyed; he's a crooner, not a shouter, which is in keeping with the loverman image this self-described "prettiest blues guy in Chicago" projects. What'll win guitar freaks' hearts is Banks's liberal-but-groove-hugging use of wah-wah (most unconventionally on a winning, funked-up version of "The Sky Is Crying"), his knack for twisting conventional pentatonic solos into deft chromatic workouts, and the way he tosses off runs that dart toward free jazz before coming back to the bone. Another high: Mavis Staples guests as gutbucket diva on "It Must Be Love."

-- Ted Drozdowski